Joe Thornton and Karl Malone? Malone is the better player at his respective sport, but I mean guys who were great players, locks for the Hall, yet never won a championship and were often considered the types who were unable to lift their teams. Or maybe Thornton and Patrick Ewing? Same reasons.
Adam Oates and John Stockton. Both supreme playmakers and seemingly happy to be the ones to sit back while others take the credit.
I figure Orr and Magic are as close as they could be. Both retired early. Both won, both were considered the best in the league while they did it (Bird was side by side with Magic of course). Lastly, both were supreme playmakers who made others around them better.
Ewing and Thornton
Both were drafted 1st overall by big market teams, and despite having first ball Hall of Fame careers, neither were ever able to carry their teams to a championship
What about Malone and Bourque?
Both spent the majority of their careers with the team that drafted them, and then ultimately left those teams to chase rings when they were nearing the end
Yeah close enough with Malone and Bourque. Both highly revered. Bourque did win that ring at the end while Malone didn't. I also don't think anyone believes Bourque wasn't a great playoff performer though and I always felt Malone sometimes had a bit of a deer in the headlights thing with him such as when they played the Bulls and what not. But they are close enough.
Duncan wasn't an ******* when he played though. He wasn't a physical player either
Both Lidstorm and Duncan were known for their gentlemanly play
Perhaps a better comparison for Messier might be Moses Malone
Excellent comparison.
Though its hard to be that dirty (as Messier) in basketball.
Iverson/Theo Fleury-Both were fearless scorers who never seemed to get injured despite their size. And Iverson and Fleury were never the same players once their original teams traded them.
Did you ever watch the Pistons in the 80's and early 90's?
Rodman and avery
This sounds more like Shaq = Lemieux. I'm not a huge NBA fan but Shaq is always listed among the very best players ever. I guess he could have been the absolute best but it's not like he was constantly injured like Lindros was and had a "What if" career like Eric.
Rodman was an elite defensive player, rebounder, and is in the Hall of Fame. He also starred in a movie with Jean Claude Van Damme
Avery was never on his level - both in terms of on-ice production, or off-ice notoriety