# The 13 Best Sports Nicknames of All Time

> Some are earned in a ring, some handed over by a sportswriter, and a few were simply announced by the man himself. Which nickname has the best claim?

*By YPB Team · Published August 2, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-13-best-sports-nicknames-of-all-time*

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## Current results (0 votes)

1. **Iron Mike**
   Mike Tyson's nickname, earned by the most explosive heavyweight start boxing has seen.
2. **The Greatest**
   Muhammad Ali named himself, then spent two decades making it stick.
3. **His Airness**
   Michael Jordan, for a hang time that looked like a rules violation.
4. **The Great One**
   Wayne Gretzky, the only nickname in hockey that needs no surname.
5. **The Black Mamba**
   Kobe Bryant picked it himself after a Tarantino film.
6. **Magic**
   Earvin Johnson got it from a sportswriter at 15 and never lost it.
7. **The Sultan of Swat**
   Babe Ruth, the most gloriously overwritten nickname in American sport.
8. **Broadway Joe**
   Joe Namath, for the fur coats as much as the arm.
9. **The Answer**
   Allen Iverson, six foot nothing and the whole offence.
10. **Smokin' Joe**
   Joe Frazier, a nickname that described the left hook precisely.
11. **The Round Mound of Rebound**
   Charles Barkley, the rare nickname that insults and compliments at once.
12. **The Refrigerator**
   William Perry, 350 pounds of Chicago Bears defensive line.
13. **The Flying Finn**
   Paavo Nurmi ran with a stopwatch in his hand.

Tags: sports, all-time, nicknames