Artist & illustrator Marlon Sassy impressed a lot of people recently by dropping a compilation LP called Gangster Music, Vol. 1, which he curated under the popular alias Gangster Doodles. Now, he’s pushing that moniker even further by linking with Nike for a graphic tee capsule collection that pays homage to your favorite NBA player’s signature nicknames.
The sports stars of this collab include DeMarcus Cousins, Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James — well, more like “Boogie,” “Greek Freak,” “The Beard,” “Hey Brodie” and “King James,” respectively. Cousins’ aka derives from his dance-like dribbling skills that originated during his Kentucky Wildcats days. Antetokounmpo’s is a bit more obvious, with his nickname being a direct reference to his origins in Athens and freakishly tall 6’11 frame. Harden, well, no need to explain there — you can see “the beard” clearly on his face! Westbrook has never really confirmed it, but “The Brodie” is pretty much just a terms for him being “that dude” when it comes to mixing sports, fashion, sneaker culture and acting if you consider that one time he was on the Nickelodeon TV series Henry Danger. As for LeBron, if his multiple NBA championships, all 15 times he was a NBA All Star, Olympic gold medals and countless other accomplishments isn’t king-worthy in your eyes, starring in Space Jam 2 should seal the deal. Each player lives up to their aka without question, and Gangster Doodles did a bang-up job at bringing out those personalities through his signature animation style.
The Gangster Doodles x Nike “NBA Nickname” T-Shirt collection will retail for $40 USD each and is expected to hit Nike.com very soon. Check out the rest below as well as the NTS Mix of Gangster Music, Vol. 1:
