THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin seems to be the consensus No. 1 overall pick in tonight’s NBA draft. You’ve all seen him play in Big 12 action … do you believe Griffin will be a difference-maker in the NBA? Before answering, consider the last 10 surefire picks who went No. 1 in the draft:

2008—Derrick Rose, Chicago
2007—Greg Oden, Portland
2006—Andrea Bargnani, Toronto
2005—Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee
2004—Dwight Howard, Orlando
2003—LeBron James, Cleveland
2002—Yao Ming, Houston
2001—Kwame Brown, Washington
2000—Kenyon Martin, New Jersey
1999—Elton Brand, Chicago

BRYAN BURWELL
The NBA draft, like every other draft, is more inexact science than a guaranteed method for finding great players. But I have seen more than enough of Blake Griffin to believe that he will be an immediate impact player. He is a better athlete and a superior post player than Micheal Beasley, who has already shown that he is capable of being a 20-10 guy in the pros.

VAHE GREGORIAN
Seems to me there’s every reason to believe Griffin will be a fine-to-very good NBA player. But I don’t see him at all as a difference-maker along the lines of LeBron James or Dwight Howard among recent overall No. 1 picks. And that will be especially true if he indeed becomes a Clipper, where he’ll more likely be swamped than able to pull them out of the mire.

JEFF GORDON
Griffin is extremely agile for such a big guy, so he will be a solid NBA player. He can jump and he can finish. He is a mediocre free throw shooter, though, and he doesn’t have a “long” physical build, so there reason to doubt his potential as a defender and shot blocker. He dominated as a man among boys at the college level, so it’ll be fun to watch him evolve against more powerful competition. I don’t believe he is a sure NBA all-star by any means.

LUKE THOMPSON
Griffin still has some work to do before anyone compares him to the elite big men in the league, but he’s earned the No. 1 spot based mostly on his impressive performance (22.7 points and 14.4 rebounds per game), rather than potential. That’s what separates him from previous busts like Kwame Brown, Andrea Bargnani and maybe Greg Oden after a couple more years. Obviously, his strength and quickness advantages won’t be the same in the NBA as they were in the Big 12, but he’s dedicated enough and smart enough to find other ways to succeed. He needs to step up his defense and extend the range on his jump shot before he becomes an All-Star, but he looks like a solid starter at worst as long as the Clippers don’t ruin his career like they have so many others.

CARLOS AYULO
There’s no doubt that the overall No. 1 pick in the NBA draft has been a crap shoot the last ten years. But the Los Angeles Clippers get lucky for the third time with Blake Griffin falling in their lap. Griffin should help the Clippers contend for the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoffs next season, especially with Phoenix and Dallas on the downside. The Oklahoma forward can play the low post, has a decent mid-range jumper and should win Rookie of Year. Griffin could be a star and keep the Clippers competitive as he matures, BUT, there is always the fear that being drafted by arguably one of the league’s worst franchises may hurt Griffin’s long-term potential. As a history lesson, former LA Clippers’ 1988 No. 1 pick Danny Manning was an All-Star twice. Their other No. 1 pick was Michael Olowokandi, drafted in 1998. ‘The Kandiman’ is considered one of the worst No. 1 picks ever.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: With Kobe Bryant securing his fourth NBA title with the Lakers last night, has he made his case as the best player in the NBA since Michael Jordan retired? And, is it possible that Bryant could one day even be considered a superior player to Jordan?

BRYAN BURWELL
Kobe will be given the passcode into that select room in the basketball Hall of Fame when he retires. It’s the room where only the very best belong. With four titles to his credit he is on his way to at least tying Jordan (six). Will he surpass Jordan? That is still a tall order but I think he has the ability to put himself in the conversation

STU DURANDO
Kobe’s arguably been consistently the best player since Jordan but it’s hard to proclaim him the best outright with only one MVP award while three players have won the award twice since the mid-90s. What about Kevin Garnett or Tim Duncan, among others? If we’re just talking about scoring, maybe he’s the best of the last decade. But I doubt anyone will ever believe that Bryant was better over his entire career than Jordan.

VAHE GREGORIAN
If you agree that championships are the ultimate X-factor in a player’s greatness, and I generally believe that, then there’s little doubt about Bryant’s place atop the heap since Jordan retired. But in the great scheme of things, there are any number of reasons why Bryant never would eclipse Jordan’s place in the game. For starters, he still has a ways to go across the board in matching Jordan’s tangible achievements. Two more NBA titles hardly are givens. Moreover, Jordan was the league MVP five times, and Bryant has been thus recognized just once so far. Jordan was the Finals MVP six times. Bryant has just one of those, too. Less tangibly: Jordan was a crucial factor in the explosion of the NBA in the ’80s even before he started winning titles. That secures his legacy in the game, no matter what Bryant goes on to do.

KATHLEEN NELSON
Kobe has a way to go as Jordan’s replacement. He has stiff competition from Shaq, who also has won four titles and has been MVP of the finals three times. I think Lebron will equal or exceed the two at some point. Bryant has even further to go to exceed Jordan, who was a better rebounder and defender than Kobe. Then there’s the aura. Jordan was a leader and could make everyone around him better. Harder to work on intangibles than it is rebounding and defending, so I don’t see it happening.

TOM TIMMERMANN
The Lakers would need to win several titles in a short period of time, and Kobe would have to be the league’s MVP several times, for that to happen. If Bryant and Lebron James trade off MVP awards, well, how can you be the greatest ever if you’re not even the MVP a lot of times? And even if Bryant did have a run of MVP awards, Jordan carries such a mystique that Bryant, with his historical baggage, can probably never reach him. It would be interesting to see how it would have played out if both had entered the league at the same time, and could be judged side by side. But since Jordan got there first, Bryant has to be demonstrably better than Jordan to be considered the greatest ever. So it’s possible, but I’d say it’s unlikely. But he most certainly would be in your starting five.

JEFF GORDON
Kobe Bryant still has a ways to go to top Michael Jordan. Short of winning multiple rings away from Shaq, I don’t see how he can muscle into the same air space as MJ. Jordan’s reputation for leading a submissive cohort, Scottie Pippen, and a bunch of journeymen is hard to top. Kobe still carries the baggage from the perceived selfishness from earlier in his career.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION:Sidney Crosby helped the Penguins reach the Eastern Conference Finals with a win over the Caps in Game 7 on Tuesday. Is Crosby, in his fourth year, more important to the NHL than LeBron James, in his sixth year, is to the NBA?

BERNIE MIKLASZ:
Not a chance. Round 2 should get 2 minutes for instigating me. Crosby has yet to establish a wide crossover appeal, while LeBron is already a marketing King, easily identifiable to millions of Americans. Also, Crosby has no personality. Quiet. He isn’t inclined to sell the game. Helluva player, immense talent but not even a blip on the radar when compared to James.

TOM TIMMERMANN:
The NHL is far more in need of talented, charismatic players like Crosby than the NBA is. (Especially English speaking ones.) The NHL has a much smaller pool of Crosby-esque players to draw from. Without James, the NBA has several other players to build an ad campaign around — Kobe Bryant, arrest not withstanding, Dwayne Wade, somebody off Boston, for starters. Wayne Gretzky made the NHL what it is today, even playing in Edmonton. Crosby isn’t Gretzky, but he’s the kind of player the league needs at the moment. Language barriers will keep Malkin and Ovechkin and Datsyuk from being the face of the NHL.

JEFF GORDON:
Sid the Kid’s importance to the NHL is much greater. True, the NBA needs LeBron to become the Next Jordan and keep pro basketball industry growing through these tough economic times. He is the league’s most important employee. But the NHL’s need for a transcendent star is much greater. Gary Bettman’s league is still off on the fringe of the national sports scene, earning scant TV ratings. If current trends continue, pro hockey could lose its tenuous footing in the Sun Belt. The NHL needs Crosby-Ovechkin to become Magic-Bird.

DAN O’NEILL:
The biggest difference between Sidney Crosby and LeBron James is that James carries more responsibility in terms of being the face of the NBA. Crosby may or may not be the best player in the NHL - I’d take Pavel Datsyuk myself. Regardless, there are a number of other equally dynamic stars, from Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane, Henrik Zetterberg, Datsyuk … on down to even T.J. Oshie.

In the NBA, Kobe Bryant might be in the same ballpark talent-wise King James, but Bryant’s image off the court has never been completely restored from his extra-marital incident. There are a handful of other notable NBA players, but when you throw in the age and positive image James projects, I think the NBA clearly leans more heavily on him for profile than the NHL has to lean on Crosby.

Of course, neither holds a candle to what Tiger Woods means to professional golf.

JEREMY RUTHERFORD:
While both superstars are vital to their respective leagues, I give the edge to Crosby. I have friends who are hard-core NBA fans and I have friends who are casual NBA fans and, with either group, we can have a 10-minute conversation about the NBA playoffs and not even bring up LeBron. Meanwhile, I can’t remember my last conversation with an NHL fan that didn’t include some mention of “Sid the Kid.” Here’s a story: My brother had people over to his house to watch last night’s Pittsburgh-Washington game, and we watched even when the score was 5-0. Tonight, they’re are two Game 7s on TV (Boston-Carolina, Anaheim-Detroit) and guess what . . . there’s no get-together at my brother’s tonight. I think all of this speaks to the broader popularity of the NBA and the overall disinterest in the NHL, unless it’s headline-grabbing.