The Jazz' starting guard throughout much of the 1980's was an NBA Rookie of the Year and was one of the most prolific three point shooters of his time, not to mention his insane dunking abilities. 23, even if it was for a short period during his career. Most of the time, sons of athletes don't want to stand in their fathers' shadows, but Mancini, who inherited the "Boom Boom" moniker from his father, Lenny, took it and ran with it and is much more widely associated with it. Lane finished his career with 68 interceptions and a reputation as one of the most violent tacklers in the league. His career batting average of .301 and his 521 home runs make "The Big Hurt" an easy nickname to understand. Given what became of his postplaying days, the "Hustle" part seems especially apropos. Either that or a tea-totaling vegan, which is nearly as concerning. March 23, 2022 13:00 ET . In the Bible, Numbers 23:23 contains the phrase What hath God wrought, which was also the first message sent in code by Samuel Morse in 1843 and if you add up the numbers of the year Kurt Cobain was born (1967) and died (1994) you also get 23. He was Premier League's best player techn. His talent was so far beyond the routine that we almost believed the 1971 film Get Carter was written in his honor, even though he wasn't born until 1977 and the movie had nothing to do with basketball. The nickname was coined by Ken Harrelson while Thomas was a member of the Chicago White Sox early in his career. By schredder. He has thrown for the most career yards of any NFL quarterback, has completed the most passes of any quarterback and still holds the most consecutive starts of any NFL player. He hit the ball very hard, very often, and it earned him this nickname with his teammates. Joe Jackson. The nickname was coined by Ken Harrelson while Thomas was a member of the Chicago White Sox early in his career. Of course not. The five time All-Star and two time American League MVP was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year. But his reasoning wasnt based on any superstition, historical events or ancient Chinese teachings it was because of his brother. Striding the court like a 7'1" giraffe, center Wilt Chamberlain was a new breed of legendary when he hit the professional hardwood in 1959. And hopefully adjusted their birth certificates accordingly. Cream of the Crop: Earl the Pearl, Black Magic, Black Jesus, Thomas Edison. BASKETBALL URBAN LEGEND: Allen Iverson was sued over his nickname of "The Answer.". However, he was graceful, fast, fluid and supremely skilled, and despite battling injuries his whole career, put up incredible stats. Chad Johnson, on the other hand gets a dishonorable mention here. An athlete's quest for greatness goes far beyond the playing field. Sound familiar? Report this user for behavior that violates our Community Guidelines. Submit your nickname or copy the best name style from the list. In his prime, nobody freed the beast quite like "Rampage" Jackson. End of story. He achieved all of these amazing totals but is just 18th in terms of games played in a career. . But here's a few of them: "The Big Fella," "Diesel . However, the most famous man still wearing 23 is LeBron James, a star in LA, like Beckham, who was inspired by Jordan, also like Beckham. Pretty frustrating, right? Jordan played 1054 of his 1072 regular-season games with the iconic 23, and he simply made it one of the most famous numbers in all of sports. ET. That said, he's thought of by most as, at worst, a top-15 player of all time, and at best, the greatest power forward in history. His nicknames come from his head of hair along with his wild play on the field. Tatum, one of the NFL's most feared and controversial hitters, was nicknamed "The Assassin" because of his violent, reckless style. He's been revered for his accomplishments, on 11 occasions. He doesn't get mentioned often as a "best player of all time" candidate, but go browse his statistics and you'll find that the last man to hit .400 for a season does in fact have a very legitimate claim to that crown. His dunks were so effortless in college that one coach remarked that watching him perform the feat, "looked like a dream." Advertisement. While "Babe" and "Bambino" are the opposite of intimidating, they are among the most iconic athlete names in sport. He also has the highest point per game total with 1.92. He was by no means a large and imposing figure, but he played with the bravery of a ten-foot-tall behemoth while also being the fastest player on the ice. Bookmark Quiz Bookmark Quiz Bookmark. godfrey family hawaii. He continued to don the 23 for the University of North Carolina and then most famously in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls. A three-time champion goalie with the Edmonton Oilers during the '80s, Andy Moog was 5'6" of pure inspiration. Report. There is very little that is "royal" or "dignified" about Barkley, and fans have long adored him for it. But it is Eldrick, and therefore Tiger is technically a nickname and one that honors one of his father, Earl's, military friends who also was called Tiger. Well, he borrows his friend Ray Robinson's birth certificate so that he can get around the AAU's age restriction and box. The name, then, makes perfect sense, but one almost wishes that it had been invented out of whole cloth, with no backstory at all. 12. LeBron James has also added immense greatness to the figure with his legendary, title-winning career with the Cleveland Cavaliers and LA Lakers (wearing 23). The Oklahoma product has the intense and mysterious persona to embrace any such name. "Darth" is obviously a Star Wars reference, to one of the greatest sci-fi/action villains of all time. Howe's career spanned five decades, and even Gretzky himself idolized Howe. A four-time Formula One Champion, Prost has the second most F1 titles of all time. Known colloquially as the best batsman in history not named Donald Bradman, Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar naturally earned his fair share of monikers during a historic career. The list goes on, as does Victorino, once dubbed The Energizer Bunny. These are the 25 worst nicknames for professional athletes. His natural ability coupled with a dizzying array of moves, including his signature "Dream shake," made guarding him more like a nightmare. Twenty-three is the number . I wanna be able to dunk on somebody like him. Cream of the Crop: Lionheart, Tarzan, Superman. There are only a handful of nicknames so ubiquitous that people start to think of them as the person's actual name. 25. Number of nicknames: 15+ officially (possibly up to 26), Cream of the crop: The Big Shaqtus, The Diesel, Shaq Fu, Wilt Chamberneezy, The Big Baryshnikov. They've defined careers and detailed one's true popularity. The seven-time World Series Champion and twelve-time American League home run Champion is number two on this list, but not by much. This clue last appeared January 18, 2023 in the NYT Crossword. Follow. The attention even got Smart a look in the NFL, and he managed to stick around for parts of five seasons, including 2003, when he scored his only NFL TD in style on a 100-yard kick return. A scrappy spark plug on the Phillies' championship club of 2008, speedster Shane Victorino was last seen patrolling the Los Angeles outfields at Dodger Stadium, a shell of his former self. Fans like to make a big stink about baseball players getting $325 million over thirteen years (Giancarlo Stanton, which averages out to $25 million per year) but Floyd Mayweather has made hundreds of millions in the last couple of years. This nickname needs no explanation, but one will be provided anyway. At just age 46, Walter Payton died of a liver disease in 1999. Similarly, nicknames can be intimidating, humorous or just clever. It was this steadiness that earned him his nickname. The only thing people remember about the XFL is that Vince McMahon created it and that Rod "He Hate Me" Smart was its biggest attraction. How does a guy born Walker Smith Jr. become "Sugar" Ray Robinson? New customers only. Despite having the swiftness of a 6'6" roll of dough, Sir Charles dominated the hardwood during his brilliant career. No, but it is one of the catchier nicknames out there even if Walcott is most known, unfortunately, for being on the receiving end of one of the hardest punches in boxing history courtesy of Rocky Marciano. In other words, Ben Zobrist. "The Sultan of Swat" presents a clever alliteration which indicates that he was the best hitter of his time. If you don't think beer and chicken wings pair up nicely with football, I suspect you may be an agent of the North Koreans. She is the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track event at the IAAF World U20 Championships. Randy Johnson is often referred to as The Big Unit, due to his 6'10 height and devastating fastball. Robinson, by far the greatest basketball player in Navy history, was a singularly dominant force in college and one of the greatest centers in NBA history. A huge number of fans would like to nickname as per the nickname of the star. Larry Jordan was actually the better basketball player when the pair were youngsters and MJ only picked up the sport in order to play with his older brother. 23 ever since his career started in 2012 and it is more than likely that he will be the last player in the history of the Warriors to wear that number. His nickname was given to him by a Sacramento Kings media relations staffer, who said his play reminded her of pickup games in Chicago. A three-time NBA champion, Green is also a three-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA, and five-time All-Defensive player. Additionally, his ability to survive and remain in good health twentyyears after an HIV diagnosis is nothing short of magic. 23 Other. While he remains one of the greatest 'field generals' in the league's history, there is no doubt that his constant attempts to fit passes into nearly impossible places were risky and occasionally lost games. He returned to Cleveland in 2014 and won the 2016 NBA title, before joining the LA Lakers in 2018 and achieving another championship with 23 on his jersey. Wayne Gretzky leads all NHL skaters in points by nearly 1000 points. 5 See also. With a hairstyle that is slammed on the other side of the Mr. Clean spectrum, Puyol continues to roar his way toward fashion-and-athletic greatness. Given that his heyday coincided nicely with the release of groundbreaking The Matrix Trilogy, the nickname was an especially appropriate one. Mancini started his career 29-1, and only a four-fight losing streak to end his time in the ring sullied an otherwise sterling record. I wanna be able to shoot like him. In this article, we will give you the five greatest NBA players who have worn the number in their careers. Carmelo Anthony, Alex Morgan, Dennis Rodman, Tiki Barber, and Ronde Barber, George Foreman, Terrell Owens, and Metta World Peace have all, for better or worse, written . Jones was so prolific at batting down passes during his time with the Cowboys that the NFL was compelled to start recording it as an official stat. 21 throughout his 19-year career a legendary . In a league known for flashy dunks, snappy dressing and colorful personalities, Duncan's favorite shot was the bank shot, he dressed like a teenager heading to school and was as soft-spoken as they come. Olajuwon is one of the greatest, smoothest big men ever to play basketball, and it is the latter quality that earned him his nickname. Overall, Davis has one NBA championship, eight All-Star appearances, four selections to the All-NBA teams and four to the All-Defensive teams. While successfully warming the Giants bench, Lorenzen won a championship and added to his lengthy list of humbling nicknames. In that year he managed to get 11 sacks, which was actually two under his career average of 13 per season. 23, LeBron James is 'The King' of the NBA and won two titles with No. Unique lists featuring pop culture, entertainment and crazy facts. Before Jeremy Lin came along, there was a gravity-defying youngster by the name of Vince Carter who performed superhuman, thought-to-be-impossible moves with a basketball in his hands. NBA Trade Rumors: 5 Teams that should target LaMarcus Aldridge. Undrafted in 2008, Green-Ellis ran for 275 yards in his rookie year with five touchdowns. In only three NFL seasons, Kentucky Fried Lorenzen accomplished more than most starting quarterbacks can hope to achieve in a lifetime. Although his career as a basketball player ended many years ago, Michael Jordan's legacy lives on. We spoke to him about the numbers four and 23. I wanna be able to fly like him, James said. The nickname was so widely used that the only people who didn't address him as such were public address announcers in visiting arenas, likely tired of having Johnson school the home team. That name morphed into "Dr. J," and the rest, as they say, is history. T ennis legend Martina Navratilova, who is openly lesbian, has been ousted from the board of Athlete Ally, a nonprofit that promotes LGBT inclusion in sports. There are plenty of honorable mentions for a list like this. YOU. Randy Johnson is often referred to as The Big Unit, due to his 6'10 height and devastating fastball. So when I started playing basketball, I was like: Oh man, that two-three looks good. As a result, Chuck earned every hefty nickname one could possibly script. In NBA history, 237 players have worn the number, whether it was for a full career or for a single game, according to Basketball Reference. As great as it was, it was also the basis for one of the legendary lines of trash talk in league history. Number of Names: Four+ (new ones every day), Cream of the Crop: High Griffinition, Carrot Hops, The Jambulance. Wepner, who inspired Sylvester Stallone to write the script for "Rocky," is well known for falling mere seconds short of going the full 15-round distance with Muhammad Ali and for knocking Ali down in their fight.