MTV "The Challenge: NBA"

April 17, 2012
Derrick Kosinski's "Ultimate Challenge Radio" Powered by Talent Network
Ultimate Love to: MTV.com
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As we end our Challenge Madness Tournament and with the NBA playoffs on the horizon we present this timely comparison piece from friend and podcast guest Tim Koskuba. Hope you enjoy the read and feel free to hit the comments section below the post. Make sure to give Tim a twitter follow @KO_Skuba, can't thank him enough. --D


"The Challenge: Battle of the Exes" has concluded and what ESPN's Bill Simmons calls "the fifth major sport" will go on it's familiar offseason. While the wondrous minds at Bunim-Murray contemplate the next insane Final and craft the dysfunctional roster for the newest season of "The Challenge", the NBA playoffs will get underway and take the spotlight in the sports world. Millions will watch to see stars like Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, and Dwight Howard try to reach greatness and capture the NBA championship. While these are two different sports, two different kinds of athletes, and two very dissimilar audiences, I can't help but notice many similarities between a few of the biggest NBA superstars and some of the Challenge's greatest competitors...

Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio - Kobe Bryant
It's very easy to make the case that Johnny is this era's best Challenger. He has more championships than any other competitor (Darrell also has four) and even if he doesn't win the title, he's always contending. This is very similar to Kobe Bryant, who's got five rings on his resume and is universally seen as the best player of the last ten years. The similarity that I find the most intriguing between the two is the fact that both Johnny and Kobe were seen as someone that was an elite competitor/player, but their first few championships were a product of being paired with other dominant competitors/players. Kobe Bryant won his first three titles with Shaquille O'Neal. Johnny won his first two Challenges with a combination of Kenny, Evan, and Derrick. Many in the NBA community doubted Kobe's ability to win titles on his own following the trade of Shaq, but he proved them wrong when he won back to back rings in 2009 and 2010. In a near mirror image, most Challenge fans saw Johnny as just a very good role player. However, without Kenny, Evan, or Derrick on his team, he won two straight Challenges on "Rivals" and "Battle of the Exes". The real question is, what's a better nickname? "Bananas" or "The Black Mamba"?


Paula Meronek - Dirk Nowitzki

Entering the Challenge, no one really knew what to expect from Paula. There were questions about her mental and physical toughness, would they be able to translate into a competitive environment like the Challenge? Very similar doubts were casted onto the lanky German, Dirk Nowitzki, who entered the NBA Draft in 1998. European players were typecast as "soft" by the fans and media at the time. Over time Paula turned into a female competitor to be reckoned with, like Nowitzki had developed into a serious top player in the league. Despite their personal ability, both Paula and Dirk have seemingly always been underrated by media and most fans throughout their respective careers. Paula had been labeled mentally incapable of winning a Challenge after the infamous "Island" finale. After Dirk and the Mavericks had gone up 2-0 in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat and ended up losing the series, his mental fortitude was also called into question and his future title hopes were all but dismissed. However, 2011 was a big year for this duo, as they both proved their respective doubters wrong. Paula finally captured her first Challenge win with Evelyn on "Rivals" and Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat for the NBA title. Can lightning strike twice (or I guess four times)?


Chris "CT" Tamburello - Lebron James

The most polarizing Challenge personality has to be compared with the most polarizing athlete in the world. C.T definitely has more fans than haters, but there's no one luke warm on C.T. You either love the guy or you can't stand him. Lebron is the same way. He may have over four million Twitter followers, but there's probably twice as many people that insult him for calling himself "King James" despite not having one championship. Here lies another glaring similarity between the two. C.T is arguably the most physically gifted Challenger in the series history. He shows flashes of just absolutely terrifying strength and agility, but despite those abilities, he's never been able to win a Challenge. His mental game was what many considered his downfall, much like Lebron's, who most clearly illustrated those flaws in last year's NBA Finals. Both have gotten close to their goal. C.T has gotten to four Final challenges and Lebron has gone to two NBA Finals, but neither seems to show those flashes of athletic brilliance when the pressure is at it's highest.

Leroy Garrett - Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose is seen as "The Next Guy". The next guy to start dominating the league at his position. The next guy to bring back the NBA madness to Chicago. The next guy to start racking up multiple championships. Rose is relatively new in his NBA career, only being in his fourth year, but he's already taken his team to one Eastern Conference Finals and already has been a league MVP Leroy is in the infancy of his Challenge career like Rose is in his NBA tenure, and he's already reached a Final of his own, in his first try none the less. If there was a "Next Guy" vote for the Challenge, where the fans voted on what relative newcomer would be the next great Challenge contender, I guarantee Leroy would win outright. Much like Rose, Leroy has a good head on his shoulders. Neither gets caught up in the nonsense that comes with their territory. They are both physical specimens and come to compete in the purest form possible. Who wins a championship first? D-Rose or RoyLee?


Emily Schromm - Blake Griffin

Most people see Blake Griffin as just a highlight reel, a lot more style than substance. The media said it about him coming out of college as well. I'll admit, this is what I thought about Emily when I first saw her walk in to "Cutthroat". I expected another girl that would be a lot of fun to watch on my television, but really not go too far into the real competition. Identically like the NBA media that bit their tongue about Blake, I did the same with Emily. She's much more than a pretty face (and a pretty rest-of-her to be fair), like Blake is a lot more than a bunch of pretty dunks. Emily has shown to be one of the best female competitors in Challenge history, and she just completed her sophomore season. She's a perfect 5-0 in elimination rounds and has made two straight Finals. Blake Griffin hasn't quite made it to any Finals or even playoff appearances, but he is now considered a top three to five power-forward and has been named to two All-Star games. The future looks very bright for both of these athletes.



Wes Bergmann - Kevin Garnett

The super-heel of the NBA, meet the super-heel of the Challenges! For those that don't know, Kevin Garnett is almost universally hated by all NBA players. It's not for his lack of skills or accolades by any means. He won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics and was an elite player for most of his fifteen plus year career. He'll likely be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame when he calls it quits. The hate for him all revolves around him being considered a fake tough guy and being a dirty player. Garnett has started multiple fights during games and always plays the "hold me back!" routine, which the NBA players have seen through for a number of years now. KG has also been known to intentionally flagrant foul players and has even gone as far as hitting a few guys below the belt. How does this tie into Wes? It's certainly no secret that Wes isn't exactly the cleanest competitor. His consistent back-stabbing tactics and his lack of loyalty (Danny. Fresh Meat 2. Remember?) are about as much evidence as one would need. The fake tough guy thing is just a personal opinion, I suppose. Every time Wes has tried to make himself seem like some sort of alpha-male, such as him threatening Johnny or Darrell on "The Ruins", it always seemed so rehearsed and ungenuine. All character flaws aside, Wes is still a very talented competitor and has won "The Duel" so that's why he gets compared to an accomplished vet like Garnett.


Laurel Stucky - Dwight Howard

Initially, it'll appear that this comparison is only a physical one. Laurel is the tallest, most imposing female competitor. Dwight Howard is the most dominant center in the league. Pretty easy to understand. Once I dove a little deeper, I noticed something. Despite making it to the Final in each of her Challenge appearances, Laurel has yet to get over that championship hump. Some have said that she hasn't done so, not because of her own ability, but due to her teammates. The closest she came to a title was with Kenny on "Fresh Meat 2", which was the only time she had an All-Star teammate. The closest Dwight Howard ever came to a championship was in the 2008-2009 season, the only season he had All-Star teammates (Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis). That year, the Magic made it to the NBA Finals, but eventually lost to the Lakers. Obviously both Laurel and Dwight are huge talents and have all the physical ability to win, but a lot of their future success lies with their future partners in crime.



Kenny Santucci - Tony Parker

There's not a large assortment of NBA players that fit the "Mr. Beautiful" mold. Enter Tony Parker. He's won three championships with the Spurs. Obviously not as many as Kenny himself, but that is a lot in this current NBA. I don't know about comparing them looks wise, but Parker was married Eva Longoria, so he can't be too hard on the eyes to pull that off. The biggest similarity is the fact that both guys get underestimated in terms of their pure level of ability. Kenny is appropriately dubbed the greatest social game player in Challenge history, but what goes untalked about is his ability to compete. No one ever won a Challenge with just their social game. At some point, everyone is forced to bring it physically. Whether it's in the Final or the mini-challenges, Kenny is certainly in the upper-echelon. Tony Parker doesn't get mentioned in the elite class of point guards along with Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams, but his abilities to drive to the basket and come up big for his team when needed should be considered as such. Now I just wonder which "Desperate Housewives" star will Kenny land?



50 comments:

  1. "Greatest Challengers" Leroy? lol since when?

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  2. Man the Leroy and Rose comparisons are spot on. Even their demeanors are almost the same. You never see Rose get upset when guys are hacking him or his with his own teammates. Even Leroy handled the Adam situation perfectly, Mike not finishing the challenge beautifully, and even handled that crazy Naomi flawlessly. Once he gets a decent partner or a solo challenge(ala Duel) I think he'll show the world what he's got.

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    1. What do you mean once he gets a decent partner, he was the weak link in Rivals. And he also did bad on Exes. I think people just like him and want him to do well but so far, he's been sub-par.

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    2. Bro they don't make it to the finals if it wasn't for him. Remember who actually climbed the rope hooked to the helicopter? They don't win that challenge if Mike Mike climbs the rope, and if they didn't win they were probably going into the elimination and going home. And not one dude could've carried Naomi's lame ass very far. She's just not built for this kinda thing.

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    3. I think Roylee has been slightly overrated as well. But you can't say he was the weak link on Rivals when he won the first challenge with Royer and the helicopter challenge Mike did absolutely nothing. Like the poster said above Roylee got them to the finals with his performance climbing the rope, and that was clutch. Naomi just sucked ass and I don't even think Johnny Bananas could've did anything with her. She just wanted to bang(as she said on a previous podcast) and you can't win if your head is not in the game.

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    4. Yeah, Naomi was probably the worst girl there. Lee wasn't going far with her.

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    5. ^Naomi probably was the worst girl there now that I think about it. She reminded me Casey from past challenges, like you wonder why she even got on the flight to the challenge when you watched her perform.

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    6. leroy overrated really, dude climbed that rope in like 5 seconds, and killed wes in the X-battle elimination round, and wes is probably the best at elimination rounds, and leroy destroyed him, wes couldnt even beat him once lol

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    7. Wes is not the best at elimination rounds. He hasn't done anything impressive since the duel. He's way past his prime. And so what he climbed a rope. He got beat in swimming by Mike and Ty, and that was after Leroy fell on Mike in the water. It's like the only thing people are judging Leroy on is climbing a rope fast lol. What else has he done to be considered a "challenge great"?

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    8. You know what's funny about this conversation? Myself and NBA circles have the same sorts of debates about Derrick Rose and whether or not he's overrated.

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    9. Dude leroy is the man he may have not prove yet how strong he is,but the way he sees the game is what makes him a great challenger he keeps the BS out of the game unlike kenny,evan or johnny

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  3. Bananas doesn't have more championships than everyone else. Darell has 4, which you mentioned, so I don't know why you said he has more than everyone else.

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    1. The point is that he has the most rings of today's challengers and his wins are more recent. Darrell's last challenge was 4 seasons ago and he hasn't won since Fresh Meat, which was like 7 years ago.

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    2. bananas-kobe bryant? no way, darrell is the kobe bryant of the challenges.

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  4. Some more comparisons to NBA players:
    Landon: Tim Duncan - Nice guy, great player
    Evan: Shaq - used to be dominant, should have won more, became fat

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    1. I actually laughed out loud to your Evan and Shaq comparison. Spot on.

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  5. Landon and Kevin Durant both probably the most gifted athletes, Ill compare those two til I see Zach compete, because he might be the most gifted athlete.

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  6. I think Leroy and Zach will be the next 2 beasts on the Challenge's

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    1. Because they're big? I'd take Derrick and Abram over them any day.

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    2. I don't think Zach will be liked in the house. The social aspect of this game weighs a ton, and Zach just comes off like a prick. Which is the total opposite of how Leroy comes off. I think the crew will gunning for Zach, which will make it hard to stick around unless he's winning every challenge.

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    3. zach was a prick because he couldnt relate to anyone in his real world house. definitely the worst casted real world ever. he will be able to get along with the guys that compete in the challenges

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    4. No it's because Zach is by far probably the best athlete to come along ever on Real World. Think thats the only reason he was casted, dude does play arena football league and tears it up.

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    5. How do you know how athletic he is? And i doubt he'd beat Landon, who i would consider the best athlete on these shows.

      I guess we'll have to wait and see.

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    6. zach played football in college

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    7. and he plays arena fottball

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    8. i know im getting off topic, but rw san diego was maybe the worst ever. do you realize they did 11 or how many episodes they did of the same one story line (zach and ashley secluding themselves). RW Vegas had so many more story lines (more compelling ones at that).

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    9. RW:San diego totally sucks,about zach been a beast in the challenges just bc you are big and play fotball doesnt mean u are great,MJ and Tyrie are 2 of the biggest guys there,both played fotball and both suck in eliminations rounds.

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  7. Another fail kinda retarded

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  8. You forgot to mention Laurel Stucky's hideous personality. Try and find a player that's such a bitch in the NBA. Good luck.

    Also man, where's Abram on that list? That guy's a fan favorite every time.

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    1. You could make a case that Dwight Howard is a bitch too just isn't as forward about it as Laurel and he tries to cover it up. This season he has flip flopped several times on whether he wanted to stay in Orlando or test free agency, essentially being a diva and acting entitled, dragging his teammates through his whole ordeal. Also it has come out that he doesn't want to play for his coach anymore and wants him fired this offseason. He then plays it off that he is the good guy and wanted to be liked, putting on this front for the fans. So, while a different type of bitch than Laurel...I'd say still a bitch.

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  9. I thought there were good comparisons in there. I would like to see comparisons for Darrell, Landon, Derrick, and Evelyn.

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    1. Derrick and Allen Iverson, Id say Evelyn and Shaq both were probably the most dominate and champions and now retired

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  10. Evelyn = best female so far
    Diem = could have single handedly kicked Iceland (and cancer's) ass
    Not even a mention, really??? = The Miz, Derrick, Rachel, Mark Long, and Coral (who would probably even make Laurel curl up and cry)

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    1. its hard to compare women to nba players, derrick was spot on with the comparisons he made. laurel would absolutely destroy coral in a physical matchup

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    2. Coral could be Ron Artest....

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    3. I tweeted Mark Long earlier, he'd be the Jerry West of the challenge because if anyone were the logo itd probably be him

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  11. Thanks everybody for your comments and feedback. Couldn't use EVERY Challenger in one article, but a part 2 could definitely be in the works if the demand is there.

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  12. man the C.T and Lebron comparison is spot on, both are the most physically dominate players in the game, but have not won anything!

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  13. Paula being compared to Dirk is just flat disrespectful to Dirk.

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  14. nfl qb one would be tight derrick-john elway, ct-dan marino, landon-tom brady, kenny-ben roethlisberger, cara maria-mark sanchez, mark long-brett favre

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  15. You can't leave out hottie OG Mark Long, Derrick. You just can't. *sad face*

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  16. Abram -- Meta World Peace (both kinda crazy)
    Mark Long -- Jerry West (both extremely iconic)
    Derrick Kosinski -- Dwayne Wade (both are gritty, electric, and winners)
    Zach -- Anthony Davis (both are supposed to be the "next big thing")
    Noor -- Deron Williams (both are exceptional athletes but have never won)
    Darrell -- Robert Horry (both have 4 championships and always seem to win by staying under the wire)
    Landon -- Kevin Durant (freak athletes)
    Evelyn -- Russell Westbrook (fiery, angry, but still nasty)

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  17. Ev- Brittany Griner (most dominant woman, possibly a dude)

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  18. I think Darrell is more of a Tim Duncan, they both have won four times. They do not play the most exciting games but know how to get the job done. Tom Duncan plays the most fundamentally sounds game and sticks to the basis and Darrell plays the quiet games and just performs then when they get to the final the both perform well.
    Or a Bill Russell because they both won a lot. The teams that they have won with have had a lot of talent on them.

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  19. Casey- Brian Scalabrine

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  20. This was a great article Skuba, the only problem I read, was that you said FM2 was the only season Laurel had an All-Star partner. But on CutThroat, she was with Abe in the final who I think most people would consider a Challenge All-Star.

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    1. He certainly wasn't an All-Star that season!

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