You've heard Shaquille O'Neal call them the Sacramento Queens. You've heard Chris Webber say Phil Jackson should be the one with the asterisk on his championship. You've heard Jackson dismiss the Kings as "folders" and wonder aloud if Keon Clark is a "stopgap in case Webber has to go to jail." You've heard Vlade Divac optimistically tout Yugoslavia's chances to beat the United States at the World Championships because "just like playing the Lakers, the better team sometimes loses."

So, yeah, the NBA's return to ESPN might seem a little like Friday Night Fights. L.A. and Sactown are always jabbing.

To properly tip off a new round, we had to share one you probably haven't heard, maybe the most original line yet in the running (off at the mouth) chatter between the NBA's two best teams.

Samaki Walker, in the Kings' camp, is known as "Coattails."

Early in last spring's epic Western Conference finals, Walker was quoted as saying of Sacramento that that "this team has been known to fold." The Kings were livid, given that Walker isn't exactly Shaq or Phil or Kobe Bryant -- and it only made them madder when Walker's after-the-buzzer triple leading into halftime of Game 4, which replays showed shouldn't have counted, helped swing the series. That cemented Walker as "Coattails" on first reference in the Kings' camp.

If you like the verbal back-and-forth, stay tuned. Safe to say "Coattails" won't be the last snide nickname you hear from these two corners.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. E-mail him at marc.stein@espn3.com.