NBA Equivalents To NHL Players

[scott clam]

Martin St. Louis and Allen Iverson.

Well, ignoring the fact that AI went 1st overall, and St. Louis never got drafted.

 

[Bluesguru]

Jerry West and Mike Bossy —— the best shooters of their era, year in and year out

Manu Ginobili and Justin Williams ——- secret weapons that rise to the occasion

 

[scott clam]

Hakeem Olajuwon and Sergei Fedorov. Obviously Olajuwon had the greater career overall, but they had their best years around the same time, and were each basically the perfect two-way centre. And the most beautiful players to watch.

 

[sr edler]

As for golf players I think Nick Faldo/Greg Norman of the 80s & 90s are probably a relatively similar package equivalent to Crosby/Ovechkin today. Norman was apparently very friendly, outgoing and played an aggressive game, but ultimately only won 2 majors. Faldo was a grumpy loner with zero (or negative) charisma and a kinda mechanical game who often psyched out his opponents and let them make the mistakes and won 6 majors. Crosby does have some dazzle to his game though.

Damn this makes me reminiscent of 1994 when Parnevik had the cat in the bag on the 18th fairway but didn't look on the leaderboard and went berserk against the green, then the cat escapes entirely out of his grip when Nick Price drives home an eagle putt on the 17th green..... Then that stupid reality TV show 20+ years later on top of it all.

 

[CaptTennille]

Maybe Rick Nash and Chris Bosh?

Both spent the majority of their prime years on teams that failed to surround them with any real talent.

Both were eventually traded to teams where they took a back seat to a bigger star (Lundqvist/Lebron) and would perennially compete for championships (Although the Heat actually won and the Rangers didn't)

Both were eventually forced to retire suddenly due to injuries (Concussions/Blood Clots)

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Maybe Rick Nash and Chris Bosh?

Both spent the majority of their prime years on teams that failed to surround them with any real talent.

Both were eventually traded to teams where they took a back seat to a bigger star (Lundqvist/Lebron) and would perennially compete for championships (Although the Heat actually won and the Rangers didn't)

Both were eventually forced to retire suddenly due to injuries (Concussions/Blood Clots)

i don’t like rick nash as chris bosh at all. isn’t nash really more of a joe smith? first overall pick, extremely well rounded skillset but a lot less high level offensive ability than everybody thought, made a crapton of money because he was hugely overvalued.

bosh is an interesting career. unorthodox big man, legit franchise player who became a number three and won championships. bobby smith?

 

[scott clam]

LeBron and Howe.

 

[crobro]

Big country reeves Zach Kassian

 

[scott clam]

Kermit Washington and Marty McSorely.

 

[GoBuds14]

I’m going to try this base this on how they are viewed historically by their sport first, style of play (this is tough however) and accomplishments. You can poke holes in each comparison because each athlete competed under different circumstances, eras, and teammates

Gretzky-Jordan- both widely considered the GOAT

Lemieux-Lebron- this will be controversial, however there is a lot of people who consider both these players top 2-3 all time. Both possess physical gifts never seen before, and peaked relatively close to Gretzky and Jordan but less team success. Obviously there are differences here (longevity) and not it’s completely parallel.

Howe- Kareem- saw this comparison earlier and love it. Long careers with highly underrated peaks

McDavid- Giannis- young MVPs with physical gifts. Sky’s the limit

Crosby-Kobe- They work harder than anyone they’re up against. They win, and both will go down as all-time greats, but not quite in the upper tier

Durant-Ovechkin- both might be the most gifted “scorers” we’ve ever seen. Comparison would have been even better if Durant stayed with OKC and grinded out a title ala Ovie. Durant s 2 titles don’t impress me at all

Vince Carter- Bure- High Flyers, highlight machines. All the talent in the world, could have accomplished more

Bobby Orr- Magic - played the game so much differently than those who came before. Both revered by sports historians as one of the best to ever do it. Both careers cut short.

Duncan-Lidstrom- I saw this earlier and loved the comparison. Again, there’s obvious differences, but I want to focus on the similarities. They both are near the top at their positions all time. Both had sustained success with their franchises with lots of accolades. Both had a calm demeanour and seemed unflappable.

Mike Bossy- Larry Bird- both had a stretch where they were the best in the game, and had great team success. Both underrated in the all time ranks.

Joe Thornton-Tracy McGrady- both had really high peaks where they were arguably the best in the game for a year or 2, but they just couldn’t get it done in the playoffs.

this is all I have for now- I can’t think of a proper comparison for Shaq or Wilt. Gretzky is kind of a blend with Wilt and Jordan

 

[scott clam]

I’m going to try this base this on how they are viewed historically by their sport first, style of play (this is tough however) and accomplishments. You can poke holes in each comparison because each athlete competed under different circumstances, eras, and teammates

Gretzky-Jordan- both widely considered the GOAT

Lemieux-Lebron- this will be controversial, however there is a lot of people who consider both these players top 2-3 all time. Both possess physical gifts never seen before, and peaked relatively close to Gretzky and Jordan but less team success. Obviously there are differences here (longevity) and not it’s completely parallel.

Howe- Kareem- saw this comparison earlier and love it. Long careers with highly underrated peaks

McDavid- Giannis- young MVPs with physical gifts. Sky’s the limit

Crosby-Kobe- They work harder than anyone they’re up against. They win, and both will go down as all-time greats, but not quite in the upper tier

Durant-Ovechkin- both might be the most gifted “scorers” we’ve ever seen. Comparison would have been even better if Durant stayed with OKC and grinded out a title ala Ovie. Durant s 2 titles don’t impress me at all

Vince Carter- Bure- High Flyers, highlight machines. All the talent in the world, could have accomplished more

Bobby Orr- Magic - played the game so much differently than those who came before. Both revered by sports historians as one of the best to ever do it. Both careers cut short.

Duncan-Lidstrom- I saw this earlier and loved the comparison. Again, there’s obvious differences, but I want to focus on the similarities. They both are near the top at their positions all time. Both had sustained success with their franchises with lots of accolades. Both had a calm demeanour and seemed unflappable.

Mike Bossy- Larry Bird- both had a stretch where they were the best in the game, and had great team success. Both underrated in the all time ranks.

Joe Thornton-Tracy McGrady- both had really high peaks where they were arguably the best in the game for a year or 2, but they just couldn’t get it done in the playoffs.

this is all I have for now- I can’t think of a proper comparison for Shaq or Wilt. Gretzky is kind of a blend with Wilt and Jordan

Lebron's consistency is almost peerless. He's probably most similar to Howe honestly. I think he's actually a better Howe comparison than Kareem is.

I think Mario's career might actually be closest to Shaq(even though Shaq might be the most "uncomparable" athlete ever). Both were generational physical specimens(especially Shaq) and each utterly dominated their sport in their respective primes. But both had questionable commitment to conditioning, and were each plagued by injuries later in their careers(Lemieux much more than Shaq.)

Two guys who "could" have been the greatest, and probably "should" have, but left you wanting more in the end.

 

[95Tal]

Bill Laimbeer & Kevin Stevens: Power forwards who played like a-holes and finished with two championship rings.

 

[The Pale King]

Oscar Robertson and Marcel Dionne. Both long-time Kings (or Royals) who left those franchises at the tail-end of their careers. Both led the league in points once, as well. Robertson is the only player to average a triple-double over the course of a season, and Dionne is similarly remembered for his importance on the Triple Crown Line.

Robertson was better, in an all-time sense, but who knows what Dionne could have done with Montreal or Boston?

 

[GoBuds14]

Lebron's consistency is almost peerless. He's probably most similar to Howe honestly. I think he's actually a better Howe comparison than Kareem is.

I think Mario's career might actually be closest to Shaq(even though Shaq might be the most "uncomparable" athlete ever). Both were generation physical specimens(especially Shaq) and each utterly dominated their sport in their respective primes. But both had questionable commitment to conditioning, and were each plagued by injuries later in their careers(Lemieux much more than Shaq.)

Two guys who "could" have been the greatest, and probably "should" have, but left you wanting more in the end.

I can get on board with those comparisons as well

 

[Dissonance Jr]

Bill Laimbeer & Kevin Stevens: Power forwards who played like a-holes and finished with two championship rings.

First name I thought of when I saw Bill Laimbeer mentioned earlier was Ulf Samuelsson — a guy whose (deserved) reputation for dirty play really overshadowed how good a player they actually were.

 

[scott clam]

How about Isiah Thomas and Bobby Clarke? Hated by every other team besides their own, undersized generals of the "bad boys" and "bullies" that won two chips a piece.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

How about Isiah Thomas and Bobby Clarke? Hated by every other team besides their own, undersized generals of the "bad boys" and "bullies" that won two chips a piece.

absolutely. that was is great

and on the topic of bad boys, rodman and claude lemieux?

 

[scott clam]

absolutely. that was is great

and on the topic of bad boys, rodman and claude lemieux?

it's funny 'coz I was thinking of C. Lemieux and Laimbeer earlier. But man, Rodman, that's a tough one. I think the Tik might be our man here. Both guys had an extra special ability to turn gods into men. And both have the "clutch" seal of approval.

 

[GoBuds14]

How about Isiah Thomas and Bobby Clarke? Hated by every other team besides their own, undersized generals of the "bad boys" and "bullies" that won two chips a piece.

Awesome comparison

 

[GoBuds14]

What about Patrick Kane and Steph Curry? Both with 3 rings, undersized but with a flashy game.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

feel like some of the discussion in the GOAT thread should really be in this thread, so bumping.

my fav comps already mentioned in this thread, not all originally mine —

kareem = howe
wilt = mario
dr j = bobby hull
isiah = clarke
duncan = brodeur
kobe = crosby
garnett = pronger
ben wallace = chara
kawhi = messier
rodman = tikkanen
horry = claude lemieux

and i feel like there might be a little hasek in steph. obviously team success is not comparable, and they are pretty diametrically opposite in terms of being good culture guys, but just statistically and coming along at just the right time in the game's natural evolution to turn their bonkers gifts into unfathomable numbers

there also is a bit of orr in magic. just in terms of him arriving and people being like, whoa what is this guy? both were helped out by but also massively helped a gigantic historically dominant center, both had their careers abruptly cut short.

anywho, hard to find good comps for jordan, gretzky, lebron, and russell, who maybe are the ones everybody actually wants to talk about...

 

[frisco]

Moses Malone = Phil Esposito
Robert Parish = Larry Robinson
Charles Barkley = Brett Hull
Paul Gasol = Geno Malkin
Dan Issel = Bernie Federko
Alex English = Steve Shutt
Elgin Baylor = Bobby Hull
John Havlichek = Bryan Trottier
Bob Cousy = Max Bentley
Walt Frazier = Pavel Bure
Nate Thurmond = Tim Horton
Rick Barry = Marcel Dionne
Carmelo Anthony = Joe Thornton
Bob Pettit = Ted Lindsay
Michael Cooper = Jere Lehtinen
Dennis Johnson = Guy Carbonneau
Gail Goodrich = Theo Fleury
James Worthy = Glenn Anderson
Steve Nash = Dominik Hasek
David Thompson = Denis Savard
Bob McAdoo = Dale Hawerchuk
Adrian Dantley = Dave Andreychuk
Gary Payton = Pavel Datsyuk
John Stockton = Adam Oates
Dave Cowens = Ken Dryden
Mark Aguirre = Bernie Nicholls
Bernard King = Dino Ciccarelli
Ray Allen = Al MacInnis
George Gervin = Peter Stastny
Pete Maravich = Stan Mikita
Tony Parker = Paul Kariya

Don't ask me why. Just playing name association in my head.

My Best-Carey

 

[chrispw1]

Shaq never reached his full potential as a basketball player

He was more focused on making movies and rap music, and less on becoming the best basketball player he could be

As a result, he was overweight throughout his career and often missed games due to injury

He played 20 seasons, yet played only 1207 games

The only time he played more than 80 games in a season were his first 2 years in the league

He played 70+ games in only 7 out of his 20 seasons

In his final 18 seasons, he played in only 70+ games 5 times!


So, yes, his career left a lot to be desired

Had he dedicated himself entirely to basketball, he may very well be in contention with Jordan and LeBron as the greatest ever

As it were, he ended his career with just a single MVP award

While Shaq certainly had a great career and probably top 10-15 all time, one analogy I have seen from Bill Simmons basically has him being like the college student who decides that rather than kill himself for a 4.0 decides to basically live the college life with parties and other activities and coast to like a 3.88

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Karl Malone-Joe Thornton

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

necroing this thread because randomly t-mac and almo just popped into my head

different standings in their respective leagues and vastly different careers (although similar beginnings: mcgrady coming out of high school, mogilny defecting; both taking a while to adjust and t-mac breaking out the minute he left vince carter, and almo breaking out immediately after pierre turgeon was traded away).

but in terms of legacy both guys were maybe as talented as almost anyone of their era and on that alone had the respect of their peers in a way that is out of phase with how they were perceived by fans and commentators.

both guys also have similar legacies now that a bunch of time has passed, again just because of their tremendous talent and being beautiful to watch. i enjoyed both guys but first ballot members of the hindsight hall of fame.