I played basketball pretty much since I was a little kid, I was never really good, but I played. I dislike watching hockey on television, I dislike having to sit through hockey talk on Sportscenter, but I don't mind watching it in person, thats not so bad. Here is where the arguement stems from , while playing cards last night a buddy of mine, who wants nothing more than to actually be from Canada, no seriously, to the extent where he says "eh" after every word, he's a walking molson ice commercial, played puck his whole life, claims that "The Great One" & hockey in general, is more of an athletic sport than say Lebron & hoops. I needed to preface that by saying what my general opinion on hockey is, I want you to know this is completely unbias, if you don't think it is, well, its my blog so go ahead and hit the small black (x) in the corner.
Point 1: The arguement is flawed already, Lebron isn't the best hoops player of all time and is being compared to the best hockey player of all time. BUT that does bring up an excellent point, the best hockey player of all time isn't a better athlete than the top 10 basketball players of all time, fact. If say Wayne & Bron Bron competed in athletic events, without skating or taking jump shots, Bron Bron would dominate him, no doubt about it. He's faster on his feet, could jump higher, and physically, that's a joke, Bron is alot more stronger than Gretzky. To round off the point, so is Jordan, Kobe, & maybe Larry Bird. Bird would have been a better comparison, but then again were not looking to see who matches up best, were trying to find out if the NBA's best, is more athletic, than the NHL's best.
Point 2: You can't sleep on the amount of skill it takes to play PRO HOCKEY, any kid can play any sport if they have enough money. So being able to skate & take a shot doesn't mean Hockey takes more skill, it just means you can multitask and your not a complete moron. Basketball takes alot of skill, but I'd say there is many more players who make it on size and god given talent alone in basketball, than in hockey. When I give this point to hockey, it's strictly to professional hockey players, to get pounded against the boards, stay in shape enough to not be extremely slow on the ice, and while doing those you have to make sure your hand eye coordination is never slipping, and you have to be able to pass the puck & shoot the puck in tight spaces with a goalie whose as big as the net.
Point 3: The arguement should be answered by an athlete who has never played either sport, thus taking away the thought that just because someone played a sport, means they'll say that one is better than the other.
Point 4: Basketball is much harder to play for a longer period of time. Every year a new batch of young extremely talented basketball players come into the league with every intention of helping NBA teams win games, that year. Your job is constantly being tested just like it is in the NFL, but in Hockey . . . they have an extensive minor league system, which players can stay in for years before they get brought up to the pros. NHL gives old hockey players the benefit of the doubt, that they might have had a bad year, but sure enough they'll end up on another team the next year if they get cut, or are free agents. There is a reason guys can hang on till they are in their 40's . . . can't debate that.
Point 5: My friends little brother made a great point regarding this arguement, when I was in high school NEARLY all of the hockey players that I knew played one sport. Hockey. Yea there were definately exceptions but for the most part they played one sport, it was generally the sport their parents dragged them to as children and they just continued to play even though they were decent at best. It is also one of the few sports where the bad kids, don't eventually get weeded out, what I mean is, you have teams littered with kids who are terrible skaters even though they've been doing it their whole lives. How did they get by with sub-par skills throughout their young careers? In Basketball, by the time you are a junior/senior in high school, you've either come to the realization that you suck, by watching kids around you who are better, or you get cut.
Conclusion: Basketball & Lebron are better athletically than Hockey & Wayne. It's a fact, don't debate just admit it, or have a cigarette and contemplate arguements that I'll just refute. (if you don't know the meaning to refute here it is : To prove to be false or erroneous.
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