The 25 greatest nicknames in NBA history

Outside of the NBA, Alston was also a streetball legend. His ball-handling exploits on outdoor courts earned him the nickname Skip To My Lou. While his professional playstyle was more in line with traditional basketball, the nickname stuck during his NBA days.

A lot of contemporary NBA nicknames are boring, just a player's initials and/or number (JT for Jayson Tatum, CP3 for Chris Paul, and so on). Giannis has a great one, though. He's from Greece, he's a physical specimen, and thus, Greek Freak.

Usually, it's not that cool to give yourself your own nickname. It worked for Kobe, though, as he adopted "Black Mamba" after watching Kill Bill and seeing an assassin use it as their code name. It really stuck, as "Mamba mentality" has become NBA shorthand for adopting Bryant's intense mindset and approach to the game.

When Carter entered the league, he became one of the first major stars for the Raptors, which had recently joined the NBA as an expansion team. The public's fascination with his remarkable physical abilities earned him the nickname "Vinsanity," which plays perfectly off his first name. He had a couple of other great nicknames, too: Air Canada (due to often being airborne and playing in Toronto) and Half-Man/Half-Amazing (to emphasize how athletic he was).

When professional basketball was in its infancy in the '50s and '60s, Cousy brought an unprecedented level of flash to the game. His court vision and ball-handling abilities made it seem like his play was guided by some sort of magic. Thus, "Houdini Of The Hardwood," a bit of a mouthful but fitting nonetheless, was born.

The inspiration here is obvious: One of the first things you notice about Davis when looking at him is his distinctive unibrow. Davis, to his credit, actually ended up embracing the nickname. That said, it ended up sort of fading away, as the joke got old and he's more frequently referred to as simply "AD" nowadays.

"Clyde The Glide" is one of the most awesome nicknames in sports, not just basketball. It rolls off the tongue to the point where it's just fun to say. It was also a perfect fit for his smooth and athletic style of play.

Duncan was one of the NBA's best players for a long time, but he did it with relatively few frills to his game. He didn't produce a lot of highlights, but he was an even-tempered leader who thrived with a technically sound style of play. For those reasons, "The Big Fundamental" was a perfect alter ego for the Spurs legend.

Erving was one of the coolest dudes in the world in the 1970s (and beyond, of course), and having a nickname as cool as "Dr. J" certainly helped. As for where the name came from, Erving has explained that it stemmed from high school. It's a simple origin story: He called a buddy of his "the professor," and Erving became "the doctor."

In his heyday, Garnett was one of the most electrifying players in the league. Really, he was must-see entertainment, and when his Timberwolves hit the road, opposing teams' fans came out to watch. This, "The Big Ticket" was born.

Gervin was known for his silky-smooth scoring and his composed and cool demeanor, making "The Iceman" a spot-on nickname. He lived up to the great nickname by being one of the best players of his era: He was a close runner-up for the MVP award in 1978 and led the league in scoring four times.

You know a nickname is fantastic when it largely replaces your real name, as it often did for Penny. The meaning of the name isn't immediately obvious, but it turns out to come from family. When his grandmother pronounced "Anfernee" with her Southern accent, it ended up sounding more like "Penny."

There's a cool backstory to the "Uncle Drew" nickname. Some fans might remember Kyrie's series of Pepsi commercials in which he dressed like an old man and dominated in games of basketball at parks. The ads were popular, enough that some started calling Irving by his fictional character's name.

Before Iverson entered the NBA, the league was getting ready for a transition. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were out of the league and Michael Jordan was nearing the end, too. In college, one of Iverson's friends suggested Iverson could be "The Answer" to that problem and Iverson loved the nickname.

Magic's nickname is similar to Penny Hardaway's, but it has a stronger connection to the person. For Johnson, it's likely that most modern basketball fans don't even know that "Earvin" is his real first name. He's just Magic.

"Air Jordan" is perhaps the most commercially consequential nickname in basketball history. The Air Jordan line of shoes and apparel from Nike has become a cultural staple. The brand's success has vaulted MJ to billionaire status, one of just a handful of athletes to reach the milestone.

At first, "AK-47" might seem like just one of those lazy initials-and-number nicknames. It does indeed represent his name and number, but it's deeper than that: Kirilenko is Russian and the AK-47 is a type of Russian-made gun.

Throughout his 19-season career, Malone rarely played fewer than 80 games a year. For most of those seasons, he averaged at least 25 points and 10 rebounds per game. Year after year, he delivered, just like a mailman.

Mutombo stood at an imposing 7'2". He was more than just height, as he also had the skill and know-how to be one of the league's best shot-blockers and rebounders. He was a massive and imposing figure in the paint, worthy of the "Mount Mutombo" nickname.

Shaq is the king of the nickname, due largely to just how many he managed to pile up over the years. "The Big Aristotle" is one of them, but it's far from the only one. Other examples included "Diesel," "Superman," "Shaq Fu," "The Big Cactus," and "The Big Shamrock."

What can really make a nickname pop is how well it sounds when paired with the person's original name. There's no better example of this than "Hakeem 'The Dream' Olajuwon" (aside from perhaps "Clyde 'The Glide' Drexler"). On top of that, his signature "Dream Shake" was one of the most unstoppable moves to ever hit an NBA court.

If you were a guard in the NBA in the '90s, you dreaded going up against Gary Payton. He was tenacious on defense, a rare guard to win the Defensive Player Of The Year award. Payton earned the nickname "The Glove" for how tightly he was able to cover opponents.

Pierce got his pseudonym from the nickname king himself, Shaq. After a dominant performance, O'Neal called Pierce "The Truth" and it stuck. Boston fans were happy to have "The Truth" around, as he went down as one of the most iconic players in the Celtics' storied history.

West is the most impactful player in the history of the NBA, at least on a visual branding level: A silhouette of him in action was used as the foundation of the league's logo. So, the nickname "The Logo" came pretty naturally.

Williams' nickname started as a bit of a sarcastic jab: Early in his tenure with the Celtics, he was routinely late for team functions, so much so that he was jokingly called "Timelord." He ended up being a valuable defensive anchor for the team, though, and he even came to embrace the good-natured nickname.