[NHL vs NBA] Which trio of players were better at their respective sport?

[slapKing]

Simply put, comparing these sport titans, which trio is the better one?

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[KoozNetsOff 92]

Gretzky, Lemieux, Jordan and LeBron are all top 4 players (not getting into debates about who ranks where). Crosby and Kobe can be argued anywhere from 5-15 but Crosby has a better argument for 5th than Kobe.

 

[doomscroll]

In terms of separation from the rest of their respective leagues in pure statistical standings, it’s the NHL group. If you include championships, showmanship, and popularity, it’s the NBA group by far. Competitive sports have always been largely about representation, so when you talk about someone being “better” at a sport, it’s hard to not evoke reasons that draw someone to a game to begin with. Advocacy is a huge part of professional sports, and in that vein Jordan was a far-superior advocate for basketball than Gretzky was for Hockey.

Gretzky and Lemieux helped popularize the NHL in the United States, but Jordan and Kobe popularized the NB worldwide. You could argue endlessly about who was better at the game, but there is no question as to who was better for the game.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Kobe really stands out as by far the worst player here

 

[Hisch13r]

Kobe is the clear weak link here. Both have the top 2 all time. Sid is arguably top 5. Kobe is arguably top 10.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Gretzky, Lemieux, Jordan and LeBron are all top 4 players (not getting into debates about who ranks where). Crosby and Kobe can be argued anywhere from 5-15 but Crosby has a better argument for 5th than Kobe.

Kobe really stands out as by far the worst player here

Kobe is the clear weak link here. Both have the top 2 all time. Sid is arguably top 5. Kobe is arguably top 10.

Pretty much this.

Gretzky and Jordan more or less cancel each other out.

Lemieux and LeBron cancel each other out.

Crosby is better at hockey than Kobe was at basketball.

Crosby has an argument for top 5-7, whereas Kobe is top 10 at best, meaning 9-10th at the highest.

 

[Johnny Tomala]

Kobe Bryant is not Top 10 basketball player of all time. He is clearly the weak link. NHL trio wins this one.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Kobe is so overrated it hurts. If he hadn't died unexpectedly, no one would be pumping him as a Top 5 player all time.

 

[NigerianNightmare]

Kobe Bryant is not Top 10 basketball player of all time. He is clearly the weak link. NHL trio wins this one.

I don't think Crosby is Top 10 hockey player of all time.

So Bryant and Crosby cancel each other out.

LeBron is a little bit overrated. That's why the hockey trio wins, by an inch and half

PS. Polls in here are becoming weirder everyday. I wonder what's next - maybe Newsy Lalonde vs Oscar Robertson???

 

[bsu]

I don't think Crosby is Top 10 hockey player of all time.

So Bryant and Crosby cancel each other out.

LeBron is a little bit overrated. That's why the hockey trio wins, by an inch and half

PS. Polls in here are becoming weirder everyday. I wonder what's next - maybe Newsy Lalonde vs Oscar Robertson???

LeBron is a bit overrated? Lol remind me not to get any basketball opinions from you.

 

[NigerianNightmare]

Of course he is. Lost 6

LeBron is a bit overrated? Lol remind me not to get any basketball opinions from you.

Of course, James is overrated. A journeyman who managed to lose 6 out of 10 finals playing for stacked teams

 

[bsu]

Of course he is. Lost 6


Of course, James is overrated. A journeyman who managed to lose 6 out of 10 finals playing for stacked teams

Stacked teams.... Did you watch the beginning of his career as well? He carried a bunch of literal bums to the finals multiple times. Eric snow, Daniel Gibson were starters.... If you even know who that is. I'm not gonna argue anymore about it just an absolutely terrible take.

I'm not even a LeBron fan I think he flops too much but I still respect one of the GOATs. He literally just averaged 30.3 points and turns 38 this year.

 

[bsu]

Kobe Bryant is not Top 10 basketball player of all time. He is clearly the weak link. NHL trio wins this one.

He's top 10 but closer to 10 than 5.

 

[NigerianNightmare]

I watched

Stacked teams.... Did you watch the beginning of his career as well? He carried a bunch of literal bums to the finals multiple times. Eric snow, Daniel Gibson were starters.... If you even know who that is. I'm not gonna argue anymore about it just an absolutely terrible take.

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I'm not even a LeBron fan I think he flops too much but I still respect one of the GOATs.

Yes I have watched him since day 1 (heck, I even watched Kareem as a Laker). That's why I can tell you - LeBron is top 10 all time but nowhere near the top men like Jordan, Chamberlain or Robertson

 

[Volica]

He's top 10 but closer to 10 than 5.

Ehh.
I could see someone arguing this, but I think without the tragic end to his life, he doesn't get ranked as high.

Just off the top.
Jordan, LeBron, Bird, Magic, Wilt and Kareem are all shoulders above.

Then you have guys like Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West that are always beloved in terms of GOATs in the NBA. It's hard for us to rank these guys that are from that 60's-70's eras outside of Kareem and Wilt who are above and beyond their counterparts at the time.

Then you have that next tier of guys: Kobe, Shaq, Dirk, Sir Charles, KG, Mailman.

Then you have the new era of guys joining these lists: KD, Chef.

I could see someone arguing it one way or another, I probably have Kobe outside the top 10, but he's definitely one of the most influential players to ever lace up his shoes. The league could use more guys that played the game as serious as him now, for sure.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Gretzky's individual dominance is unmatched in NBA. Maybe Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game is a close comparable in that no one else has ever replicated the feat.

 

[Johnny Tomala]

I don't think Crosby is Top 10 hockey player of all time.

So Bryant and Crosby cancel each other out.

LeBron is a little bit overrated. That's why the hockey trio wins, by an inch and half

PS. Polls in here are becoming weirder everyday. I wonder what's next - maybe Newsy Lalonde vs Oscar Robertson???

I have LeBron as fourth best of all time. I also don't have Crosby as top 10.

My top 10 basketball players ever in order: Jordan, KAJ, Russell, LBJ, Wilt, Magic, Bird, Hakeem, Duncan, Shaq.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Stacked teams.... Did you watch the beginning of his career as well? He carried a bunch of literal bums to the finals multiple times. Eric snow, Daniel Gibson were starters.... If you even know who that is. I'm not gonna argue anymore about it just an absolutely terrible take.

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I'm not even a LeBron fan I think he flops too much but I still respect one of the GOATs. He literally just averaged 30.3 points and turns 38 this year.

You’re replying to a troll, just read their post history.

There’s no argument for LeBron being anything lower than 3rd, and he’s 2nd on most consensus lists.

There’s only an extremely weak argument to be made for Crosby being outside of the top 10 and the argument for him to be 5th is actually stronger than the argument that he isn’t top 10.

You might be the only person that doesn’t have that poster blocked, I think a bunch of people blocked them back when they tried to claim that Crosby was on the same level as Francis and Fedorov.

 

[bsu]

You’re replying to a troll, just read their post history.

There’s no argument for LeBron being anything lower than 3rd, and he’s 2nd on most consensus lists.

There’s only an extremely weak argument to be made for Crosby being outside of the top 10 and the argument for him to be 5th is actually stronger than the argument that he isn’t top 10.

You might be the only person that doesn’t have that poster blocked, I think a bunch of people blocked them back when they tried to claim that Crosby was on the same level as Francis and Fedorov.

Makes sense now.

 

[pcruz]

Stacked teams.... Did you watch the beginning of his career as well? He carried a bunch of literal bums to the finals multiple times. Eric snow, Daniel Gibson were starters.... If you even know who that is. I'm not gonna argue anymore about it just an absolutely terrible take.

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I'm not even a LeBron fan I think he flops too much but I still respect one of the GOATs. He literally just averaged 30.3 points and turns 38 this year.

I'm not a LeBron fat at all, but anyone claiming he isn't right near the top 3-4 players all time is insane.

However, players like Bird, Magic, Wilt, Duncan, Malone, Shaq, while not at the same level as Jordan and LeBron, don't fall quite as far back as literally everyone else when compared to Mario and Wayne (except Orr).

 

[BoHorvat 53]

I went with the basketball trio, just because being on that level of as a player in basketball is infinitely more impactful and pronounced than being on that level as a hockey player. To put it into perspective, LeBron James reached 8 straight NBA finals. Not as a total, but consecutively. Prime Crosby and Malkin - a 1-2 tandem that was considered to be 2 out of the 3 best players in the world - only reached the Stanley Cup Finals 4 times in their career.

 

[BlueBaron]

I think it's pretty even.

Gretz = Lebron
Jordan = Lemieux
Pippen = Crosby

 

[Xspyrit]

How do people even have time to follow more than 1 sport? I never understood. And I'm not even someone who works that much

I was born in Europe with a soccer ball in my feet, started playing at 3 years old. Came over to NA as a teenager but now I don't even follow soccer anymore, only world cup and Euro

 

[tacogeoff]

the basketball trio for me. not a huge basketball fan but the achievements of the three NBA players combined are better than the achievements combined by the NHL trio. just my opinion.

 

[The Tourist]

Kobe is the weak link here.

Gretzky is #1, Mario is arguably #2 (Howe/Orr), and Crosby is probably 5th or 6th.

Jordan is #1, Lebron is arguably #2 (Kareem), but Kobe is closer to 10th. When I do my top 10 I usually have Kobe in that 10-12 range and that's with no current players outside of Lebron in the top 10. So in another 10 years he could be lower. I usually go something like Jordan, Lebron, Kareem, Bird, Magic, Wilt, Duncan, Shaq, Hakeem, Russell. Kobe and Oscar are right there with Bill Russell in that 10-12 range.