Both the nickname "Celtics" and their mascot "Lucky the Leprechaun" are a nod to Boston's historically large Irish population, and also to the Original Celtics, a marquee team prior to the NBA.

With such creative aliases as Big Head, Bubba, Bandicoot, The Goat, Big Belly, J-Mac or Big Smoke, you’d have to work hard to guess who they might be. Others — like Big Tack, Pogo Stick, Big Deuce, No Fall or Nesquick — aren’t especially tough to decipher. And still others are simply the nicknames we fans use as well, like Juice or Smarty.