NBA Nicknames

Creating solid nicknames seems to be a lost art with the aliases that NBA players have today. The latest and lamest trend in nicknames in today's sports is initials and single letter prefixes. The initial nickname is by far the laziest form of a nickname. Kevin Garnet claims the nickname of KG. KG? Really? Where is the creativity? Now I know he has one of the good nicknames in the Big Ticket so why is KG even still around? Other culprits include...

CP3 - Chris Paul #3

CB4 - Chris Bosh #4

AI - Allen Iverson / Andre Iguodala

The single letter prefix is almost as lazy as the initials. Baseball made it famous by creating A-rod for Alex Rodriguez. Some ballers have tried it out like Deron Williams going with D-Will. Lets discuss some of the current stars of the NBA and their nicknames.

Kobe Bryant - Black Mamba

Recently this nickname got bashed on ESPN by both Jalen Rose and Barry Melrose. I respectively disagree. The Black Mamba is original and will never be repeated. The Black Mamba is one of the worlds most deadliest snakes and it can attack at 99 percent accuracy, similar to Kobe himself.
Lebron James - King James

New Nickname - Prince James

This one bothers me, especially since he was dubbed King James way to early in his career. You can't be a King until you earn the crown and as of now King doesnt have his Crown. He is working and fighting for it right now but until that crown comes to Castle Cleveland, all you are is a Prince.
Andrei Kirilenko - AK-47

This is the only circumstance in which the initials number combination is acceptable. AK the initials and 47 his number works on another level. Kirilinko is from Russia and the deadly AK-47 originated in Russia. Any nickname that refers to your home country and one of its most deadly inventions is fine with me.

Kevin Durant - Durantula

New Nickname - Stretch

This one I enjoy, and I have give credit to JE Skeets of the Basketball Jones for coining this one. It is creative and a nice play on his name. Someone has to defend it a little more in terms of Durantula describing the type of Game that Durant has. Unless you were given a nickname before you started playing sports by a grandma or neighborhood friend, the name has to do your game justice. Durant has ridiculous reach with those lanky arms and uses them to his advantage. You heard it here first boys and girls, Kevin Durant you are now Stretch.

Dwight Howard - Superman

This nickname is perfect. Looking at Howard the last thing you think is ordinary human so he must be Super Man. Also it doesn't hurt that he flew through the air during the dunk contest on national TV two years ago.

Dirk Nowitzki - Dirkus Circus

Again the great JE Skeets of Basketball Jones coined this one and it fits beautifully. Dirk is the ring leader of the circus shot. Off balance, completely unorthodox, legs kicking in the wrong direction, getting bumped, and he still manages to make clutch shot after clutch shot. If Mr. Big Shot, Chauncey Billups, wasn't already taken Dirk would have rights to it.

Pick of the Night

Oklahoma City Thunder +10 at Los Angeles Lakers

Kevin Durant will share the stage with Kobe in the bright lights of LA tonight. The Lakers look even better than they were one year ago when they won the Championship. The Thunder are the leagues most improved team with a record hovering around .500 apposed to the 3 or 4 wins they had at this point last season. I predict the young future stars of the Thunder will put up a good fight tonight in a loss but keep it close. For this selection I am going with the Thunder to lose by less than ten and win with the spread.

Thunder over Lakers - Scuttlebutt record - (9-10)
Last Night's Pick, Redskins +3 over Giants, resulted in a Loss with the Giants dominating the Redskins 45-12.

Pick of the Night

Dallas Mavericks -2 at Oklahoma City Thunder

One of the brightest young stars in the league, Kevin Durant, gets the opportunity to showcase himself on national TV tonight.  The Mavericks are coming to town and the trio of Jeff Green, Russel Westbrook, and Kevin Durantula will prove they are all rising stars and a rising team.  The Thunder are playing great basketball and have a very tough test in the Mavericks tonight.  Dallas isn't getting too many points but I have confidence in the home crowd and team.  Thunder will reign supreme tonight.

Thunder over Mavericks - Scuttlebutt - (8-8)
Last pick, Lakers -10 over Bulls, resulted in a loss with the Lakers only winning by 9, 96-87.

Monday's REAL Top 5s

NFL Teams

Colts (9-0)
Vikings (8-1)
Saints (9-0)
Bengals (7-2)
Patriots (6-3)

College Football Teams

Texas (10-0)

Alabama (10-0)

Florida (10-0)

TCU (10-0)

Cincinnati (10-0)

NBA Teams
Suns (9-2)
Hawks (8-2)
Blazers (8-3)
Nuggets (7-3)
Heat (7-2)

NHL Teams

Sharks (14-4-4)

Devils (14-4)

Flames (12-4-2)

Capitals (12-4-4)

Avalanche (12-5-3)

This Weeks Special - Top 5 NBA Players Right Now

Steve Nash - PG - Suns

Suns Point guard and famous Canadian, is taking over the league similar to his back to back MVP seasons from years ago. His Suns are currently 9 - 2 with wins over both the Heat and the Celtics in their buildings. Nash is leading the league in assists by almost 2 full assists per game than next best guy (Derron Williams).

Lebron James - SF - Cavaliers

The chosen one, King James, Akron Hammer, whatever you want to call him just make sure you call him good. Averaging 27 - 7 - 7 on a team that is starting to get on a roll would be the easy pick for number one if it wasn't for Steve Nash's resurgence (did he ever really go away?). Lebron's outside jumper has improved from last year and so has is ability to handle the "where will you be next year " question he hears anytime theres a Mic in his face.

Dwyane Wade - SG - Heat

Dwyane Wade's Heat are a top NBA team despite having a supporting cast equivalent of The Hills. Wade and his Heat do so much more with less than any other successful team in the NBA. Hitting a game winning three pointer against the Nets Saturday night certainly doesn't hurt your ranking either.

Carmelo Anthony - SF - Nuggets

Carmelo Anthony, the third member on this list from the 2003 draft class, just might be the best scorer in the NBA today. Carmelo's Nuggets, the surprise team in the western conference finals a year ago, are looking better than ever. Carmelo is playing like an MVP and not even Kobe's Lakers could slow him and his team down. Melo has yet to drop below 20 points in a game this year and continues to be beastly on the boards.

Kevin Durant - SG/SF - Thunder

Kevin Durant is quickly emerging as one of our leagues elite players. The debate two drafts ago of Durant or Oden is looking more one sided than than a Muhamma Ali Dustin Diamond fight. Durant is making believers out of doubters and creating more room on the Thunder bandwagon every night. Durant can get at it on the boards just about as good as he can score, NBA Jam players watch in awe as he lights it up on a whim.