Getting a nickname in sports is a milestone of its own, but not all nicknames are created equal. Here are some of the best of in the PBA.
Poor Ranidel de Ocampo, the oft-called “Pambansang Siko” who never got a proper nickname. RDO? Nope, the TNT legend and Gilas great deserved a nickname far better than his initials. He deserved a nom de guerre along the lines of the following nicknames, which are arguably the 10 best in PBA history.
- The Living Legend – Sonny Jaworski is a god-like figure for the Ginebra franchise, having lit the fire that is never-say-die and transforming the team into a crowd darling. “The Big J” nickname is just not enough to embody the legend that is Jawo.
- The Aerial Voyager – When prime Vergel Meneses got airborne, it seemed he could stay there forever. “The Aerial Voyager” is a nod to that unrivaled hang time and Meneses’s breathtaking aerial acrobatics.
- The Scholar – Phillip Cezar was known as a stopper, but he was just as good at the post as anyone in the old days. He was so good it seemed he was “schooling” defenders, hence he was nicknamed “The Scholar.”
- The Sultan of Swipe – When it came to on-court thievery, Bernie Fabiosa was peerless back in the day. The “Sultan of Swipe” recorded 1,235 steals in just 788 games thanks to his cat-quick reflexes and exceptional timing.
- The Point Laureate – Laureates are intellectuals, and there were few as smart as Ronnie Magsanoc was in his heyday. He controlled the game as deftly as anyone, with a knack for making all the right reads, all the right passes, all the right moves—a point (guard) laureate through and through.
- Captain Lionheart – Alvin Patrimonio mostly went by “The Captain” but “Captain Lionheart” best captured the essence of Patrimonio’s game—fierce, fiery, all heart. And, yes, he was a captain in every sense, leading the Purefoods franchise to multiple championships in the 1990s.
- The Triggerman – A marksman with no equal, Allan Caidic was always ready to pull that trigger, and he did so quickly and effortlessly. All The Triggerman needed was a sliver of daylight and that shot is in the air, ready to swish.
- Demolition Man – For a time, Danny Ildefonso was the preeminent post player in the PBA, demolishing opponents with brute force sprinkled with some grace and finesse.
- Iron Man – This nickname, given to Dante Gonzalgo back in the day, was not a nod to Tony Stark’s alter-ego in the comics. Rather, it was a tribute to Gonzalgo’s durability—280 straight games from 1987 to 1991–and rugged, take-no-prisoners style of play.
- Defense Minister – Jerry Codiñera made hay on defense, and he was damn good at it. D was his domain, and he was the minister of it.
Any cool nicknames we missed out?