Best basketball nicknames

His mother named him Earvin, but it didn’t stick. By the time he was lighting up Big Ten arenas for Michigan State, the rest of the world already knew Mrs. Johnson’s talented son as “Magic.”

When ESPN set out to identify the best nicknames in basketball a while back, the Worldwide Leader could have been forgiven for overlooking Magic Johnson. “Magic” almost transcends nicknames, effectively replacing the longtime Laker great’s given name.

Still, it comes in No. 1 on the ESPN list, which follows:

  1. “Magic” (Earvin Johnson)
  2. “The Human Eraser” (Marvin Webster)
  3. “The Iceman” (George Gervin)
  4. “Pistol Pete” (Pete Maravich)
  5. “Chocolate Thunder” (Darryl Dawkins)
  6. “The Wizard of Westwood” (John Wooden)
  7. “Air Jordan” (Michael Jordan)
  8. “Dr. Dunkenstein” (Darrell Griffith)
  9. “The Doctor” (Julius Erving)
10. “The Mailman” (Karl Malone)

Source: ESPN

See all NBA lists

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