101+ Basketball Nicknames for Guys and Girls

Not only is Shaq, which of course, is short for his real name Shaquille, a pro baller, but he's also a pro at coming up with great nicknames! He's actually gone by several nicknames over the years, including Shaq Daddy, The Diesel, The Big Fella, and Big Shamrock, and M.D.E (Most Dominant Ever), just to name a few.

He earned his nicknames throughout his career, and was well-known by his nicknames because of his natural talent to play b-ball. Everybody has to start somewhere though, so if you’re in the sport, it’s time to consider a nickname for you and other teammates!

Now that you've read through some example nicknames, it's time to come up with some awesome basketball nicknames for yourself and your teammates. Here are some quick tips to help you along.

• Player’s name: An obvious way to give a basketball player a nickname would be to play around with their real name and see what you can come up with. Avoid typical nicknames, such as “Billy” for “William.” (Unless of course you add on a word, such as to make the nickname “Billy Ball.”

• Player’s number: Numbers are bound to change throughout a basketball career, especially if starting out in grade school; however, the number will always be a part of their history in the game so finding clever ways to use the number can work out beautifully.

• Basketball terms: There are many terms specific to basketball that can really be helpful in coming up with some names. Think dribbling, slam dunks, traveling, etc. You can probably come up with a few humorous puns!

• “Tall” terms: I’ve honestly never seen a short person make it big (pun intended), so think tall names as the person you’re trying to nickname is likely tall if they play basketball seriously.

• Team colors: Like numbers, team colors will eventually change throughout a basketball career but that doesn’t mean you can’t look to the colors for some inspiration! “Big Blue” and “Green Giant” come to mind!

• Childhood nicknames: Throwbacks never hurt anyone! Well that all depends. I suppose you wouldn’t want to be called Mr. Poop-a-loochki on the courts, would ya? Do be careful with this one, some of us had really odd nicknames as babies!

Once you've got your nicknames, it's time to cruise the court in a sweet custom jersey with your new nickname on it!