If you belong in the latter category, check out the cheat sheet below. Some are better than others, but at the very least, maybe a couple will help you jumpstart your creative juices. When in doubt, make a play on a player’s name or nickname (bonus points if it involves a music or movie reference). Call it the Three-P Rule: Players, Puns and Pop Culture. There are a multitude of options when taking this route, but here are a few ideas to get you started:
MORE FANTASY NBA: 30 teams, 30 sleepers | PG sleepers | SG sleepers | SF sleepers | PF/C sleepers
Best fantasy basketball team names for 2015
Curry Fried Ice. Does it make sense? Eh, not really, but he is cold-blooded on the court.
Carmelo Macchiato
How Deep is Your Love?. Even better if you have Jrue Holiday and George Hill on the roster.
Boogie Nights
Boogie-Towns Productions. You gotta draft DeMarcus Cousins and Karl-Anthony Towns, but that’s a very, very small price to pay for this team name.
Boom Chicka Brow-Brow. Because if you own Anthony Davis, his highlights should be accompanied by a porn-like soundtrack.
Waka Ibaka Flame - Adding Serge Ibaka to Waka Flocka Flame nets you this gem.
Go Harden the Paint - A play on one of the aforementioned Waka Flocka Flame’s singles.
Good Day to Die Harden
Scratch My Mirotic
Dame Gasol-ina
Pau-er Hour
Ain’t Over Til Ilyasova
Lance A Make ‘Em Dance - A play on Juicy J’s hit single
Bosh Spice - Admittedly a piece of low-hanging fruit, but who doesn’t like a good Spice Girls reference? (Most people, probably.)
Jazze Fa-vors - A combo of music producer Jazze Pha and Derrick Favors.
Gettin’ Wiggy With It. Will Smith is back to rapping again, after all!
There’s Always Room for D’an-Jello. There’s an unfortunate connection here with a certain Jell-O spokesman, but whatever – D’Angelo Russell is sweet.
License to Illard (or Time to Get Illard)
Out of your Teague
Secret Sauce Castillo
Some of us can’t nor want to separate our fantasy squads from the real life ones we root for. Here are some team-specific names for the homers and/or fantasy owners who wind up with a bunch of one team’s players on their squad:
Bulls on Parade
Running of the Bulls
Jazz Hands
Jackson’s 5
Kings of Queen City. Charlotte is nicknamed the “Queen City”, so this isn’t to be confused with anything Sacramento-related. Of course, it probably would be anyway.
I’m Yelling Timber!
Pass the Buck
What the Buck?!
Bringin’ the Heat
Heat Check
Suns-day Funday
Backdoor Gryffindors. You can go with any Harry Potter reference – if you’re into that sort of thing – for the Wizards and the Magic.
And finally, a few generic team names that work in the fantasy NBA setting:
White Walkers. Did you end up with a lot of white players on your team? Great. Do they travel a lot? Even better. Jokes aside, if you’re familiar with Game of Thrones, you know the White Walkers aren’t to be played with.
Confidential Informants (C.I.s). If you’re point guard heavy, your team is going to be dropping dimes. Just remember what happens to snitches, though…
Baller Blockin’. Also the name of an early-2000 Cash Money MIllionaires movie that is undoubtedly so bad that it’s a must-see.
