“There is no shortage of fault to be found amid our stars.”
– The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
As an invested follower of hockey, there isn’t a single player that extracts polar opinions from fans on than Sidney Crosby. He’s the face of the game. Prior to being drafted in 2005, everyone knew that Crosby was going to be the next one. The first generational Canadian superstar drafted since Mario Lemieux, and both were drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. “Sid the Kid” welcomed the NHL to “The Crosby Show” on TSN when he scored a shootout winning goal on Jose Theodore of the Montreal Canadiens. While he didn’t go on to win the Calder trophy that year (his star crossed rival in Alex Ovechkin took it home), Crosby at age 26 has two Hart trophies, a Stanley Cup and two Gold medals. He scored “The Golden Goal” for his first medal in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics. For those who question his ability in comparison to the all-time greats, Crosby currently sits fourth all time in NHL points per game in the regular season. That number might drop as he plays in his veteran years, but there’s no question he has lived up to being a generational superstar.
LeBron James had a similar path of superstardom. It was noticed when he was in high school, still in his teenage years. An Ohio native drafted by his homestate NBA club in the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, James found himself in a unique superstar category. Despite comparisons to Michael Jordan, James was a different player and carved a different legacy. He was the all-around generational player. At 28 years old he stands tall with four NBA MVP awards, two Gold medals and two NBA championships. While he never won a championship with Cleveland, in only five seasons he was able to leave as their all-time scoring leader. Few players have been such a combination of size, vision and passing all while still being defensively proficient and offensively gifted. It doesn’t matter who you compare LeBron to. LeBron is the best player of his generation.
Two generational superstars. Why do so many hate Sidney Crosby and LeBron James?
Let’s start with Sidney Crosby. Despite all of his skill, there are questions on how clutch and how much of a playoff performer Crosby is. Despite currently having the 7th all-time best playoff scoring per game clip, Crosby has been shut down by hot goalies (Jaroslav Halak), superstar defencemen (Zdeno Chara) and elite forwards (Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg). He didn’t win the Conn Smythe for Pittsburgh in their Cup run. That went to Evgeni Malkin. Crosby is described as a complainer, someone who runs to the referees too often. He has been accused of diving and cheapshots and while he scored the Golden Goal in 2010, he has not been the defacto superstar of either Gold medal winning Team Canada club. He also wouldn’t shake the Detroit Red Wings players hands after a series. Not clutch, diver, whiner, disrespectful. Too much attention paid to Cindy Crybaby.
Now we have LeBron James. Despite all of his skill, there are questions on how clutch and how much of a playoff performer James is. Despite currently having the 9th all-time best playoff scoring clip, James has been shut down in the past by the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs. While the NBA Finals MVP for 2012 and 2013, teammate Chris Bosh once said he’d rather have Dwayne Wade shoot at the end of the game than LeBron. James is described as a complainer, someone who gets too much leeway for foul calls by the referees. He has been accused of diving and being soft for dropping out of an NBA finals game for a cramp. He also wouldn’t shake the Orlando Magic’s players hands after a series. Not clutch, diver, soft, disrespectful. Too much attention paid to Queen James.
I could first dip into how calling the best players in their respective sport a woman is meant to be an insult but instead makes it sound like the best players in a sport have to be a woman. Or I could mention how as a professional wrestling fan, a lot of this stuff also echoes how WWE fans treat John Cena (especially when we discuss how a lot of “hardcore fans” say only “bandwagoners, children and girls” like LeBron James and Sidney Crosby) but I think it’d be best to look at why they are so hated beyond the perception of their performances.
In 2005, the NHL was in a lockout. Sports channels in Canada like TSN turned to showing junior hockey, especially the Memorial Cup. Sidney Crosby was the focal point and attention and since then it hasn’t stopped. Crosby has multiple endorsements (Tim Hortons, Gatorade, Reebok) which you see commercials for on any station. Any time a player starts having a strong season, specifically forwards, he’s immediately compared to Crosby with the question if he’s better. Is Claude Giroux better than Crosby? Is John Tavares?
For LeBron James, many basketball fans hate the comparison to Michael Jordan. Jordan was legendary for anyone in their 30s and 40s today. He’s an impossible pedestal. James also has several endorsement deals, the Beats By Dre endorsement netting him more than $30 million when the company was sold to Apple. James, an Ohio native, left the Cavaliers in 2010 in easily the most hyped free agency signing of all time, an entire hour dedicated on ESPN for his decision. Not only did he sign with the Miami Heat but he took less than a player like him usually would to ensure Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh could come with. It looked like system tinkering/tampering. And now James is about to repeat 2010 in 2014, going to free agency once again. ESPN doesn’t need to talk about Tim Tebow anymore. The King James sweepstakes are back!
I understand how it might feel like these athletes are being shoved down our throats, but that doesn’t change the fact they are generational players and when they are on, they are the best players in their respective games. However, this ends up another reason why both players are scrutinized. Crosby and James are expected to be perfect. They are expected to not only play better than previous generation’s idols but also show respect, honour, integrity and dignity in ways your idols never did. Gretzky wasn’t a saint. Lemieux had no problem with cheap shots. Jordan is still rude, aggressive to the net and to both his teammates and opponents. LeBron got a cramp in the NBA Finals? Interesting because so did Michael Jordan. It’s these impossible expectations that Crosby and James have to meet based only on our rose coloured nostalgia.
This isn’t to exempt these men from their faults. But it is good to remember that they are men. Expectations of perfection are ridiculous, especially since your only reason to demand it is due to their media exposure. A dive here or a whine there isn’t going to change the fact that Crosby and James play the game at more than just an elite level. They are the best players in their game. But a player is just a player on a team, no matter how great they are. Jordan never would have won those championships playing on the early 90s Miami Heat. Lemieux had to wait for the Penguins to build a powerhouse before seeing back to back Stanley Cups. Gretzky walked onto an Edmonton Oilers team stocked full of future hall of famers aside from himself. It doesn’t matter where James lands this summer if the team isn’t championship calibre. It doesn’t matter how Crosby plays next year if the Pittsburgh Penguins don’t rectify issues with their image and overall depth. But just as attention is paid to them the most, so will the blame.
LeBron and Sidney have little to do with the novel by John Green, but the title works apt for the article. The Fault in Our Stars, the stars of the NHL and NBA, have little to do with the players themselves and everything to do with those who gaze at the stars. It’s time we stop criticizing them for every little thing they do and start remembering why we care so much about them. They are one in a generation, and they are at the halfway point of that generation. It’s time to enjoy what they bring before it’s gone.
