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NBA fans in China give players great nicknames

According to historian Nick Kapur, some NBA fans in China call Manu Ginobili "The Demon Blade."

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili shoots over Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless and Trail Blazers' forward Ed Davis during a game at the Moda Center. Photo by Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA is immensely popular in China, where official sources use phonetic transcriptions to translate player names into Chinese characters. According to East Asian historian Nick Kapur on Twitter, these translations are boring when compared to the nicknames that fans in China use.

Many of these nicknames are puns, derived from a combination of the player's name, English nickname, or reputation in the NBA. Some of the nicknames for past and current Spurs players are amazing.

Some nicknames are straightforward or are direct translations of the English:

James Harden - 大胡子 "The Big Beard"
Paul Pierce - 真理 "The Truth"
Allen Iverson - 答案 "The Answer"
Gary Patyon - 手套 "The Glove"
Kawhi Leonard - 可愛 - means "cute" but sounds like "Kawhi"
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 7, 2018

Manu Ginobili - 妖刀 "The Demon Blade"

Perhaps the coolest nickname of them all, Ginobili earned this moniker for his ability to slash to the hoop using tricky footwork like the Eurostep.
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 7, 2018

Vehicle nicknames!

Dirk Nowitzki is 德国战车, "The German Panzer Tank"

Tony Parker is 法国小跑车, "The Little French Sports Car"
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 7, 2018

Tim Duncan - 石佛 "The Stone Buddha"

Due to his perceived unemotional nature
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 7, 2018

So many Mambas!

Chinese netizens love to adapt Kobe's nickname "Black Mamba" (黑曼巴) for other players.
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 8, 2018

Of course they translated "White Mamba" (白曼巴) for Brian Scalabrine and "Red Mamba" (红曼巴) for Matt Bonner. But they respect the "Mamba" name & prefer to apply it to somewhat more prominent players.

They're also more creative than just changing the color of the snake...
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 8, 2018

Some of the nicknames are not as kind to the players.

James Harden is the "Free Throw Mamba" (罚曼巴) for his otherworldly ability to get to the free throw line.

More critically, he is known by haters as the "Porcelain Mamba" (瓷曼巴), suggesting that he gets fouls from barely being touched or by flopping.
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 8, 2018

Eric Gordon is the "Round Face Mamba" (π曼巴, literally "Pi Mamba") because his face is really, really round.

They have memes that prove this: pic.twitter.com/lRXDGXImGp
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 8, 2018

Manu Ginobili became known as the "Bald Mamba" (秃曼巴) once he started going bald.
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 8, 2018

Sometimes the Chinese give people feminized nicknames if they think they are too soft or do not conform to masculine stereotypes.

Thus Pau Gasol is 家嫂 (jia sao, "Sister-in-Law") since it sounds a bit like "Gasol."
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 7, 2018

Boogie Cousins - 表妹 "Younger Female Cousin"

They directly translated his last name into Chinese, but went with the most effeminate version possible.
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 7, 2018

Kyle Anderson - 人类蠕动精华 "Human Peristalsis"

Because he plays so slowly
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 7, 2018

Charles Barkley - 飞猪 "The Flying Pig"

Self-explanatory.
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 7, 2018

There are even a few that include some vulgar language, so we won't put them here. If you want to see the full list, click on any of the tweets to view the full thread. Then let us know on our Facebook page which nickname is your favorite!