Joe Starkey: Pens have two Lebrons

Joe Starkey
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 26, 2006

What a week for star gazing at Mellon Arena -- and they didn't even open the roof.

Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby one night, LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki the next (with Big Ben watching courtside).

On Tuesday evening, we might have witnessed the creation of an entirely new Penguins universe. The Big-Bang moment occurred in the third period, when Malkin took a Crosby pass -- a two-line pass that would've been whistled in the pre-lockout NHL -- and made like Mario Lemieux in splitting two Devils defenders and humiliating future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Asked to rate the goal on a scale of 1 to 10, Malkin's fellow rookie, Jordan Staal, smiled and said, "Probably a 12."

Mark Cuban attended the game and was as amazed as everyone else. The Dallas Mavericks owner and Mt. Lebanon native was in town for Wednesday night's NBA exhibition game between his Mavericks and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Does he regret not buying the Penguins?

"Absolutely," Cuban said. "Watching Crosby and Malkin was unbelievable."

Malkin, Crosby, Staal and 21-year-old goalie Marc-Andre Fleury all starred in the game, giving fans a glimpse into the team's lusciously promising future.

Less than 24 hours later, James brought his high-wire act to town. Great as he is, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

He needs a sidekick.

He's the best basketball player on the planet -- name another who could have taken the pedestrian Cavaliers to a Game 7 against the Detroit Pistons -- but he won't evolve fully until the Cavaliers find another player who's on the same athletic and creative wavelength, or something approaching it.

That's my opinion, anyway. It didn't sound like James agreed.

"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."

But does James have teammates who can think and create on his level?

"At times I do," he said.

At times won't cut it if he wants to win a championship. It seems to me every rare talent needs another in order to maximize his gift. That is particularly true in basketball and hockey.

Football's more intricate. Baseball's more individual.

With only five players performing at a given time (excluding a goaltender), hockey and basketball lend themselves to dynamic duos.

The greatest teams have them.

Michael Jordan needed Scottie Pippen. Shaquille O'Neal needed Kobe Bryant. Lemieux needed Paul Coffey (then Ron Francis, then Jaromir Jagr). Larry Bird needed Kevin McHale. Magic Johnson needed James Worthy. Wayne Gretzky needed Jari Kurri (not to mention Mark Messier and Coffey).

And Crosby needed Malkin.

What an incredible stroke of luck for Penguins fans.

It's early yet -- Malkin has played all of four games -- but both appear to have the kind of a pedigree that could make them more than just All-Stars.

They are rare talents.

In effect, the Penguins have two LeBrons.

Considering they grew up on opposite ends of the planet and had never practiced together until September, Crosby and Malkin have developed remarkable chemistry.

But then, genius is an international language.

Did you take a close look at Crosby's perfect two-line pass, which hit Malkin in stride? A handful of players in the world, maybe, make that pass.

Did you see Malkin catch it at full speed, in traffic? I'm not sure even a handful could have done that.

Crosby is elated to have a like mind on his side.

"When you go out there, you know there's someone who will anticipate things with you," he said. "There's just an intangible he has. He's creative and uses his imagination. You know you can try plays that will hopefully catch other teams off guard."

Having two stars on one team can create problems, too -- remember Shaq and Kobe -- but that doesn't figure to happen here. Crosby's too good a kid to let petty jealousies get in the way.
"I just want to win," he said.

So does LeBron, of course, and he will win his share of games. But without a sidekick, we might never know how great he can be.

Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com