Gretzky Praise

[jimmyemery]

Oh honeychild; no.

I don't think lebron is a better player than mj, but its a lot closer than people say.
Either they're 100% mj, or they're 100% lebron, which is crazy because its like comparing a forward to a defenseman.
Lebrons a lot like magic was, and the closest I think we'll ever see to mj was Kobe. Also, d wade wasn't a top five player when lebron went to Miami, top ten, maybe... but his knees were already gone.

And I like that Gretzky comes off as humble, and praises other players. one of my favorite things about hockey is how respectful and modest most of the greats are.
I admire the character.

 

[Ducks in a row]

LeBron has dominated as much as Jordan without being an asshat. And before you bring up the rings, LeBron doesn't have the Pippens/Kerrs/Rodmans around him the same way Jordan did. Pippen was a top5 player in the NBA.



LeBron is already a better player than Jordan.

Lebron James The Decision tv special to announce he is leaving his team to go to the Miami Heat. Dwyane Wade who was a great player and Chris Bosh a very good player as teammates in Miami to form a super team was needed for Lebron James to win any championships and they only won 2 in 4 seasons. Lebron James has been know for not being all that great in big moments (4th quarters) in the past.

Michael Jordan never left his team to join another to try to win championships for the first time in his career. Michael Jordan was a all time great NBA player better then Lebron James is. Michael Jordan also played during the Golden Age of the NBA.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

On MacDavid:

“He’s as good as I’ve seen in the last 30 years, the best player to come into the league in the last 30 years,†said Gretzky, who dominated the NHL from 1979 to 1999, “the best to come along since (Mario) Lemieux and (Sidney)

On Crosby:

“I don’t think there's any question Sidney Crosby is the best all-around player in the game,†Gretzky told ESPN.

On Kopitar:

"I think Anze Kopitar, right now, is the third-best player in the National Hockey League, only behind [Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney] Crosby and [Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan] Toews, and he’s getting better every game,†said Gretzky, who played for the Kings from 1988-1995."

On Zetterberg:

"“I think Zetterberg is the best player in the game (at his age),'' Gretzky told NHL.com. “He's been so physically beat up from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Olympics, all that goes with that, but he's just very special. I think he's the best Swedish player they've ever put into the National Hockey League, and there has been a lot of great ones, from (Borje) Salming to (former Red Wing Nicklas) Lidstrom.''

I love Z but he aint no better then Lidstrom, who da heck is Salming

 

[Sens Rule]

I love Z but he aint no better then Lidstrom, who da heck is Salming

If you laugh and say who is Salming in talking about Swedish greats then you have far less credibility then Grerzky does in analyzing hockey greatness.

 

[heretik27]

I seem to remember him talking highly of Dany Heatley when he was coming up in the NHL.

 

[boredmale]

Gretzky seems like a nice guy when talking about other people but his assessment has 0 value. As the old saying goes

When you compliment everybody, you compliment nobody

 

[kmad]

who da heck is Salming

One of the best defensemen ever to play the game & the most important Swedish player in hockey history.

 

[cgf]

Who are these guys.

****ing Artists.

I don't think lebron is a better player than mj, but its a lot closer than people say.
Either they're 100% mj, or they're 100% lebron, which is crazy because its like comparing a forward to a defenseman.
Lebrons a lot like magic was, and the closest I think we'll ever see to mj was Kobe. Also, d wade wasn't a top five player when lebron went to Miami, top ten, maybe... but his knees were already gone.

And I like that Gretzky comes off as humble, and praises other players. one of my favorite things about hockey is how respectful and modest most of the greats are.
I admire the character.

Oh I love LeBron's game a lot and think he'll end up #2 over Magic/Bird/Hakeem/Russell/Kareem/everyone else, even if the most redeeming thing about his personality was that he left cleveland...which he has since undone by returning to that hell hole...but the only reason Jordan didn't win the title 7 years in a row was because he had to "retire" for a year. And that in the golden age of NBA big men. When in any given year there were 5 or more Cs who'd be the best big man in the game today. Jordan's dominance was more overwhelming and absolute than LeBron's even though LeBron can well be argued to be the more talented player.

On the Wade-Pippen note, Bosh was better than any third wheel Jordan had in the first 3-peat (granted Rodman joined the party for the second one and he ***** on Bosh). Though I dunno if Pippen was top 5 in the NBA for very long either, too many great big men and other high caliber wings/guards, even though Scottie was always the Bull I liked despite the jersey he wore.

 

[ForumNamePending]

Gretzky once told me that I was both the greatest hockey player he has ever seen and the greatest Prime Minister Canada has ever had. I tried to tell him I was neither a hockey player nor a politician, he said it didn't matter.

 

[MessierII]

Sometime around 2008 or 2009 he said Ales Hemsky was the best passer in the NHL.

 

[tjcurrie]

On Mike Modano (Mid 90s or so): "You see him pick up the puck and go end-to-end and you think, how did he do that? I wish I had that God-given talent."

 

[cassius]

"kmad's threads on HFBoards are some of most thought-provoking threads to ever grace HFBoards"

-Gretzky

 

[the]

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/11580-alex-kovalev-from-pariah-to-the-messiah

Alexei Kovalev is the most talented player he'd ever seen, him included.

Not only the Great One but Mario Lemieux also said the same thing about Alexei Kovalev.

 

[habsrule4eva3089]

 

[Wiggleboom]

 

[shazariahl]

Well..... Better to offer praise everywhere then make youtube videos with his Stanley Cup rings and how he is better then Lebron or Kobe like Jordan. That is embarrassing.

Gretzky, Howe, Orr... That's how you act if you are the greatest. Not like Barroid, Clemens, Jordan.... Etc.

If you are that great you don't need to brag.

Did Jordan seriously do that? I need to check that out. So sad, if true.

 

[shazariahl]

You don't dominate like Jordan did without being a raging ********* and insanely competitive gambling addict. Gretzky's hockey's great one, but he didn't dominate like Jordan did during the strongest era in his sports history.

I'd say Gretzky dominated a lot more than Jordan did, though you could argue the strongest era of their sports angle. That being said though, Gretzky did play against some very strong competition in his own right. Just saying though, Gretzky's 9 MVPs and 10 scoring titles, not to mention breaking every offensive record there is almost, beats what Jordan did in his own sport. Obviously eras matter; I'm just saying this from a purely statistical sense. If Gretzky played today, perhaps he wouldn't look as dominant. But he played when he did, and he dominated hockey more IMO than Jordan did his own.

 

[Frank Garrett]

Did Jordan seriously do that? I need to check that out. So sad, if true.

The guy is in large part a DICK, apparently.


https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/16f9af/is_michael_jordan_really_that_bad_of_a_person/

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/jordans-night-remember-turns-petty-075600787--nba.html

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/2000208-sports-and-racing-nba/65343841


(NSFW)

 

[Adityase]

You don't dominate like Jordan did without being a raging ********* and insanely competitive gambling addict. Gretzky's hockey's great one, but he didn't dominate like Jordan did during the strongest era in his sports history.

Wow. Just wow. Gretzky dominated like no other in any sport ever statistically. And as for the NBA? Chamberlain is the closest. Also Jordan's era was one of the WEAKEST EVER in NBA history. Jordan was great, but his legend is out of control. Jordan didn't win anything until the great teams of the ending era, the Celtics, Lakers, and Pistons (and to some extent the TrailBlazer and if we're being really, really generous Barkley's Suns) were in major decline. Hell, when the Pistons started winning Magic and Bird's teams were already in decline.

Add to it that Jordan's teams NEVER played a great NBA team in it's prime in their runs to any of their 6 championships. Not one. They played great teams that were in decline as mentioned and they played teams that were as good as they were going to get, but not great teams (Utah, Seattle, NYK).

No one who watched the NBA during the time of Magic and Bird would ever say Jordan's era once all the greats were finishing or done was even a mediocre era of talent. It was, on the other hand, the heyday of NBA marketing worldwide though...

 

[Soundwave]

Wow. Just wow. Gretzky dominated like no other in any sport ever statistically. And as for the NBA? Chamberlain is the closest. Also Jordan's era was one of the WEAKEST EVER in NBA history. Jordan was great, but his legend is out of control. Jordan didn't win anything until the great teams of the ending era, the Celtics, Lakers, and Pistons (and to some extent the TrailBlazer and if we're being really, really generous Barkley's Suns) were in major decline. Hell, when the Pistons started winning Magic and Bird's teams were already in decline.

Add to it that Jordan's teams NEVER played a great NBA team in it's prime in their runs to any of their 6 championships. Not one. They played great teams that were in decline as mentioned and they played teams that were as good as they were going to get, but not great teams (Utah, Seattle, NYK).

No one who watched the NBA during the time of Magic and Bird would ever say Jordan's era once all the greats were finishing or done was even a mediocre era of talent. It was, on the other hand, the heyday of NBA marketing worldwide though...

Meh, Magic and Bird were just lucky they were on stacked teams from practically day 1 (Magic Johnson refused to report to the Bulls if they drafted him so he basically forced his way onto the loaded Lakers ... nice). The Bulls needed several years to build a good team around Jordan.

Larry Bird after facing Jordan in the 86 playoffs was so impressed that he reportedly went to the Celtics front office to push them to do everything to win now because he saw that once Jordan got a good team around him, it would be over for everyone else.

If the Blazers didn't make the biggest draft blunder in pro sports history by taking Sam freaking Bowie over Michael Jordan, they probably would've won 7 or 8 titles honestly. Jordan + Drexler + several other good players from day 1? Lights out.

Wilt was a playoff choker. Yeah he dropped ridiculous numbers, but he was like one of two 7 footers in the NBA in the 60s in a 10 team league. All his stats dropped in the playoffs, whereas pretty much all of Jordan's numbers go up in the playoffs (not even Gretzky can tout that).

Also the stories of Jordan are overblown. He didn't want to take a photo with Chamillionaire while he's out trying to have a good time. So freaking what. You get approached for photos every 10 seconds of your life and see how long it takes for you to snap at someone. I know someone who used to work at the old Chicago Stadium and he's told me that Jordan was exceptionally kind and generous with his time towards kids, and this is away from the camera.

 

[capebretoncanadien]

Gretz is just a super nice guy who likes to shower other people with praise.

A real gentleman on top of being the greatest player ever.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

If I'm a player and Gretzky praised me I'd be pleased. The best ever thinks you're good, what an honour that would be.

Yes and no.. He says it to everyone, so it's not really a praise.

 

[SenatorArmy*]

It's interesting that he never gave praise to Parise, especially since the word "praise" is an anagram of "Parise"

 

[jdatb]

lmao, no way MJ dominated more than Gretzky. Not even close. The only more dominant person in his sport was Donald Bradman(cricket). Garry Kasparov(chess) was close to Gretzky's distance from his peers too, but I still think Gretzky was relatively more dominant.

 

[bondra]

In a recent interview. Gretzky once again compares Elias Pettersson to himself.

"Yes, the young man in Vancouver has really impressed me. We always compare athletes with each other and if anyone reminds of myself in my eyes, it is Elias Pettersson. For several reasons. Firstly, he may not be the best skater or has the hardest shot, he is not the physically biggest player on the track, but he sees the ice as well. And he has a great understanding of the game, but the most important thing is his work ethic. If you look at him and he loses the puck, he stays and immediately makes an attempt to win it back. Many young players make an extra turn and take some time to do so, but not Elias. He's right there and is fighting his puck again"

Gretzky also compares Elias to Michael Jordan as in they werent 1st overall picks but the player can change the whole fortune of a franchise

Great EP40 got his spot in this list.