Typically, you can’t give yourself a nickname. That is, of course, unless you’re Nick Young, aka Swaggy P (aka The Splash Brother Who Did A Bit In San Quentin). He’s the exception rather than the rule. If we let everyone do it, we’d be out here calling Kevin Durant “The Servant.” Which, yuck.
But sometimes, in the heat of the moment, you strike gold. For instance, after a huge playoff performance with the Portland Trailblazers a few years back, a reporter told Will Barton that he was trending on Twitter, to which he responded by shrugging and uttering the phrase that would become his nickname from that day forth: “People’s Champ.”
Something similar happened with Paul George on Sunday night after he dropped 36 points, including eight three-pointers, to lead the Thunder to a Game 1 victory over the Utah Jazz. Speaking to the media after the game, he reminded reporters that his alter ego “Playoff P” has been around for some time (even if it caught his star teammates off guard), and it didn’t take long for fans in OKC to immortalize that new self-appointed nom de guerre on a local billboard (because that’s apparently still a thing).
For those of you not in the OKC area… here is one of the #PlayoffP billboards we are currently running. #ThunderOnPG #ooh pic.twitter.com/TnjYQwgUE7
— Lamar of Oklahoma City (@LamarOKC) April 17, 2018
In the year 2018, there’s really no logical explanation for the resurgence of the billboard, that most anachronistic of marketing tools, so it’s no use trying to understand it.
The city of Philadelphia first resurrected it in hopes of luring LeBron to town in free agency, and several other cities – Los Angeles, Portland, and some place in New Zealand – quickly followed suit.
“Playoff P” was an instant hit, both in name and performance, and the Thunder and their fans are hoping to see more of him when Game 2 tips off back in OKC on Wednesday night.
