Who is your Premier League team’s NBA Equivalent?
By Jimmy Lee
For those of you who have been thinking too much about the English Premier League and have not had time to pay attention to anything else, another sport is about to begin their season here in the United States. Most people have not heard of it before, but there is a small sport that may someday become as popular as Soccer, it is called basketball.
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Tuesday the National Basketball Association begins its regular season. For those of you soccer fans out there, you may have never heard of the NBA before but it certainly is one of America’s up and coming leagues. It may never be as popular as soccer in this country, but for many of you, it may begin to be your second favorite sport.
So for those of you who are just getting interested in this new league called the NBA, here is a way for me to help get you a little better acquainted.
I decided that I would go through each of the Premier League teams and find their NBA equivalent. There are only 20 EPL teams while there is a total of 30 teams in the NBA. So not all NBA teams will be covered, but at least this way you have the chance to learn a little bit more about this exciting young American sport known as basketball.
So here we go.
Arsenal – Your NBA team is the Chicago Bulls
Both Arsenal and the Bulls have won titles in the past. Both wear the color red. But the most telling similarity of all is that both teams have had high expectations the past few seasons only to be derailed over and over again by injury.
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Aston Villa – Your NBA team is the Brooklyn Nets
Aston Villa plays in Birmingham England, the second largest city in the country. Brooklyn plays in the largest city in the United States, New York City. Neither team has had recent success and considering their history and payroll, both teams should be more competitive on a regular basis.
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Burnley – Your NBA team is the Utah Jazz
Have you ever met anyone from outside of the city of Burnley who is a supporter of the club? Can anyone living outside of the country of England find Burnley on a map? The same goes with the Utah Jazz. No one outside of the state of Utah cares about this team and anyone outside of the United States cannot find Salt Lake City on a map.
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Chelsea – Your NBA team is the Dallas Mavericks
Chelsea is good thanks to an owner who may be a little crazy at times, but he is willing to spend money, Roman Abramovich. Before he purchased the club in 2003, Chelsea had some hard times, but thanks Abramovich, they are always contending for a title. Maverick’s owner Mark Cuban is another eccentric billionaire who bought a lackluster team and turned them into a champion.
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Crystal Palace – Your NBA team is the Detroit Pistons
Only a couple of similarities here. Both teams wear blue and red and the Pistons play in the Palace at Auburn Hills. Thus, they are Crystal Palace.
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Everton – Your NBA team is the Oklahoma City Thunder
Both teams are full of young talent. While Everton has Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku, the Thunder has Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Both teams are hyped going into each season, but neither team has won a title in recent history.
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Hull City – Your NBA team is the Minnesota Timberwolves
Hull City has attempted to rebrand their team to be known simply as the Hull Tigers. If the was the NFL, it would be easy to give Hull City the Cincinnati Bengals, but there are neither Tigers nor any type of wild cat mascots in the NBA. The closest mascot in the NBA to a wild, ferocious and carnivorous mammal in the NBA is the Timberwolves. Yes it is a dog and a tiger is a cat, but this is the best that I can do.
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Leicester City – Your NBA team is the Cleveland Cavaliers
Good news for you Leicester, your NBA team is one of the best teams in the league who will be contending for a title soon. So what do these two teams have in common? The past four years without LeBron James, the Cavs have been an incredible disappointment. Now they have LeBron back and Kevin Love on top of that.
Leicester City was just promoted this season to the Premier League. With Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha as the new owner, he has promised to turn the team into a top level contender. Though there has been little hope in both Cleveland and Leicester in recent years, this season presents a new light of hope for both teams.
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Liverpool – Your NBA team is the Boston Celtics
Both teams used to be incredible and win championships on a regular basis but with the exception of the title in 2008 for the Celtics and 2006 Champions League for Liverpool, neither team has lived up to their history from years past. Both are some of the most historic and iconic in their respective leagues with fan bases all around the world, including many celebrity supporters. Additionally, Liverpool is owned by a Boston based ownership group, the same that owns the Red Sox.
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Manchester City – Your NBA team is the Los Angeles Clippers
These two teams are nearly identical. Both have historically been the little brothers to their cross town rivals and have been border-line awful for several years. But in recent history, their fortunes have been reversed. Both teams have overtaken their local nemesis’ to own their cities.
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Manchester United – Your NBA team is the Los Angeles Lakers
Everything that I said above about City and the Clippers is the opposite for United and the Lakers. Both have won titles galore, but recent history has not been kind to these two historic franchises. Both find themselves in a rebuilding process while they have shuffled through coaches trying to find the right fit.
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Newcastle United – Your NBA team is the Charlotte Hornets
This comparison has to do 100% with the owners. The Hornets are owned by the one and only Michael Jordan while Newcastle is owned by much less well known Mike Ashley. The similarities have to do with the questionable decisions made by the owners over the years. While Jordan has been known for drafting players who never meet their expectations, Ashley has consistently sold off his most exciting players and replaced them with unproven talent.
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Southampton – Your NBA team is the Phoenix Suns
Last season no one had expectations for either of these clubs. At season’s end, both teams had surpassed all expectations. The same was the same for Southampton at the start of the season, many pegged them as relegation candidates, but once again they have proven everyone wrong. The Suns hope to once again prove their critics wrong this season and have another successful campaign. Additionally, both teams are some of the most fun and exciting in the league to watch.
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Stoke City – Your NBA team is the Indiana Pacers
This comparison has to do with defense. While both teams can be quite unexciting on offense, they have been known for their stellar defense over the past several years.
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Sunderland – Your NBA team is the Milwaukee Bucks
Both teams are the second most northern teams in their countries. Neither team is able to attract big name players to their clubs and both teams consistently find themselves near the bottom of their leagues. If relegation existed in the NBA, the Bucks would be fighting off relegation just as frequently as Sunderland.
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Swansea City – Your NBA team is the Toronto Raptors
It is called the English Premier League, but one team, Swansea City, is located outside of England in Wales. The Toronto Raptors also find themselves as the lone franchise outside of the country’s borders. In recent history both Canada and Wales had a second team in the league, but after Cardiff City was relegated last season and the Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis several years back, both Swansea City and the Raptors have remained the lone team in their country.
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Tottenham Hotspur – Your NBA team is the San Antonio Spurs
This one is simple. Spurs.
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West Bromich Albion – Your NBA team is the Atlanta Hawks
I’ve wondered for years why the NBA does not have more teams with bird mascots. A league that is known for speed and highflying players, it would make sense to have more teams names after birds. West Bromich Albion has a small bird known as a Throstle on their logo. No this bird is nothing like a Hawk, but I think it’s more similar to a Hawk than a Pelican.
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West Ham United – Your NBA team is the Golden State Warriors
The Warriors have been one of the most exciting teams to watch the past few seasons and have had epic battles with several teams around the league. West Ham United has this season become the Warriors of the Premier League. The Hammers have had exciting and intense matches against some of the league’s top teams including Man City and Liverpool and have come out on top in both. Neither team has what it takes to win a championship in their league, but both clubs will continue to be fun and exciting to watch.
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Queens Park Rangers – Your NBA team is the Philadelphia 76ers
To finish off the list, we have the worst teams in both leagues. Neither team makes me want to turn the TV on and both teams should be relegated at season’ end.