If you think "The Baby-Faced Assassin" is a good nickname for Stephen Curry, wait until you hear what the Chinese call him.
A fascinating Twitter thread by Japan and East Asia historian Nick Kapur explored the colorful nicknames that NBA-crazed Chinese fans have for their favorite players and talked about their origins.
Some of the monikers extol a player's virtues while at the same time slyly casting shade at their shortcomings or making snarky puns.
Certain former players are also given this double-edged treatment. For example, Kapur says, "Charles Barkley is called a fat pig, but he's a flying fat pig (u98deu732a) — high praise, since the character for 'flying' normally is reserved for players who take their game above the rim.