Is Crosby/Ovechkin the best player rivalry in big 4 sports leagues in the 21st century?

[bambamcam4ever]

If Lebron is Gordie Howe, Jordan is Bobby Orr/Sergei Fedorov (on Soldier Serum). Jordan has 9 scoring titles and 9 1st All Defensive Team selections. He won the scoring title and defensive player of the year in the same season after leading in scoring by almost 10 whole points (37 PPG) the season prior. Basically imagine McDavid following up his 2022-23 season with a 140 point selke winner. Then fill out the rest of his career with a Bobby Orr level prime and a few 2/3rd all star team worthy seasons at the tail end of his career.

Jordan was better at both ends of the court (albeit Lebron is no slouch defensively and can play/guard almost every position). Lebron was more well rounded, but Jordan was sharper. Lebron's longevity is the only reason it's really even a 1a/1b discussion, otherwise Jordan would clearly be 1 and Lebron at 2.

Are you ignoring or unaware that Jordan's DPOY was fraudulent and based on the scorekeeper fabricating stats for him?

 

[Rorschach]

I'm basketball if you shoot more you will score more. You may even hurt your team doing so. Looking at scoring titles is irrelevant. That said obviously Jordan was an incredible scorer. LeBron just contributes in many other ways that no one else can match.

Like passing to a well covered George Hill for the Finals winning shot.

 

[Video Nasty]

Are you ignoring or unaware that Jordan's DPOY was fraudulent and based on the scorekeeper fabricating stats for him?

Never took you for a Tom Haberstroh and Nick Wright simp.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Never took you for a Tom Haberstroh and Nick Wright simp.

https://sports.yahoo.com/a-closer-look-at-michael-jordans-1988-dpoy-award-raises-questions-about-its-validity-has-lebron-james-been-chasing-a-ghost-140452567.html?guccounter=1

 

[LightningStorm]

Kobe’s not better than Lebron lol. Kobe has a better argument to be outside the top 10 than ahead of Lebron.

If you think Kobe was better than LeBron you fundamentally don't understand the sport. There's no discussion to be had.

Yeah Kobe/Lebron was only interesting in the late 2000's when Kobe was still ahead due to entering the league 7 seasons earlier. As I said in my OP, their age gap was a limiting factor in a similar way the much higher potential Gretzky/Lemieux rivalry was. Though a decade into Lebron's career it was clear he was better than Kobe, and after 2016 I don't even think it was an interesting discussion anymore. I'd put Kobe in the Durant/Curry tier.

I don't even think Kobe was the best player born in between Jordan and Lebron. Shaq is to me, and he is the main reason Kobe won his first 3 rings.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Yeah Kobe/Lebron was only interesting in the late 2000's when Kobe was still ahead due to entering the league 7 seasons earlier. As I said in my OP, their age gap was a limiting factor in a similar way the much higher potential Gretzky/Lemieux rivalry was. Though a decade into Lebron's career it was clear he was better than Kobe, and after 2016 I don't even think it was an interesting discussion anymore. I'd put Kobe in the Durant/Curry tier.

I don't even think Kobe was the best player born in between Jordan and Lebron. Shaq is to me, and he is the main reason Kobe won his first 3 rings.

Kobe is painfully overhyped now because he died

 

[Voight]

Are you ignoring or unaware that Jordan's DPOY was fraudulent and based on the scorekeeper fabricating stats for him?

 

[LightningStorm]

Going outside of the big 4, a women’s basketball rivalry that I find dumb and contrived is Caitlin Clark vs Angel Reese, mainly because Clark is way better. It’s extra dumb when people say they are the women’s version of Johnson/Bird. I actually found putting things in hockey terms is the easiest way to convey how idiotic this comparison is.

As alluded to in my OP, Johnson/Bird in NHL terms is similar to Crosby/Ovechkin. 2 all time great players who entered the league at the same time to much hype and had some epic clashes. Clark/Reese is like Crosby/Toews, a contrived rivalry made up by the media where one player is clearly better than the other. Heck, the WNBA media overhyping Reese brought back memories for me of what the hockey media did to Toews 10-15 years ago.