Welcome to Part 2 of NBA player nicknames from the decades.
Today we cover the groovy 60s.
Big thanks to the nickname curators at Basketball-Reference who filed nicknames for over 1,900 players in NBA history.
I tip my cap to their dedication.
Just like Part 1, we have a word cloud with all eligible players.
This time it’s anyone who began their NBA career in the 1960’s.
Here’s a random sports injury report from the NYT back in 1973.
What a burying of the lede masterpiece by the NYT.
What is it with NBA players getting hurt doing yard work?
I’m just going to assume this guy is related to Jaylen Brown.
You have to respect Cunningham’s game here.
The man was addicted to doing the dirty work and mixing things up.
But give him credit.
From an ESPN Century biography:
“I knew everybody’s shot in the NBA,” he said.
I just logged that into my basketball computer in my mind."
Just an unfortunate situation.
Poor guy was probably just hungry.
There’s no shame in liking a hambone.
I don’t think I’ve ever had one but I hear they make a good soup.
I found no source explaining this one.
I had no idea he made his money not only being a vertical threat but a horizontal one too.
No wonder the triangle offense was built on the idea of letting people take turns penetrate to the rack.
“Jumpin Joe” vs “Leapin Lee”
Nickname off!
We actually have two Jumpin Joes (Joe Ellis and Joe Buckhalter) vs Lee Winfield.
Turns out, they all were good at jumping/leaping.
Riveting stuff, I know.
Carter started his NBA career in the late 60s so he must have earned the nickname after the movie.
That concludes my research on George Carter.
Let’s talk about this movie.
I’m putting Dirty Dingus Magee on my “must watch” list.
Here’s a quick sum up on the plot.
Then Hoke starts stealing and decides he likes being a thief too!
So Dirty Dingus then decides HE wants to be Sheriff to get back at Hoke.
Spoiler alert - it ends in a truce where both men burn a brothel to the ground.
That’s it for 60s.
Be back for that 70s blog soon.
