Last week, a confused commenter asked why I kept referring to Ben Gordon as “Air Gordon.” That nickname has been used pretty frequently here in Chicago over the past few years — particularly in the press — and I took for granted that everybody was familiar with it. To make up for that mistake, I decided to make a master list of nicknames for the current squad. I spent literally minutes searching the deepest, darkest corners of the Internet for these. (Remember: Tips aren’t required, but they are appreciated.) If I missed any, let me know and I’ll update the list.
Note: I’m not sure if all these guys will be around for the 2009-10 season…but I’m hedging my bets.
Aaron Gray: The White Panther (coined by Boers and Bernstein), The White Flag (coined by Zach Lowe of Celtics Hub)
Ben Gordon: Air Gordon, BG, BG7, Gentle Ben, Little Ben, Madison Square Gordon, 007 (The Assassin)
Brad Miller: Bad News Brad, Cornrows (for this unfortunate decision), BM (coined by By The Horns reader Brad)
Derrick Rose: D-Rose, The Great Poodini (for his wizard tattoo), Pooh (coined by his grandma), Southside Sorcerer (from By the Horns reader Bh), Windy City Warlock (also from Bh)
Joakim Noah: Dr. No, Jo, Jo-No, Noah Kim-Joa (from By the Horns reader Blake), The Joker (from AK Dave), The Noble One
John Salmons: Buck, Get Right, The Fish Man, Up Stream (from By the Horns reader Jon)
Kirk Hinrich: Captain Kirk, The Hinrich Maneuver
Luol Deng: Damaged Goods, Deng-Dong (from By the Horns reader Blake), Luol, Sweet Lu, The Man from Sudan
Tim Thomas: Dog, T-Tom, The Biggest Waste of Talent in NBA History
Tyrus Thomas: Big T’s (pronounced “Big Tease”), Free Money (after admitting he was only entering the 2006-07 Slam Dunk Contest for money), The Mercenary (ditto), T-Time, TT, Ty, Ty-Rise (from By the Horns reader Bh)
I like the article and most of the nicknames. However, I do believe the best nickname for Joakim is “Noah Kim-Joa.” My friends and I have been calling him that for years – we gotta start this movement. How great of a chant would that be?
Also, I believe Luol should be referred to as Deng-Dong and Aaron Grey should be called Big Sexy (that one coined by the great Stacy King.. or maybe Kendall Gill).
Comment by Blake — May 13, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
the hinrich maneuver! bbbbwwwwahahahaha
Comment by cilantromOnkay — May 13, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
John Salmons: Up Stream
Comment by Jon — May 13, 2009 @ 5:47 pm
For Joakim:
How about “The Joker”?
XD
Comment by AK Dave — May 13, 2009 @ 5:49 pm
I’m pretty sure I’ve read Ty-Rise somewhere for Tyrus…and in keeping with the tatoo theme for Rose how bout the Windy City Warlock or Southside Sorcerer?
Comment by Bh — May 13, 2009 @ 5:59 pm
I’ve always called Ben Gordon “Bling Bling,” named after the song sung by BG (which happen to be Ben Gordon’s initials). Watching his high arching jumpers go through the net always makes me say Bling Bling.
I hope he gets his bling with a new contract this summer.
Comment by Josh — May 13, 2009 @ 6:16 pm
Thanks guys. The list has been updated (with credits in parentheses). Keep ‘em coming!
Comment by Matt McHale — May 13, 2009 @ 6:20 pm
How about “Audi” for Tyrus?
Comment by Czernobog — May 13, 2009 @ 6:45 pm
“Soul Eater” was popular for Tyrus at the beginning of the year. The guys doing play-by-play at the Orlando camp couldn’t get enough of it.
I’ve heard Aaron Grey referred to as “Sasquatch”. Also, I prefer simply “Fish” for Salmons.
Comment by dave — May 13, 2009 @ 7:01 pm
I always liked the nickname “Skyrus” for Tyrus. Love the list.
Comment by Stormin Norman Disciple — May 13, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
Another Joakim Noah one:
“The Noah Constrictor”
lol
Comment by AK Dave — May 13, 2009 @ 8:50 pm
I have to submit a couple others:
Tyrus Thomas is now, and forever shall be, known only as Pogo. In the words of Simmons, it’s a mortal lock.
This next one is more at the grass roots phase, but due to his Tut-like beard, I have been calling John Salmons The Pharoah.
Beat that, yall!
Comment by bingo — May 13, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
I must say that calling Aaron Gray “the White Flag” is pretty hilarious. He only enters the game when one of the teams has surrendered…
Comment by Blake — May 13, 2009 @ 10:45 pm
Love the resource, Matt. Although, I’d say the simple ‘T2′ is something many fans (including myself) call Tyrus.
Comment by Ryne Nelson — May 14, 2009 @ 3:49 pm
Hey Matt, did you delete my comment?
Comment by HINrichPolice — May 15, 2009 @ 12:35 pm
HINrichPolice — No, I didn’t, or certainly not on purpose. I’ve been having some major problems with SPAM comments…so there is a chance it might have gotten filtered out or deleted by mistake. And if so, I’m really sorry. Could you resend?
Comment by Matt McHale — May 15, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
How is a nickname for Luol Deng just ‘Luol’? Are we supposed to refer to him as Luol “Luol” Deng? That’s gotta be a mistake, right?
Comment by Prashant — May 15, 2009 @ 2:31 pm
Aaron Gray will always be known as Vanilla Thunder.
Comment by RonCrimson — May 15, 2009 @ 3:02 pm
How about deng-gone as in the bulls should trade his behind if he doesn’t step up his game.
Comment by rocky — May 15, 2009 @ 4:25 pm
Derrick Rose: THE THORN
Tyrus Thomas: T2 (The Terminator)
Comment by Juan — May 19, 2009 @ 11:27 pm
Tyrus = Typhoid or Typhus
My nickname for Aaron Gray has always been “ass” (i.e., “that guy plays like ass”).
Comment by JYW — June 6, 2009 @ 8:34 pm
Derrick Rose=”the black panther http:// http://www.stubhub.com/?=782
Comment by Jaylon — July 11, 2009 @ 11:34 pm
Ben -> “Ben Jordan” – a little play on words.
Kirk – “The Hamburglar”
Brad Miller -> “YMCA”
Comment by Judson — July 14, 2009 @ 12:34 am