When is fell in love with the NBA in the mid 90'ies and started to follow the league, there were many great players with iconic nicknames. The Mailman, the Admiral, The Glove, Grandma, the Reignman, the Glyde, the Chief, the Answer, the Dream...
I feel like out of the truly best players only Ewing didn't have one.
It was the thing back then.
Some were prefixes, like Sir Charles and Air Jordan,
Some, like Magic, were better known by their nicknames than their first names.
Penny and Mookie come to mind.
Even some lesser players had good ones. Guys like "Junkyard dog" and "Big Country"
Then as millennia was coming to its end, less and fewer nicknames were there.
Grant Hill, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd...
In 2000's some great players turned to self-proclaimed nicknames, Mamba and King for example.
Seemed weak to me then and now.
Oh yes, there were nicknames like K-Mart, C-Webb, and D-Will, but I don't even consider them as nicknames.
Shaq gave a lot of nicknames to himself and a good one to PP - The Truth.
And then - nothing.
KD? Durantula? it just didn't stick. not organic enough.
I'd say that the best nick in the game belongs to the pair - the Splash brothers.
BTW, none of our players have any nicks.
Big Al? Come on, let's be real.
So, share it with me, what happened with the nicknames?