X-Men: First Class NBA Villains
From twitter.com/chrisbosh
Every hero has a villain. LeBron James and the Miami Heat have turned themselves into the most hated team in the NBA after their orchestrated moves during free agency, a title they took from — depending on whom you ask — the Celtics or the Lakers.
Villains of the NBA seem to thrive when they’re loathed, not loved. The “Us against the world” mentality adds more fuel to the fire, but there have been plenty of villains throughout the years in the NBA other than the revamped Heat. Every team fan base has its own specific villains: draft busts who blossomed elsewhere, free agents who jilted the home fans, a bruiser who got into a beef with the good guys’ best player.
Similar to the X-Men: First Class piece I wrote yesterday, the villains have to be pretty good ballplayers. You have to be relevant to be really reviled. There are even some players that you could consider for both hero and villain status, or even a team itself. With that, here are some players (and a coach) who you could consider villains of the NBA:
Mike D’Antoni is Magneto
D’Antoni gets the nod as Magneto after his beef with Phil Jackson (Professor Xavier) during the Suns/Lakers game in ’07. D’Antoni was upset that Jackson called a timeout right after he did while the Lakers were up 111-78. D’Antoni went on to say, “I thought he disrespected our players, but he likes to play the mind game, and that’s fine. He might want to try and do it in playoff time when we bust them every time. We get them three more times. That’s fine.” Magneto, however, can allow his anger and ego to get the better of him, clouding the vision of his true goal — which is quite evident to the current Knicks coach.
LeBron James is Juggernaut
Possessing unheard of levels of the strength, stamina, and durability makes Juggernaut one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe. The same can be said about LeBron James. ‘Bron is arguably the most athletic player in NBA history. He possesses the same strength, stamina, and durability as Juggernaut. Most notably, Juggernaut is unstoppable once in motion. At the same time, Juggernaut also betrayed his own family because he felt he would be better off, similar to LeBron leaving the Cavaliers, which practically put the city of Cleveland in ruins.
Dwyane Wade is Apocalypse
Apocalypse has done many evil things to the X-Men, including changing Angel and Gambit into members of his Four Horsemen. He will do whatever it takes to have an All-Star team to beat the X-Men, and after this offseason, you could say the same about D-Wade. He was the biggest winner during the summer’s free agency period, not only re-signing with the Heat but also convincing two top-notch players to join him in South Beach. Wade ultimately created his own Four Horsemen (with Mike Miller) to take down the X-Men (Lakers).
Chris Bosh is Mister Sinister
Sinister was an experiment with Apocalypse to be reborn. Sinister has sought out to have the perfect life, even if it means working with Apocalypse. The same can be said about Chris Bosh leaving Toronto to be a part of D-Wade’s experiment in Miami. Both Sinister and Bosh play the third wheel — Bosh behind Wade and ‘Bron, Sinister behind Apocalypse and the Four Horsemen — and eventually, Sinister grew jealous and tried to work against Apocalypse. Maybe we’ll see Bosh do the same if he grows unhappy in South Beach.
Matt Barnes is The Shadow King
The Shadow King is an omnipresent threat that seeks to destroy the minds of every person on the planet. The King has managed to corrupt and possess dozens of mutants and X-Men from Storm to Colossus. The same could be said about Barnes. While Barnes isn’t trying to destroy the minds of every person on the planet, he’s trying to on the hardwood. Barnes is an agitator and has no other complex ambitions other than taking the opposing teams best player’s head out of the game. Many overlook him but Barnes can be a serious threat, especially since not many confront him.
Vince Carter is Dark Phoenix
Jean Grey (Cyclops’ wife) became overwhelmed and corrupted by her immense, god-like powers and transforms into a force of total destruction, now called “Dark Phoenix.” For readers, it was the first time a hero had turned on them and gone so tragically wrong. You could say the same about Vince Carter. “Vinsanity” was the most astonishing dunker since ‘Nique. After faking injuries, settling for jump shots instead of driving to the basket, and being labeled as soft for the rest of his career, Carter will always be a nightmare hanging over the heads of Toronto; just like Dark Phoenix for the X-Men.
Ron Artest is Sabertooth
What’s Wolverine (Kobe Bryant) without his famous foe (Ron Artest)? Both Sabertooth and Wolverine share a long history punctuated by many bloody battles and hateful words. Even after all this time, there is no love lost between the two. The same could be said for Kobe and Artest. Even though they’re teammates now, they still had a pretty heated rivalry in the past, which Artest once stated would be settled with a pickup game.
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September 8th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Detroit Dave says:
If yall don’t have any stories you guys should just run some throwback articles from 1999 or something.
Post some video clips
Do more of those Player A vs Player B comparisons
Talk about college ball
You cats gotta stop this madness. WTF does X-Men have to do with basketball?
September 8th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Chicagorilla says:
I like the Villans list better than the hero.
kinda wondering about that Vince Carter one though… because Phoenix is the strongest mutant, while VC is…well soft.
I like Lebron as Phoenix. but good job on this one overall
September 8th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@Dave,
Dude, it’s called having some fun and being creative while doing it. during a dead time in the basketball world.
Plus if you ain’t feeling it, STFU and move on. Stop trying to tell a national magazine your thoughts on how they should make money. Dumb bastard. If you are so smart, go make a magazine yourself and make money and post old articles. Between you and the cats always complaining about blog editing, and interns, it’s getting really b!tchy around here.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
LakeShow84 says:
Yeah im with ChiTown i think Lebron shouldve been cast as Dark Phoenix..
once such a hero now such the villain.. straight Dark Phoenix..
And can i get David Stern as Gen. Stryker?? i was proud of that one lol
@ Detroit Dave
Its all in fun and there are a good 12 other posts on the front page..
please pipe down and if u dont like it then dont say shit..
September 8th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
LakeShow84 says:
@ ChiTown
Be easy bruh!!! lol
September 8th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Detroit Dave says:
Chicagorilla.
My childhood was f%cked up therefore in my 25 yrs of life on this earth, I have not a clue who those listed villains are.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ Chicagorilla
I had a hard time choosing between LeBron as Phoenix, but I also needed someone for Juggernaut in which I chose ‘Bron due to the fact that he can’t be stopped when he’s in motion going towards the basket. Glad you liked the read!
September 8th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Detroit Dave says:
Chicagorilla is dissing me on the internet. Leave the internet disses to the “tough rappers” Fabolous. I didnt take them personal by the way.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
JA says:
This is a good bit of fun – assuming you are into comics a little, but yesterday wasn’t Lebron Storm? And today, he is the Juggernaut (b!tch).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSuvOVH0aSQ
September 8th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ JAY
That’s correct he was Storm yesterday but ‘Bron plays both the hero and the villain in the NBA now. Probably more villain but still. I couldn’t think of anyone harder to stop when in motion. I would have used Shaq but let’s face it, he isn’t doing much running these days.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
for da luv of da game says:
me personally i like both articles and enjoy any interesting bball write ups period so u keep doin what u do my man no hate ova here and anyway an opinion on anything is just that an opinion keep doin u
September 8th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
matt says:
how about doing some comparison`s here.
Who`s better
Westbrook or Rose
Lamar odom or Turkoglu
Scola or Kleiza
Tyson Chandler or a wet noodle
September 8th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
TomGfromCanada says:
Chris Bosh is more like Harley Quinn, the jokers bitch.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
jysn says:
chis bosh is PREDATOR 2 me and always will b lol i kno this is marvel but dammit he the predator
September 8th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
LakeShow84 says:
LMAO @ TomG
haahahahahahaha
September 8th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@Andrew
Juggernaut could have been Glen Davis. Once those jelly rolls get moving, there is not stopping him.
@Lakeshow
yes I agree Stern = Gen Stryker
September 8th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
K Dizzle says:
LOL @ post 13
nice…
September 8th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Joe's Momma says:
TomG hahaha that was damn clever
and Chicagorilla @ 2 about VC…. just vicious. But true
September 8th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Chicagorilla says:
LMFAO@ TomG
September 8th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Nodizzel says:
Why put D Wade on the villians list? I’d call Pat Riley Apocalypse before D Wade.
September 8th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
karizmatic says:
Good Look with the Villains, but you can’t have one guy being two different people so we got to revamp the list.
If the Miami Heat is the Brotherhood of evil mutants
Then LBJ is Juggernaut – This is actually a great nickname for him. Or as has been said he could be Dark Phoenix
I would say Wade is Magneto a mutant who also put together the brotherhood.
Pat Riley is Apocalypse – Turning Wade, LBJ, and Bosh into his own evil Big 3.
Then you just leave them like that and make some new people Storm and Angel
I kind of like Chauncey Billups for Storm
And Angel could be Russell Westbrook.
Also you guys did miss a good comparison writeup
Compare Melo and Kobe who’s better…ONLY ON OFFENSE.
September 8th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ Karizmatic
I wouldn’t be able to use Billups as Storm because he doesn’t take flight.
Here’s my ‘Melo piece from yesterday for those who missed it.
http://dimemag.com/2010/09/carmelo-anthony-the-nbas-most-unstoppable-force/
September 8th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
BERN BROGDEN says:
Juggernaut’s mom is Sharon Xavier (the step kind)
Juggernaut’s dad was bangin’ Sharon Xavier. (who’s also Professor X’s mom)
Juggernaut’s dad is an intelligent head case. (ask Professor X)
Juggernaut’s dad is Kurt Marko.
Kurt Marko is one helluva soldier. He can be a good friend or your worse enemy.
He likes to ‘get into sh**.’
He also has a silky smooth jumpshot.
KURT MARKO is now a Boston Celtic.
September 8th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
WinDelRoj says:
I got
Glen Davis as “The Blob”
KG is “Mytique” makes himself seem tougher than he really is.
Anderson Varajeo is the “Red Queen”
Chris Paul as “Mesmero” holds the ball so much your hypnotized
JR Smith is “Pyro” burn the other team but could also burn your team
Luis Scola is “Sabertooth”
Figured Id contribute
September 8th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
WinDelRoj says:
O and on the heroes.. Delonte West is Nightcrawler
September 8th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
downtown_brownclown says:
Result of Boredom.
Marvel Universe List of The NBA:
Kobe Bryant as Spiderman – He just have enough strength, agility and speed but he has wits to beat the rest of ‘em. he wore the alien costume (black spiderman) before in colorado. hahahaha!
LeBron James as Venom – now he’s wearing the alien costume(the decision)… he is stronger than spiderman, the agility and speed.
Dwayne Wade as Wolverine – the man heals quickly, he’s fast and fearless too.
Chris Bosh as Ghost Rider – literally, he’s going to be a ghost riding on LBJ and Wade.
Delonte West as Loki – God of Mischief (check out what he did to LBJ’s mom!)
Dwight Howard as The Incredible Hulk (Green) – Super Strength, Jumping Ability and Incredible Stamina.
He can be the strongest if he’s thinking.
Carmelo Anthony as Iceman – he can be the strongest mutant there is, he just hasn’t tapped his other potential (refrence: Iceman was controlled by the white queen before, and she used his powers to its limit, and he turned out to be unstoppable since he knew how to defend – ice spikes on his body plus he can freeze ur blood without touching you)
Nate Robinson as Toad – that was a match made in heaven. hahahaha!
Steve Nash as Cyclops – dead-on.
Gilbert Arenas as DeadPool – wise crackin’ while he beats you down. (reference:hibachi!) i miss agent zeros hibachi days!
Boston Celtics
KG as Mr.Fantastic – got an array of moves
Ray Allen as Invisible Woman – you can’t see him do the flashy plays but he’s killing you with his scoring, invisible ‘coz you wouldn’t notice it.
Rajon Rondo as The Human Torch – he can burn you in anyway possible.
Kendrick Perkins as the Thing – ‘coz he looks like it.
Paul Pierce as the Punisher – Not Strong, Not Fast, but has the arsenal to beat you.
Tim Duncan as Captain America – He’s old but still capable. besides, nobody likes captain america ‘coz he’s boring to watch.
Phil Jackson as Professor X – dead on.
Jerry Sloan as Magneto
Eddie Curry as the Blob – dead on.
Chris Paul as Quick Silver
Dirk Nowitzki as Thor
Russell Westbrook as DareDevil.
Amare Stoudamire as WarMachine(IronMan) all offense no defense.
Ron Artest as Bishop – whatever you throw at him, he’ll send it back.
Golden State Warriors as Excalibur – they got powers, but their irrelevant. hahahahahaha!
Every Big Men in the NBA who gets dunked on a lot is a SENTINEL.
September 8th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@26, nice list.
So I just read back over my post and realized I may have went off the deep end on Detroit Dave. lol, my bad. Just tired of seeing cats post ish bashing the way the articles are written, instead of bashing the article itself.
September 8th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
downtown_brownclown says:
thanks chicagorilla! just bored…
@andrew
nice journalism. kudos to you for making an article of NBA players as superheroes and villains, there are heroes and villains in the eyes of all NBA fans out there. and it just applied to that.
i enjoyed the article…
September 8th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
LakeShow84 says:
LMAO # 26 takes it..
That was a bomb list lol.. took everyones input i see tho but still a bomb list..
How about
Kobe as SpiderMan – nobody really beats SpiderMan
Lebron as Venom – physically superior to SpiderMan just not quite there mentally
DWade as Carnage – physically superior to both and crazier but still not on they levels..
September 8th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ downtown_browntown
I appreciate it man! Glad you enjoyed. Also, that was a nice list as well. I just went with strictly the X-Men due to the fact that there was more to work with and their abilities matched more of the players.
September 8th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Hassan says:
That was a killer article right there man. I especially liked LeBron as the Juggernaut. Even though Dark Phoenix would’ve worked really well for different reasons, Juggernaut takes the cake.
Good work man.
September 8th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
downtown_brownclown says:
@LakeShow84 – true that, all three are the same. they are all Great! but Kobe got the best of ‘em. so he’s spidey, LBJ’s Venom ‘coz he got spidey’s ability and he’s physically bigger than spidey, but lacks the assassin mentality. and D-Wade for carnage, he’s more athletic than both and is crazier than both… smaller than the two when it comes to physique but way more athletic than the others.
@Andrew, couldn’t put women as NBA Players… it’s a total disrespect… WNBA players maybe that. i’m not sexist or anything, just couldn’t see LBJ as a girl…
or Vince as Dark Phoenix. hahahaha! 
September 8th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ downtown_brownclown
I had to man, they both whine like women. Lol
September 8th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ Hassan
Appreciate that, fam!
September 8th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Knicksfan84 says:
Wade = Megatron
Lebron = Starscream
Bosh = Rumble
September 8th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
downtown_brownclown says:
@andrew- wahahahaha!
that’s crazy! hahahaha! LMAO!
September 8th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
yoda says:
i’m not sure who belongs to what universe but i think kobe is closest one to batman. he ain’t stronger or faster than others, but he has brains and balls and no one fucks with him. as gadgets, kobe uses his wast array of moves, he’s serious like dark knight, and well… he delivers. plus, no hug-hug-kiss-kiss with him, like with other players when its game time.
September 8th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ Yoda
He’s apart of DC.
September 8th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
johnson says:
@matt
heres your comparison
Westbrook > Rose: shot =, athleticism =, passing westbrook, scoring rose, aggressiveness westbrook, defense westbrook, IQ & decision making westbrook, hype rose
Lamar odom < Turkoglu: shooting, scoring, passing for Turk, rebounding for LO. athleticism =, defense non existant for either
Scola = Kleiza: Both monsters, real gritty and tough players, both on a tear during this fiba tournament. Scola dominating the post, and kleiza doing everything scoring wise, can`t wait for the nba season to see how kleiza in To and scola in houston perform.
Tyson Chandler < a wet noodle: At least the noodle can play defense without fouling. Also has a better chance of making more than 50% of foul shots and scoring in other ways than off of lobs alone. Noodle can also be used tactically to distract members of the chinese national team if ever the opportunity presents itself.
September 9th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Chicagorilla says:
@Johnson
Interesting view on Rose and Westbrook
I’ve been watching both of them for a long time. Westbrook since his freshman year of college and Rose since his Jr/Sr. year of highschool.
It seems you are believing in this Rose = hype stuff because he hasn’t dropped 30 a night in FIBA play. You do realize that FIBA play is not = to NBA play.
and if you think Keliza = Scola then everything you say/post from here on out will be taken with a grain of salt. Scola is a borderline all-star while Kelieza is a 6th man at best. Seriously do you even watch the NBA?
Do you really think Westbrook is a good passer? Are you just looking at his asst numbers? You realize he does play with Kevin Durant right? You know the NBA’s scoring leader. Not to mention he has a lot of talent around him.
Rose on the other hand… the best talent playing with him is Noah, Kirk, and Taj Gibson. Yeh, maybe you should actually watch the NBA games first.
I am a big fan of both Rose and Westbrook, but no way Westbrook is at Rose’s level of play yet. Call it the Kobe with Shaq effect. Westbrook has Durant to take the load off him.
If you watch Westbrook play, you’ll know that his decision making is HORRID at best. I have watched several OKC and UCLA games were he ices out the best player (Durant/K.Love/Collinson) to take tough shots that he may or may not make.
Rose has always deferred to his elder teammates everywhere he’s been. at Memphis it was CDR, in his 1st year it was Ben Gordan and John Salmons, then he kinda took over this year in Chicago because he had no choice, he is deferring to all the wing scorers on Team USA because he thinks he has to (although he should just score). I personally think Rose is being brought along very well throughout his career and is becoming a better PG every game. Now he has Carlos Boozer (who i hate) which should up his asst numbers greatly with the pick-n-roll/fade/pop. Look for Rose to be somewhere near 20ppg/9ast/5reb.
as far as comparing the two
Off Aware = Rose by a large margin
Deff aware = Westbrook by a large margin
handles = Rose
Mid Range = Rose
Long Range = equal (though Rose will be better)
Passing = Rose, he is more aware of his situations
Rebound = Westbrook
Agressiveness = I’m not sure what you meant by this because Rose attacks the lane just as forceful
Leadership = Rose. Westbrook hasn’t been put in position to lead with Durant on his team. Plus Westbrook is to erractic with his decision making.
Scoring = Equal. With their speed, power, hops, and the NBA rules these guys can get buckets. Westbrook hasn’t had to as much because of Durant Almighty.
September 9th, 2010 at 8:03 am
JAY says:
@Macaluso #10
That’s not me. Lol
I guess there’s a “JA” and then there’s me.
Do you mind if I posted as “Andrew Macalus”?
September 9th, 2010 at 8:26 am
JA says:
Didn’t mean any confusion JAY … JA is just my initials is all.
September 9th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Sporty-j says:
lol great article. Bosh knows his role and knows that hes DWade and lebrons b!tch. He better stay in the back ground and never mess things up or we will trade him for Amare…
September 9th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ JAY
That was a typo.
September 9th, 2010 at 11:37 am
JAY says:
No prob, Macaluso and JA. Sometimes when I see JA posts, i get confused that it was me. I know there’s a lower-case “jay” too.
Funny article though.