Add The Crypt to crazy name game

Getting to know the NBA on an arena-name basis

LOS ANGELES —So it’s a done deal, Staples Center is changing its name to Crypto.com Arena. And NBA Twitter has signed off, its nickname will heretofore be The Crypt.

With corporations owning the naming rights to most major sporting venues these days, a good nickname is crucial, although there are a few cases in which the official name is pretty spectacular itself.

Where does Crypto.com Arena/ the Crypt rank among NBA arena names/nicknames (or potential nicknames)?

Here are our favourites, listed in reverse order:

Paycom Arena (Oklahoma City): The Thunderdome is kind of an obvious nickname for any building a team called the Thunder calls home, but it works.

Little Caesars Arena (Detroit): A few locals pushed an excellent nickname that includes nods to the corporate sponsor and Detroit’s old Joe Louis Arena: The DoughJoe. Sure hope that one caught on.

Intuit Dome (Los Angeles Clippers, scheduled to open in 2024): Pretty cool official name — fans might really get, ahem, into it.

Footprint Center (Phoenix): Its most common nickname is the Purple Palace, but the new corporate name (since June) is better.

Madison Square Garden (New York Knicks): A venue with a name so classic that a corporation (now known as MSG Sports) was named after it, instead of the other way around. No need for a fancy nickname — MSG and The Garden are just fine.

Ball Arena (Denver): A basketball venue called Ball Arena doesn’t require a nickname, does it?

Toyota Center (Houston): Clutch City might be the only arena nickname apparently recognized by the U.S. Postal Service as an actual address.

Spectrum Center (Charlotte): The Hornets’ home has two solid nicknames — The Hive, in honour of the NBA tenants, and The Cable Box, for the corporate sponsor.

vivint arena (Utah): Points for the all-lower-case name? OK, sure. Was once known as The Dump (a reference to hazardous waste) when the arena’s naming rights were owned by EnergySolutions.

FedExForum (Memphis): Points for making the name all one word? OK, sure. The Grindhouse also is a fantastic nickname, a reference to longtime player Tony (The Grindfather) Allen.

Golden 1 Center (Sacramento): Any nickname formed by combining letters and numbers sounds cool. That applies to G1C and The G1 for the Kings’ home.

Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee): The Four-One-Forum nickname (a reference to the 414 area code) is pretty original. Fiserv sounds cool as far as corporate names go, too.

Crypto.com Arena (L.A. Lakers and Clippers): The Crypt is simultaneously the most obvious and most excellent nickname for a sports arena. It’s that bulky official name that’s keeping the downtown L.A. venue out of the top spot.

Smoothie King Center (New Orleans): It’s a good thing The Blender is such a great nickname; otherwise the Pelicans’ home would be docked points for even having a nickname since the corporate name is so amazing.