How Lamar Jackson's career is already drawing parallels to one former NBA superstar and one current hooper.

 Many may be surprised to see that the Baltimore Ravens have begun the 2024-2025 football season 0-2. This shock is warranted as the Ravens made it to the AFC championship game during the last playoff run and quarterback Lamar Jackson took home MVP honors last season. The week two loss to the Raiders at home truly is an upset but last week's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was less surprising. The Chiefs have been a thorn in the Ravens side for the past few years now. The Chiefs are the team who eliminated the Ravens in last year’s AFC Championship game. Patrick Mahomes is widely regarded as the best quarterback in the NFL and has led his team to two Super Bowls. Thus far the Chiefs and Mahomes have been the biggest roadblock to Lamar and the Ravens reaching the ultimate pinnacle in football, the Super Bowl. It appears that if these lopsided results continue between Mahomes and Jackson, Lamar Jackson’s career may draw parallels to one former and one current NBA star. 

           In the 1990’s one name comes to mind when you think of the face of the NBA during that era, Michael Jordan. Jordan and his Chicago Bulls dominated professional basketball in the states. The Bulls won three straight titles on two separate occasions and Jordan won all 6 of The Finals he appeared in. He had a strong cast of supporting players around and the NBA’s most brilliant head coach in Phil Jackson. However, with one team’s success came the failure of many other teams, one of the most notable being the New York Knicks. The Knicks saw an opportunity in the 1990’s to bring glory back to the Mecca of Basketball. New York was led by star big man Patrick Ewing. While the Knicks saw potential for NBA glory during the 90’s, their high  hopes were often squashed by Jordan and his Bulls. Ewing never once raised the Larry O’Brien Trophy with the Knicks, or ever in his NBA career. This did not stop Ewing from reaching the Hall of Fame and achieving many personal honors for his fantastic career in the NBA. Since Ewing’s retirement many have looked at his lack of NBA championships as a blemish on an otherwise great career. This blemish could be blamed directly on Ewing however some speculate that it was not due to Ewing’s lack of skill but the fact that he would always face a more talented player and team in Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. 

           There is a more modern NBA comparison to Lamar Jackson’s struggles and that would be to current Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden. Harden began his career as the third option in Oklahoma City but quickly became a superstar after he was dealt to the Houston Rockets. Harden developed arguably the most unstoppable step back jump shots in the NBA during the 2010’s. Harden consistently  earned Western Conference Player of the Week awards, and for certain stretches he would average 40 points a game each week. Harden also had a strong group around him. Chris Paul served as a great point guard and facilitator of basketball. Paul’s pass-first approach to the game complemented Harden’s tendencies to create offense while exploiting one on one matchups. This duo also played with Clint Capela during his physical prime. During this time Capela’s traditional big man skill set of rebounding, high percentage shots, and inside defense allowed Harden and Paul to focus on making perimeter shots as well as mid range jumpers. However, once the playoffs rolled around there was always one team who had the Rocket’s number, the Golden State Warriors. As great as Harden was, Stephen Curry was just a little bit better. The Warriors always seemed to hit more shots when it counted. The Warriors always appeared to have better coaching, better play making ability, and had more players who could make big time shots down the stretch. Along with Curry the Warriors had a complimentary sharp shooter in Klay Thompson. The Warriors also had a strong physical big man in Draymond Green, who despite being undersized, used attitude and grit to dominate the paint as well as the mid range game. To make matters worse Kevin Durant joined the Warriors to create a superteam in the late 2010’s. If James Harden and the Rockets were together at a time when the Warriors were not dominating the NBA, James Harden would be an NBA Champion, a Finals MVP, and would have a more positive legacy to fans and the media, but he could not beat Curry and the Warriors. 

              The history of sports has shown us that not everyone with the talent to lead their team to a championship can do it. It also shows that it may not be a reflection on that player's talent, but could reflect how dominant another player or franchise was during that time period. This could be the case for Lamar Jackson. There is no doubt he has the talent to win a championship, but he may never get past the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes in his career, when elimination is on the line. There are two positive outlooks for Lamar though. For one, the Chiefs will need to rethink their offense in the coming years. The focal point of the Chiefs offense, Travis Kelce, is 34 years old and appears to be physically declining. Kelce will still have his dominant performances, but he may not be the focal point of the offense like he once was. The Chiefs have two receivers who look like young stars in Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy, but these two will not be enough to replace Kelce when the time comes. If Kelce retires at the end of this season or next, the Ravens could take advantage of a less talented Chiefs team. The other silver lining for Lamar Jackson is historically in the NFL we have not seen one quarterback dominate every single playoff run and championship in an era. Tom Brady is highly regarded as the best quarterback of his generation and he won seven Super Bowls during his career. However, he wasn’t so dominant that other star signal callers could not win. Aaron Rogers won one Super Bowl and Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger  all won two championships while Brady was playing. This is by no means saying that Lamar Jackson will never win a championship or will lose to Patrick Mahomes in every single playoff matchup. However, it may make you think that if Lamar Jackson’s career continues on this trajectory, will we compare his career to that of Patrick Ewing or James Harden?