5 Reasons Why: The NHL is Better Than the NBA

I feel like there are a great many subjects that can be debated in sports, and there are many people who have said most of what needed to be said.  In fact what I say below has probably been said before, but I felt that my first opinion article needed a topic that would collide with the passions of readers.   That and this subject is something I believe in, and since I have the power of writing this article, why not abuse it?  On that note, I present to you the 5 reasons why I think the NHL is better than the NBA.

1. Fighting. I think that I could side with the NHL for this reason alone and feel justified.  Now that doesn’t mean that it’s just the fact that fights are allowed in the NHL, it’s more low-level than that.  The fact that they still allow physicality in the game is great.  Granted a large part of hockey is to check opposing players in order to neutralize them, and that isn’t the same in the NBA since the foul system is designed to negate that.  But now we have an era in which fouls are called liberally for NBA stars in order to ‘protect’ them so they don’t miss games and cost the teams money.  Most any NBA star can simply drive to the basket near the end of a game, get grazed, do a little acting and get a foul call.  The NBA has devolved into a protective and preventative league while the NHL has stayed the course.  Now we won’t call into question the bias of the referees (I’m sure the NHL has some refs with ulterior motives too) but we will say that the new trends in the rules and rule enforcement are sad.

2. The idea of The Team. We have seen in basketball recently the transformation of Kobe from a selfish, lone wolf who couldn’t win a championship to a player with clutch takeover skills who played a team game and only used his one-man wrecking crew mode when necessary.  How was Kobe rewarded for learning to get along with others?  He got a championship ring without Shaq.  In both the NHL and NBA you need a team to win championships, but only in one league do they reward selfish players with big money contracts, and then cater to their whims.  I mean how often do we hear about a hockey player chewing out his coach, degrading teammates, having gambling disputes in the locker room, etc.  I will concede that we do hear less news about the NHL in total, but perhaps it’s because these things simply don’t happen.  Whatever the reason behind it, the results are great: a selfless sport with role models that may not speak English, but don’t pull guns in locker rooms or eat Vaseline.

3. A more balanced league. The NHL champions rotate quite often, and repeating champions are quite rare now-a-days.  In fact the best streak by one team was 5 years in a row by the Montreal Canadians back in the 50′s.  Compare that to NBA streak of 8 championships in a row by the 80′s Celtics, and the recent domination of teams (the Bulls in the early 90s, Rockets, Bulls again, Spurs/Lakers in the early 00′s and now the Lakers again).  For the most part you can pick the 6-8 teams in the NBA who have a real chance at winning it all before the season starts.  In the NHL it’s much harder.  There may be 2-3 teams that are expected to do well, but predicting the playoff teams, let alone finals teams, is very hit or miss.  Now part of the problem might be that they don’t have John Hollinger cranking out stats like a madman for the NHL, or perhaps they just have parity.

4. International Flavor. The NHL has 5 teams in Canada the NBA has 1 currently and 1 that failed, so there is the obvious disparity there.  However what I am talking about is not the ability to support a league team, it’s the appeal of the sport itself.  If you look at most NHL rosters less than 20% of the players are American born, and most of the All-Stars are also not American (though many may say that is due to the lack of participation).  When it comes to the Olympics, the competition in hockey is very international  In fact, America is usually far from the favorite team.  This is typified by the Miracle on Ice.  The American team is frequently the underdog, and the team at the top frequently changes.  European basketball has come far in recent years, but the international competition in hockey has always been great.

Perhaps the most impressive thing is that the NHL attracts all of these foreign players when most of their homelands have leagues they could be playing in.  The NBA may bring in some international players, but it’s rare that they succeed in the transition of styles.  However in the NHL, it seems that the American players are the ones that have more trouble succeeding.

5. The Trophy. Can you tell me the name of the NHL championship trophy?  The Stanley Cup.  Now can you name the NBA championship trophy?  When you Google it, I know you did, you’ll find that Larry O’Brien trophy was created in 1977.   The Cup was created in 1892.  So not only is the cup more widely recognized by name, its existed for much longer and has a more rich history.  That and what other major sports trophy gets the winning player’s names inscribed on it?  It’s also the tradition for the cup to spend a day with each of the players.  This is perhaps the best thing about the NHL trophy, is that each player gets to celebrate in their location of choice and enjoy the rewards of a rigorous season surrounded by their family and friends.  I am just amazed that such a great tradition still exists today; it’s the joy of victory untarnished by greed, selfishness, and technology.

So there you go.  In a few hundred (ok, 800) words you have my reasons why I enjoy hockey over pro basketball (the NCAA is a whole ‘nother conversation).  I glossed over many more valid reasons and viewpoints, but I backed up my words so we are good.  My concluding thought is this:   The NHL almost died a few years ago and is in the recovery process, and right now the NBA is on life support.  In 5 years lets check back on the situation and see where things stand.  I have a feeling it will be quite interesting.