Defining a Superstar

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. What defines a "superstar"? Personally, I think the word gets thrown around too much in sports media and commentary. You'll hear announcers proclaiming a guy as a superstar as if that's the title assigned to every team's best player.


It's gotten to the point where the word doesn't carry as much weight. I consider a superstar to be an elite, generational talent who excels in all facets of the game. There should only be a handful that fit into these categories in each sport. If you've got one or more on every team, or if there is even more than 10 in a given sport, I think your definition of superstar is flawed.

I'm not going to get into a rigid definition, because it can vary, but I will just say that a superstar is someone who consistently puts up elite numbers, has an intense desire to win, and possesses the ability to take over games.

I'll give you a hockey example. Guys like Crosby, Stamkos, Ovechkin, Malkin, and Giroux are all currently superstars. Outside of that, it gets murky. I'm hesitant on guys like Kane, Toews, Weber, Karlsson, Kovalchuk etc.. Kane and Toews you can make a great argument for, especially for their two championships.

Goalies are tough. The only one I would be close to putting on the list is Lundqvist. Quick is clutch in the playoffs but isn't elite in the regular season. Rinne, Rask, and Miller are all great goalies but aren't quite at that level. Lundqvist, though hasn't proven anything in the playoffs, has pretty much been hands down the best and most consistent goalie the last 5+ years.

Then there's also the argument for guys who are still playing who might not be superstars now but definitely were in their prime. Guys like Selanne, Iginla, Datsyuk, Brodeur, Pronger, Jagr, and more are all great players still and although they don't perform like they used to, they were definitely superstars once.

Just to get an idea of how exclusive I believe this title should be, here are some players I do NOT consider superstars: Getzlaf, Perry, Parise, Chara, Bergeron, Staal, Nash, Gaborik, Hossa, Kopitar, Subban, Tavares, Hall, Neal, Kessel, Sedins, Backstrom, Semin, Suter, Doughty, and Keith.

All great players. The league's best. But not superstars.

Disagree?

I'll extend this to baseball. Miguel Cabrera, Verlander, Kershaw, Pujols, Felix Hernandez, Wright. I might be missing one or two that I can't think of off the top of my head, but that's about it. Guys like Harvey, Trout, and Harper are budding superstars I think but they're not proven enough over time to fit into that category yet.

I'm not as knowledgeable in basketball and football so maybe Heat can help me with this, but there shouldn't be more than a small handful in each sport. These guys are all star players, sure. Some may even be elite. But to me, a superstar has to reach a total different platform. It's a title that unfortunately gets thrown around too much and it diminishes the meaning of the word.