Is Tony Hawk the Michael Jordan of his Sport?

[Ashcatchum]

I was watching the X games the other day and espn reporters kept referring to Tony Hawk as the legend Tony Hawk. So it got me wondering, is Tony Hawk the greatest skateboarder to ever live or is he just a legend/Hall of Famer who had huge popularity in the 90s. Sorry if its a dumb question, don't know much about skateboarding.

[Fuzzzie]

I would say so. I can't name any other pro-skateboarders besides him so I would say he's the go-to guy you say when mentioning it.

[RaoBurning]

Pretty much, yes; though Hawk had way better video games than Jordan. But, Jordan did a movie with the Loony Toons and that guy who isn't Dan Aykroyd so I guess it all evens out.

[Pendulous]

No, I don't think so. Tony Hawk is something different. All MJ was was a great, possibly the greatest player. Tony Hawk basically invented what we see each year in the X-Games/Gravity Games/whatever. It's a different level of influence.

[Projali]

In terms of recognition, yes. In terms of all-around basketball vs. skateboard ability, no. There have always been street skaters better than Hawk. He's a vert skater.

[Mezzolith]

I think when most hear professional skateboarding they probably think of Tony Hawk. So, yeah.

[Taik]

It's been sometime since my skating days, but I do recall Tony Hawk being more or less "Big-Air" exclusively, or whatever it's actually called. Not that it's not impressive or anything, he completely revolutionized skating in that way, doing something people were saying was technically impossible (the 900). When it comes to "street-Skating" Tony Hawk was never really "relevant", that side of skating has been dominated by guys like Rodney Mullen fx.

But like Jordan, Tony Hawk was more than just amazing and a great player/competitor, he brought enormous attention to the sport and made it much more lucrative than ever before in terms of sponsorships etc.

[DEATHETERNAL]

Firstly, I wouldn't qualify that a sport at all. As for Hawk himself, he may well be the Jordan of skateboarding, but skateboarding isn't anywhere near as big as basketball (or other actual sports) so that comparison may be misleading. He may be the Jordan of skateboarding in that he is one of if not the biggest name in skateboarding, but he does not rise anywhere near Jordan's level of name recognition, advertising potential, or pretty much anything else.

[Deleted]

In my opinion no, Tony Hawk just shone the light on Skateboarding he was more of a pioneer in publicity and sponsorship. His games brought skateboarding into the public eye. Although, at the height of his career he was the best vert skater but there have always been better street skaters and most skaters will agree that verts a very small aspect of skating. Street requires alot more technical ability. He was great don't get me wrong but he pushed the sport of skating as you see in the x-games into a more high profile, more recognized career as he was the first person to make any real money from the sport.

[jackofwind]

Jordan may be more recognizable a brand, but Tony Hawk is the only reason the general public even started to talk about skateboarding. People talked about basketball long before Jordan came on the scene.

Tony Hawk is more to skateboarding like what Black Sabbath is to heavy metal - not necessarily the best overall in his craft, but assuredly the entity that ushered in its widespread popularity.

[Goldfingaz]

It's been sometime since my skating days, but I do recall Tony Hawk being more or less "Big-Air" exclusively, or whatever it's actually called. Not that it's not impressive or anything, he completely revolutionized skating in that way, doing something people were saying was technically impossible (the 900). When it comes to "street-Skating" Tony Hawk was never really "relevant", that side of skating has been dominated by guys like Rodney Mullen fx.

But like Jordan, Tony Hawk was more than just amazing and a great player/competitor, he brought enormous attention to the sport and made it much more lucrative than ever before in terms of sponsorships etc.

This pretty well nails it.

Tony Hawk was one of the people that helped really break out this sport. In terms of skill? Yeah he's probably one of the best in Vert. He's the person people like Burnquist and Lasek were trying to beat (And did now and again, Hawk wasn't unbeatable by any means, just the top competition), and now Burnquist and Lasek are the guys to beat (More so Lasek on vert, and Burnquist in Big Air).

- - - Updated - - -

Firstly, I wouldn't qualify that a sport at all. As for Hawk himself, he may well be the Jordan of skateboarding, but skateboarding isn't anywhere near as big as basketball (or other actual sports) so that comparison may be misleading. He may be the Jordan of skateboarding in that he is one of if not the biggest name in skateboarding, but he does not rise anywhere near Jordan's level of name recognition, advertising potential, or pretty much anything else.

Ever stop to wonder why the OP named the thread "Is Tony Hawk the Michael Jordan of his sport". He wasn't asking if he was on the same level all around, just of the sport.

[Sarella]

I think you need to define what you mean by "The Michael Jordan of..."

Jordan is the most famous Basketballer of the last 25 years, and many would argue the most famous of all time (against, say, Jabar). The way Jordan promoted the sport and made it very popular for a lot of people outside the US shows how influential he really was. And as the movie, that just helped illustrate the sports growing influence on an international scale.

Tony Hawk is the original X-games poster child. He epitomises the sport, brought it from something people did on the streets to Olympic levels (The X-games grew largely as a result of the popularity of computer games like Tony Hawks as it did from pioneers fighting to get it out)

So if you're referring to "Is Tony Hawk the most famous skater of the past 25 years and did he help grow the influence of his sport sufficiently to warrant legendary status?" Then yes, I believe he did.

[draynay]

more like the Wayne Gretzky of the sport, since he has no peer in terms of fame

it used to be if you asked somebody to name two hockey players they would name Wayne Gretzky and then shrug at you for the second player

its the same with skateboarding

laypersons tend to know more basketball players than just Michael Jordan, or at least, there are others just as famous as him