A good nickname is organic. It flows. The best nicknames become more synonymous with the player than their legal names. Think of “The Great One,” “Babe” Ruth, or more recently, “Money Moody,” if you think of the Wolverines.
The old adage regarding nicknames was you could not give yourself one. Which was true until Kobe Bryant bestowed his own in 2003 after watching Kill Bill. And if your self-proclaimed nickname is as strong and apt as “The Black Mamba,” it’ll stick.
But if it’s like my high school football teammate who insisted on being called “The Machine,” you’ll be rightfully ridiculed even 17 years later in digital print.