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

[Haatley]

Not even close

Curry and James face off in the finals 4 times. 6 MVPs between the two.

The argument in the Brady/Manning debate wasn't who was the best in the league. It was who the greatest of all time was.

What isn't close?

 

[Video Nasty]

I don't care how people voted, sportswriters are not experts by any means. Especially when not all these games were even available nationwide at the time! Especially the same people who voted Jordan DPOY.

You don’t care, yet you’re willing to die for one sportswriter who is in LeBron’s pocket.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Am I biased?

Sure am.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844488428160942362

Lattimore and Evans was the first one that came to mind outside of NFL. Love watching those two go against each other

 

[Master P]

Lattimore and Evans was the first one that came to mind outside of NFL. Love watching those two go against each other

Shame Lattimore is out of the division now.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

You don’t care, yet you’re willing to die for one sportswriter who is in LeBron’s pocket.

Lol wut

 

[JianYang]

Really hard to isolate a 1 v 1 in hockey. This one is even more difficult because it's a center vs winger.

 

[Voight]

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.

Agreed, Reese isn't in the same ball[park as Clark when it comes to skill level. She would probably have less attention round her if social media didn't exist.

Another parallel for the bolded, Johnson/Bird are credited with the NBA's explosion in popularity in the 80s. yes, Jordan was a big factor, but they kickstarted basketballs boom. Ovy/Sid helped reignite interest in the league after a lost season.