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Chinese Netizens Have the Most Epic Nicknames for NBA Players

May 8, 2018

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Chinese netizens have set the internet abuzz for the nicknames they gave for top NBA players surfaced online.

Nick Kapur, a historian of East Asia with a Ph.D. from Harvard, shared the list of monikers on Twitter.

The assistant professor at Rutgers University said that Chinese internet users found that official sources use “boring phonetic translations, failing to take advantage of Chinese characters having both sound and meaning.”

As a result, they took matters into their own hands and “improved” the official names.

Check out the list below:

LeBron James. Image via Wikimedia Commons / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Russell Westbrook. Image via Wikimedia Commons / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Stephen Curry. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Giannis Antetokounmpo. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Kobe Bryant

Manu Ginobili. Image via Wikimedia Commons / Zereshk (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Shaquille O’Neal. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Klay Thompson. Image via Wikimedia Commons / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Carmelo Anthony. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Kevin Durant. Image via Wikimedia Commons / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Charles Barkley. Image via Flickr / Gene Bromberg (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Michael Jordan. Image via Flickr / Bryan Horowitz (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Dirk Nowitzki. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Tony Parker. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

James Harden. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Paul Pierce. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Allen Iverson. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Gary Payton. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Kawhi Leonard. Image via Flickr / SD Dirk (CC BY 2.0)

Julius “Dr. J” Erving

Steve Francis (Cropped). Image via Flickr / V Manninen (CC BY 2.0)

Scottie Pippen. Image via Wikimedia Commons / Noraft (CC BY 3.0)

Dwyane Wade. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Stephon Marbury. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Kevin Garnett. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Joel Embiid. Image via Flickr / Brent Burford Photography (CC BY 2.0)

Tim Duncan. Image via Flickr / Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Hakeem Olajuwon. Image via Twitter / @DR34M

Anthony Davis. Image via Wikimedia Commons / TonyTheTiger (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Tristan Thompson (Cropped). Image via Flickr / Erik Drost (CC BY 2.0)

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