When LeBron James broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record Tuesday, I couldn’t help but think of Sidney Crosby. Their stories have played out so similarly.
They broke in as two of the most hyped prospects in sports history — and then somehow over-delivered. They have seven championships and six MVP awards between them. Both remain elite.
James, 38, is averaging 30.2 points per game.
Crosby, 35, is on pace for his seventh 100-point season.
I felt the passage of time in watching James break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record. I thought of a young LeBron coming to Mellon Arena some 17 years ago for a Cleveland Cavaliers exhibition game and answering questions about what the freshly drafted Crosby might encounter as the new face of his league.
I thought of a piece I wrote from the same venue a year later when Evgeni Malkin made his NHL debut with Mark Cuban in the house. The Penguins suddenly had two LeBrons, plus Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury. I asked Cuban if he regretted not buying the Penguins when he had the chance.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Watching Crosby and Malkin is unbelievable.”
James came to town for another exhibition game the next night, and I asked him if he needed a sidekick like the one Crosby just got.
"No, we don't need that type of guy," he said. "We have a bunch of great guys who can play the game. (Larry Hughes) is probably the closest one that could be a sidekick to me, but I don't like making players be a sidekick.”
Yes, well, that was many years before “The Decision,” when a title-less LeBron took his talents to South Beach to find some help. Turns out Larry Hughes wasn’t the answer.
And who would have thought James would one day become part-owner of the Crosby-led Penguins?
But I digress.
This is no time for sentiment. Not yet. Both of these guys still have records to break. Both are still chasing championships, realistically or not, which brings us to the latest way in which their stories intertwine.
Are the Penguins at least going to try to give Crosby the kind of help James just got in L.A.?
When you have LeBron James or Sidney Crosby, you literally exist to win championships. You live in the now. The future does not matter. If that changes, you ask them if they want to stick around for the rebuild and move ahead with it.
In the meantime, you do everything in your power to augment your current team.
The Lakers proved they are all in, as usual, Wednesday when they traded a 2027 top-four protected first-round pick for scoring guard D’Angelo Russell. And did you see what the Phoenix Suns — with aging star Chris Paul — did? They dealt four first-round picks, plus players, to acquire Kevin Durant.
The Penguins? We’ll see what they do before the NHL’s March 3 trade deadline. General manager Ron Hextall was asked earlier this week about trading a first-round pick as a way to unload an expensive contract and thus clear up cap space for another move.
“In terms of first-round picks for getting salary out, I don’t see that as being an option for us,” he said.
That doesn’t necessarily mean a first-round pick is off the table in another circumstance. It better not be. It should be used as an asset to clear space or simply to bring in some help. In fact, every first- and second-round pick from now until 2027 should be in play.
I’m still interested to see what this team looks like when healthy. Crosby and Malkin can still play at a high level. We all see that. So what would the Penguins be like with a healthy Kris Letang and Jeff Petry and with a little help?
What would they be like with a healthy goalie at playoff time?
With Tristan Jarry on the ice, this team is 16-5-5. That is a 117-point pace. That tells me the Penguins, flawed as they are, have at least an outside chance to make a run.
If you don’t believe that, then you must believe the Penguins should be broken up. You can’t live in both worlds. Hextall surely can’t. How do you try to preserve a semblance of a future while you’re all in now? It’s one or the other.
The Post-Gazette’s Matt Vensel spoke with an ex-NHL executive who believes the Penguins should be sellers. That’s fine. Be that, then. What I don’t understand is people who say the Penguins have no chance to win and aren’t any good anymore and yet don’t advocate a sell off.
Huh?
What kind of position is that?
I’ve heard people say the team cannot be broken up because of no-movement contracts. That simply isn’t true. The only players with complete control of their fates are Crosby, Malkin and Letang. A few others have limited control. So what?
If Hextall wanted to trade Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Jason Zucker, Marcus Pettersson or Jarry tomorrow, he could freely do so. Guentzel has limited control of where he goes. Zucker is no longer a money pit. He’s down to the puny portion of the final year of his contract. He’s a typical rental player.
If Fenway Sports Group wants to start over, that can easily be done. You simply tell the Big 3 what’s happening and ask if they want to stick around for it. I’m guessing Crosby might be the only one who stays.
But that isn’t happening now. The Penguins, despite missing their goalie and their engine — Letang — for chunks of the season are in playoff position. They still have Sidney Crosby at the top of his game.
Help him.
Joe Starkey: jstarkey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @joestarkey1. Joe Starkey can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: February 9, 2023, 3:14 p.m.
