FIFA Stars and Their NBA Equivalents

Image via Complex Original

While Cousins has never bitten an opponent (that we know of) there are still a startling number of similarities between these two highly talented players. Both are extremely volatile on the court, known to mix it up with opponents and referees if they don’t like a foul, call, or even just how someone looks at them. Both have been slapped with the “troubled” label so many times that it might as well be a part of their legal name. And both are immensely talented game-changers that nearly any team in their respective sports would gladly take them on, even in exchange for the baggage that comes along as well. 

With 26 goals in 33 league appearances this past season, Kun Aguero took home the Barclay’s Premier League Golden Boot. Due in no small part to his all-time record of 286 successful three-pointers, Stephen Curry took home the NBA MVP trophy. These two award-winning stars are some of the most prolific offensive players in their respective sports right now, with jaw-dropping individual skills that allow them both to score and set up their teammates with seemingly great ease. Both are also entering the prime of their respective careers, meaning that we’ll have at least a couple more years to enjoy them at their apex.

Brilliant. Creative. Electrifying. These words could be used to describe the singular talents of either FC Barcelona’s Neymar or the Thunder’s Westbrook, and each has proven capable of carrying his own respective team whenever called upon. Yet both, for all their individual skills, play alongside a teammate (Messi and Durant, respectively) who overshadows them in some way. It’s never intentional or selfish, but Messi and Durant are simply a little bit better than their almost equally, but not-quite-as-talented teammates. It is this ever-so-slight difference that makes both Neymar and Westbrook easy to overlook, despite being among the elites in their individual sports. Making them both underappreciated when considering how talented they truly are.

If you’re wondering about the next big thing in soccer and basketball, look no further than these two. While fans of both sports have certainly already heard and raved about them, both Pogba and Davis are just 22 years old (born four days apart in March 1993) and are only beginning to scratch the surface of their potential. These do-it-all players have already started to get a taste of the big time, too, as this year Pogba helped lead Juventus to the Champions League Final and Davis reached the playoffs with the Pelicans for the first time in his career. Expect big things for the next decade-plus from both of these incredible athletic specimens. 

Both of these players share the unique ability to take the ball, run straight at a defender, and immediately put him on his rear end. The combination of speed and power that Hazard and Harden both possess has vaulted them to the top of their respective sports. In Chelsea’s Premier League title-winning campaign this season, Hazard was named PFA Player of the Year, while Harden finished second in NBA MVP voting after leading the Rockets to the Western Conference Finals. These two wrecking-ball-style dynamos possess dribbling skills that are among the best in the world, making them an absolute nightmare for any defender, and likewise a hugely valuable member of their top-flight teams. 

Ah, the wily veterans. The 36-year-old Pirlo just wrapped up another virtuoso season at Juventus where, despite being an age when most players have either retired or been relegated to a significantly reduced role, he led his squad to the Champions League Final and yet another Serie A title. Duncan, similarly, has staved off the relentless match with Father Time. After leading the Spurs to an NBA title in 2014, he responded in 2015 with another vintage season despite his 39 years and over 1,500 career games played. While these two maestros are certainly nearing the end, they still execute the fundamentals of their sports better than just about anybody out there. This ability to overcome athleticism with pure guile has kept them not just in the pros, but indeed has allowed them to keep thriving.

Immensely talented athletes are not exactly a rare find in soccer and basketball, but Zlatan and Dwight are truly among the best of the best. Both are as physically imposing as it gets and certainly know how to throw their height and weight around to their own advantage—but that also makes it impossible for either to hide when things don’t go their way. Each has played for a lot of teams considering their stature in the sport, while never being labeled as malcontent yet constantly seeming to find themselves on the move. This hard-to-reconcile trait has likewise made each a lightning rod among fans, who simultaneously admire their skills while picking apart their flaws.

One of the common links on every great team is a general in the middle of it all, who puts up numbers himself while also setting up all his teammates. He serves an essential function as a second coach, a guy who knows where everybody needs to be at all times and isn’t afraid to tell them if necessary. And right now, the two preeminent players in those spots are Iniesta and “CP3.” Both have a sixth sense about where the ball needs to be at all times and have shown a remarkable ability to get it there at the perfect moment. This penchant for making everyone else better has earned both men worldwide acclaim, and although the top individual awards have eluded each of them so far, they are both in the conversation by default every single year.

Just as there must always be a “best” in both soccer and basketball, so too must there be a second-best. In this case, the bridesmaids are Ronaldo and Durant. Both players have justifiably earned worldwide acclaim for their skill, and each (Durant in 2013, and Ronaldo in 2013 and 2014) has recently taken home the award for top player in his own sport. Each is a deadeye shooter from long range. And yet, they’re just not quite the best. It’s no slight to them, and in many other eras they would be the best. It’s just that right now both Ronaldo and Durant have a guy (Lionel Messi and LeBron James) who’s just a little bit ahead of them.

There’s just no other way to say it: these guys are the best. They’re not just the best by default, either; these are two of the greatest of all time at what they do. Both are creative geniuses who, if they so choose, could spend entire games setting up teammates and racking up league-best assist totals. Conversely, they could also choose to focus entirely on scoring, pacing their leagues in scoring. Instead, these two serve as the focal point for their teams, picking their spots and balancing their dual roles as both facilitator and main man. While both have recently faced premature questions about being in decline, they each responded with fantastic individual seasons that should allay all concerns for the foreseeable future.