Chicago Bulls: What is Michael Jordan’s best nickname?

Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan has approximately one million stellar nicknames. Which one is the best?

Cool nicknames are part of what make professional sports so fun. If fans had to refer to players by their first and last names at all times, it would get boring in the blink of an eye. It’s awesome to be able to refer to LeBron James as simply The King. Every basketball fan knows who The King is.

Sometimes, nicknames can even get a little creative and blend with something personal about the player. A couple examples: The Greek Freak and The Beard.

The Greek Freak plays off of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s alien-like athletic ability as well as his Greek heritage. The Beard is fairly self-explanatory: James Harden has a huge beard, and it’s become a part of his basketball identity. If he ever shaves it off, the nickname would be meaningless.

If you’re good enough (or cool enough), you can even have multiple recognizable nicknames. Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan is one of those guys. He has a ton of awesome nicknames. This begs the question: Which one is the best?

Michael Jordan’s best nickname

Let’s start with the two most simple nicknames: Mike and MJ.

It’s actually a powerful testament to Jordan’s greatness that simply shortening his first name to Mike has become such an iconic nickname. If you’re talking about basketball, and you mention Mike, everyone knows who you’re talking about. The same thing can be said about his initials. How cool is it that his initials have become so iconic to every sports fan? That’s the power that MJ has. That’s the power that Mike has.

Mike and MJ don’t quite qualify for the award of “best nickname,” though. They’re just a little too simple. Let’s move onto some cooler ones: Black Cat, Money, Mr. June, G.O.A.T., Superman, Black Jesus and Captain Marvel.

Those nicknames are all awesome, but outside of G.O.A.T., they aren’t used all that much. And with the greatest of all time status seemingly always up for debate, it can’t quite count as his best nickname. For those reasons, all of those names are out of the running. Now let’s move on to the final tier: the favorites.

The two Michael Jordan nicknames that stand out above the rest are His Airness and Air Jordan. They’re unique, they’re creative, they have historical basketball significance — they have everything you want out of a nickname. They’re 1A and 1B in the Michael Jordan nickname discussion. But it’s actually pretty clear which one is 1A.

It’s Air Jordan.

Not only is it the best nickname Jordan has, but it’s arguably the best nickname in the history of professional sports. That nickname inspired an entire sneaker culture. How many other nicknames have done that? Whether or not it’s the best nickname in sports history, it’s definitely the most influential.

Michael Jordan has a lot of cool nicknames — more than any other basketball player ever— and Air Jordan is the best one.