I have already talked about how much the Chinese people love basketball. Yao Ming has to be the most popular NBA player in China, but that doesn’t mean that other NBA players are not popular there. In 2009/10 season, Kobe Bryant had the most popular jersey in China. Here are the top five:
Kobe Bryant - Lakers
LeBron James – Cavaliers (then)/Heat (now)
Dwight Howard - Magic
Kevin Garnett - Celtics
Derrick Rose - Bulls
You must have already gotten yourself a Chinese name by now. Just so that these NBA players do not fall behind, Chinese people have given nicknames to their favorite NBA players. Here are few of them:
Kobe Bryant: 小飞侠 (Xiǎo fēi xiá): Little Flying Warrior
LeBron James: 小皇帝 (Xiǎo huángdì): Little Emperor
Dirk Nowitzki: 德国战车 (Déguó zhàn chē): German Racecar
Carmelo Anthony: 甜瓜 (Tiánguā): Sweet Melon
Richard Hamilton: 面具人 (Miànjù rén): Man in the Mask
Shaquille O’Neal: 俠客 (Xiákè): Warrior
Dwyane Wade: 闪电侠 (Shǎndiàn xiá): The Flash
Tim Duncan: 石佛 (Shí fú): Stone Buddha
Check the NBA website for the Chinese nicknames of more NBA players.
This is really interesting. How widespread are these, will most people know them? What if you just translated their English name into Chinese, do they use that as well?
ReplyDeleteNot sure how widespread they are. I have watched NBA with some Chinese people in China and never heard anyone use these nicknames. Maybe they just didn't use it because I was around?
ReplyDeleteI'm so going to use one of these next time somebody asks my Chinese name... AWESOME!
ReplyDelete学生:你叫什么名字?
我: 我是小皇帝!
老百姓: 哇!
haha let me know how that goes...but these names are interesting, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteO'Neal's nickname is 大鲨鱼Big Shark
ReplyDeleteThank you for adding one more to the list
ReplyDelete