Gatorade vs. Powerade vs. Vitaminwater -- who wins?

by Shums on Aug 13, 2008 7:25 PM MDT

The recent posting of the Vitaminwater ads starring D-Will and other Olympic stars got me thinking: which NBA sports drink endorsers would win in a game?

According to this, Gatorade’s NBA endorsers include Kevin Garnett, Kevin Durant, and Dwyane Wade. I couldn’t find any other current endorsers, but obviously you could add Michael Jordan. On the other hand, current Powerade endorsers include our own C-Booz, along with Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudamire, Paul Pierce, and Baron Davis, among several others.

So, who would you roll with?

Vitaminwater:
PG: CP3
SG: D-Will
SF: Kobe
PF: LeBron
C: Dwight
(worth noting, Shaq also endorses Vitaminwater)

Gatorade:
PG: Dwyane Wade
SG: Jordan (let’s say an in-his-prime Jordan, for the sake of argument)
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Kevin Garnett
C: ? (couldn’t find a center who endorses Gatorade -- let's assume a player on par with the others on Gatorade's team, like, say, Tim Duncan.)

Powerade:
PG: Baron Davis
SG: Paul Pierce
SF: Carmelo Anthony
PF: Carlos Boozer
C: Amare Stoudamire
(optional replacement: Tyson Chandler)

Talk amongst yourselves.

[EDITED: changed placeholder center on Team Gatorade, because Gatorade would probably only choose a top-caliber player as an endorser. Also added Powerade endorser Tyson chandler as an option, as per comments below.]

Poll

Who wins?

Team Vitaminwater

216 votes

Team Gatorade

114 votes

Team Powerade

14 votes

344 votes | Poll has closed

All comments are the opinion of the commenter and not necessarily that of SLC Dunk or SB Nation.

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Comments

Vitaminwater

Gatorade only has 4 players. :)
And I’m not sure I’d want Wade as my point. And Durant as is right now is definitely a weak link… almost as bad as not having a player at center. (And even if you use a decent player, that doesn’t keep up at all with Amare or Dwight).

And Powerade has Booze (cheap shot? maybe). And Pierce… who suddenly thinks he’s the best player in the NBA. And Hit-N-Run. The team just looks ready to disappoint.

Vitaminwater has 2 of the best in the NBA (LBJ, Kobe), the 2 best young PGs (Deron, CP3), and an absolute force in the middle (Dwight). Not to mention Shaq. The thing that could hurt the team… how do Kobe & Shaq handle being on the same team?

The Utah Jazz. The Jazz... duh.
The best NBA team in Utah... no doubts about it!
Playing For Pride. Pirates, Utes, Panthers, and more...
Because, in the end, only one team can "win it all".

by UtesFan89 on Aug 13, 2008 4:46 PM MDT reply actions

I think you're underestimating

an in-his-prime Jordan. Who guards him? Only Kobe has a shot. I don’t know if either CP3 or D-Will can handle Wade. Garnett could guard LeBron tolerably, whereas I don’t know if LeBron could guard Garnett on the other end (not tall enough). Durant is the weak link, obviously. And I think a decent-level defensive center can guard Howard—he’s not the world’s best inside scorer. My vote would still be for Vitaminwater, but I think it’s closer than you might expect.

In a fast-paced offensive game, Team Powerade might blow everyone away. But that starting five has no defense. Perhaps you’d sub in Tyson Chandler (also a Powerade endorser) at center and shift Amare to PF in place of Boozer.

I'll make it.

by Shums on Aug 13, 2008 4:56 PM MDT up reply actions

It's not who guards Jordan

I think it’s the other 4 for vitamin water that are better than their counterparts.

SLCDunk.com, The Utah Jazz on SBNation

by Basketball John on Aug 13, 2008 5:17 PM MDT up reply actions

true enough

I'll make it.

by Shums on Aug 13, 2008 5:30 PM MDT up reply actions

Hmmm

it’s a landslide. Maybe I should have given Team Gatorade a higher-level center, someone on a par with the other four players on the team—Duncan, perhaps. That might make more sense, since Gatorade would only sign top-level talent anyway.

There’s also the issue that Team Vitaminwater doesn’t play very big. Their team is listed at 6’0”, 6’3”, 6’6”, 6’8”, and 6’11”. That means you’re relying solely on Dwight for post offense and defense (LeBron is 6’8” but post play isn’t his specialty, and he’s not the world’s best defender).

Okay, I guess it’s fairly obvious which team is best. Still fun to consider.

I'll make it.

by Shums on Aug 13, 2008 6:53 PM MDT reply actions

Plus they have Shaq.

If any team starts running away, he’ll just sit on the key guy.

The Utah Jazz. The Jazz... duh.
The best NBA team in Utah... no doubts about it!
Playing For Pride. Pirates, Utes, Panthers, and more...
Because, in the end, only one team can "win it all".

by UtesFan89 on Aug 13, 2008 7:22 PM MDT up reply actions

Speaking of Powerade

Did anyone else notice that Boozer’s tattoos were missing in the Powerade billboards that were plastered all over the Salt Lake Valley during the playoffs? What was the ad agency thinking? “Sure, Utah will embrace him as a player with an armful of tattoos, but they won’t buy our product if it’s endorsed by a guy with tattoos?” Ridiculous.

by kris247 on Aug 14, 2008 2:04 PM MDT reply actions

I was thinking about that billboard when I was writing this

and I noticed that too. Ridiculous. Deron has tats all over hisself, and it doesn’t hurt his popularity. (Then again, in that annoying storage commercial where he calls all the members of the team to help him move, he’s wearing a track jacket that covers all of them.)

I'll make it.

by Shums on Aug 14, 2008 2:06 PM MDT up reply actions