Rankings the best NBA nicknames of all time

24. Sauce Castillo

Unparalleled by any of the other names on this list, Nik Stauskas earned his moniker in perhaps the least flashy manner imaginable: a closed-captioning error bestowed the Canadian guard with a name that most closely resembles an algorithmic product of bilingual food enthusiasm. From a March 2015 game against the Philadelphia Sixers onward, to a particular subset of NBA enthusiasts, Nik Stauskas will forever be Sauce Castillo.

The eighth overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft out of Michigan, where he had been a second-team All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year in his sophomore season on the way to leading the Wolverines to the Elite Eight, Stauskas arrived in Sacramento with a familiar promise that was all-too-quickly sapped by the endemic troubling culture of the Kings franchise. He lasted only a season in California before being shipped to Philadelphia, but his one season contained the game against his future franchise which would leave a lasting impact on his career in a very non-basketball way.

Early in the second quarter, with the Kings down six, Stauskas received a pass from Professor Andre Miller on the left wing, set his feet and knocked down a three to cut the lead in half. It was a good basketball play, to be certain, but nothing totally out-of-the-ordinary, particularly given Stauskas’ reputation as a shooter. Closed captioning elevated the play moments later when the words Sauce Castillo appeared on screen. Stauskas validated it to a degree by addressing it on Twitter, and now, you can purchase a sponsored bottle of Sauce Castillo hot sauce for $4.99.