Sidney Crosby: The NHL’s answer to LeBron James
As great as LeBron James is, Sidney Crosby is equally important to the NHL and even more successful.
The NBA revolves around LeBron James. When basketball needed a new face, he was there to do the impossible and replace Michael Jordan. LeBron, despite inviting criticism with his comparisons to MJ, has lived up to every ounce of the hype, and then some. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and King James share a lot of similarities, but they are also quite different.
Both of their respective leagues owe their stars a lot. The NBA needed a new face of the league, as it really didn’t have one since Michael Jordan retired. Meanwhile, the NHL desperately needed a generational star to make hockey relevant after a second lockout in less than 15 years. LeBron and Crosby have carried their respective leagues, each for more than a decade.
Like many stars, they get irrational hatred from fans. Perhaps it’s because people have come to expect nothing short of historic greatness from LeBron and Crosby. James has been a fixture in the NBA Finals, making seven straight appearances. Even though he has only won three, that’s impressive. When the Penguins aren’t going well, Crosby tends to be a fairly easy target. Even when the blame deserves to go to anyone other than Sid The Kid.
In some ways, Crosby is under even more pressure to win than LeBron. And his success is even more impressive than that of King James.
Crosby vs. LeBron
Both Crosby and James have three titles. They’ve done it in an era where it’s supposed to be hard to do it thanks to the salary cap. However, Crosby has had to go through challenges to win his Stanley Cups than LeBron has to become a three-time champion in his sport.
James won his first two titles because he played with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (among others) with the Miami Heat. Heck, Ray Allen basically saved his legacy, nailing a clutch three-pointer in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals series vs. the San Antonio Spurs. Meanwhile, Crosby has captained three teams to a title without leaving his team to form a superteam. While he has certainly had help in the form of players like Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Kris Letang, Phil Kessel, Matt Murray and Bill Guerin.
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One could argue they were in similar situations as far as the team around them except Crosby did it after basically saving the Penguins. Going into the 2005 NHL Draft, Pittsburgh needed a miracle. While they had Mario Lemieux prepared to do anything it took to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh, the franchise needed a new face. The hockey gods smiled upon them, as they won the draft lottery, and the right to pick Crosby.
Sid The Kid has done this while his general manager was facing the much more rigorous salary cap of the NHL. The NBA has a luxury cap system, where a team can, in theory, go over the salary cap ceiling, but face a penalty based on how much they exceed the cap. In the NHL, you can’t go over the ceiling during the regular season, no matter what. Even during the offseason, teams can only go 10 percent over the salary cap ceiling.
As much as the NBA leans on LeBron, the NHL needs Crosby even more. Even with the emergence of Edmonton Oilers wunderkind Connor McDavid, Sid The Kid is still the biggest source for ratings. Whether you love him or hate him, people care a lot about Crosby. Think of him as the John Cena (WWE star) of the NHL, with people chanting “let’s go Sidney” and “Crosby sucks” in unison.
Sid The Kid led the league in points twice, while LeBron has only done so once. While it’s true King James has four MVPs to Crosby’s two, it’s worth noting he has two Ted Lindsay Awards, given to the player chosen by his peers as the most outstanding player. One of those was during a season when Crosby finished second in the MVP and arguably should have won it. He was also limited to 99 total games due to injury when he was 23-25. He’d likely have one or two more Hart Trophies and perhaps another Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe.
Crosby’s Legacy
Just like LeBron, Sid The Kid has a very complicated legacy. He’ll go down as one of the best players to ever play hockey. This would be true even if Crosby decided to retire right now. There is no argument against him from earning enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Crosby turns 30 in August, and perhaps no hockey player other than Wayne Gretzky has accomplished more by that age.
On his resume, he has two Art Ross Trophies as the NHL’s leading point scorer. Crosby has led the league in points per game five times and his career rate of 1.31 points per game is first among active players and sixth among all players. In the postseason, Sid The Kid raises his game where he ranks ninth in career points per game in the playoffs among players with at least 75 games played.
There’s a solid debate to be had about whether Crosby should have won back-to-back Conn Smythe Trophies as the playoff MVP. However, Sid The Kid has done so, becoming the first player to do so since Lemieux in 1991-1992. His place among the all-time greats is unquestioned, especially when you consider Crosby lost some of his prime due injuries.
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Ironically, Sid The Kid’s legacy on the ice will likely end up being very similar to Lemieux’s. Super Mario is arguably the best player of all-time when you consider what he accomplished when he was healthy. However, much like No. 87, part of Lemieux’s legacy is a bit of a “what if” story. Had Super Mario been healthy, maybe he tops some of Gretzky’s scoring records or at least comes close to matching them.
Crosby won’t top The Great One’s records because he plays in a different era. In terms of dominance, influence on the game and overall greatness, Sid The Kid has very few peers. And all of them are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
To Pittsburgh, Crosby is already known as the heir to Lemieux’s throne. In terms of Stanley Cup wins, he has already surpassed him on the ice. Crosby and LeBron are both going down as all-time greats. But Sid The Kid will always be greater than King James.