Nick Collison is back with another great blog post at GQ. In this one, he shares a little bit of inside intel about how the Thunder guys relate to each other, and more importantly, how Nick assigns nicknames to each player.
Vol. 5: Why I Take My Nickname-Creation Duties Very, Very Seriously | GQ
For your convenience, I have extracted from his post the various nicknames the Thunder players have acquired. The next time you are watching the Thunder play and wonder how you should cheer on reserve center Cole Aldrich, just start yelling, "COLE SORE!" and you will become the most knowledgeable and popular person at your Thunder-watch party.
| Player | Nickname(s) | Reason |
| Cole Aldrich | Cole Sore | Play on words, kind of disgusting |
| Nick Collison | Boog, Los | He picked his nose once; Perk thought he'd make a good 'Los' |
| Daequan Cook | DC | Initials, DC for 3 is catchy |
| Kevin Durant | KD, Slim | Initials, Durant is skinny |
| James Harden | Jimbo Slice | Harden has the Kimbo Slice beard |
| Lazar Hayward | Laser Tag, Zar-Zar Binks | Play on unusual first name, reference to Star Wars Episode I |
| Serge Ibaka | Serge | Nobody wanted to call him "Chewy" |
| Royal Ivey | Cheese | Reference to Pulp Fiction |
| Reggie Jackson | October, Better Basketball | Reference to baseball great Reggie Jackson, appears in NBA TV instructional videos |
| Eric Maynor | E, Sleazy-E | First initial, ironic play on Maynor's total lack of sleaziness |
| Nazr Mohammed | Naz, ODB | Abbreviated, ODB because Nazr is the oldest member of the team |
| Kendrick Perkins | Yung Hawg | He gave it to himself. You got a problem with that? |
| Ryan Reid | Piglet, Rupert | Aspires to be a Yung Hawg one day, Rupert is an epic middle name |
| Thabo Sefolosha | Selfishlosha | Ironic, since Thabo is one of the more hesitant shooters on the team |
| Russell Westbrook | Russ, Russheed Wallace | Abbreviated, named after Rasheed Wallace due to his technicals |
| Scott Brooks | Wolf | That's mine. |
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If you want to read all of Collison's blog entries, you can find them here:
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