Are super teams bad for the league?

Are super teams bad for the league?

Now that 7 time All-Star Kevin Durant has joined the Golden State Warriors, they are considered to be the next dynasty of the NBA. With the addition of Durant, the Warriors have 5 All-Star selected players, 3 MVP trophies between 2 players, and 4 players that have an NBA All- Selection team. If all that isn’t a big enough advantage, the Warriors have 3 of the top scorers in the league on the same team. All these great players on the same team isn’t a new thing for the NBA, actually this is what the modern day NBA is becoming, but what defines a super team? A super team is when a group of great players join up together to win multiple championships. Is this strategy good for the NBA?  Let’s go back 30 years to the original super teams of the NBA: Larry Bird Era Celtics and Showtime Lakers. These teams brought in a lot entertainment and money to their respective cities. These super teams were great for the NBA at the time, because the fans have never seen anything like this before. The insane, never heard of idea of 2 to 4 All-Stars playing on the same team had the fans raving for tickets and TV time. Between these two, they won a combined 8 championships and were considered must see TV. These teams featured Hall of Fame players such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin McHale, and James Worthy. These teams were the best 2 teams in the league at the time and consistently completed their goal of winning championships.

Unlike the Showtime Lakers and 80’s Celtics, some teams were not fortunate enough to win a NBA title. The 93’ Suns, 04’ Lakers, and the 2011 Heat, all formed super teams and ultimately failed to reach their goal of winning a title. It seemed like these teams tried to out talent the league and dominant the league by force. One thing these teams forgot was that there is only one ball to go around, and sometimes all the pieces don’t fit. It takes a lot more than talent to win a title. For example, the 2011 Heat formed a super team with 3 future Hall of Fame players but still came up just short against the Mavericks. Was the Heat the more talented team? Yes. In retrospect, the Mavericks had better chemistry and played a more team-oriented style of play, which led them to defeat the Heat to become NBA champions in 2011.

What about the 2004 Lakers? This team had already three-peated and with Kobe and Shaq and were looking for a 4^th consecutive title by adding Hall of Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton. This was a team for the ages- 4 Future Hall of Famers all on one team. It would have been unbelievable, if the Lakers couldn’t put together another Championship Caliber team. Well in 04’, the Lakers got ran off the floor by the Detroit Pistons in 4-1 series beat down. Soon after the loss, the LA dream team broke up, and it would be years before the Lakers recovered.

 Lastly, one of the NBA biggest disappointments were the 93’ Suns. The Phoenix Suns already had a well-established team in 92’ with 3 All-Stars already on their roster, but that wasn’t enough. They had to go out and get a perennial MVP candidate in Charles Barkley, which seemed almost illegal. With the addition of Barkley, the majority of NBA fans believed that the Suns could make it to the finals and finally take down Michael Jordan’s Bulls from three-peating. In 93’, the Suns seemed destined for greatness capturing the league’s best record with 62-20 and also having the MVP of the league on their team. Success in the playoffs seemed to be a guarantee. Well not even MVP Sir Charles and the best regular season team in the NBA could stop Jordan and the Bulls from winning their 3^rd straight title in 4-2 defeat. After the loss the Suns have never been to another NBA finals game.

Fortunately, the Era of the super teams weren’t all bad. In 2008, Future Hall of Famers, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, joined Paul Pierce’s Boston Celtics in attempt to win a title. The Celtics a season before were abysmal, only winning 24 games having one of the worst records in the NBA. Well in 2008 while adding KG and Allen, they increased they’re win totals by 42 and ended up winning a title. This team introduced and made in acceptable for modern day players to join up and compete for titles. In 2011, LeBron James decided to leave Cleveland and join D-Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami to chase “not five, not six, not seven” NBA championships. During the first go around, the Heat lost to the Mavericks in 6 games, but in 2012 and 2013, the Heat won back-to-back, earning their NBA champions beating the Spurs and Thunder.

I think Super teams can be good and bad for the NBA. Super teams benefit the league in the sense of major media stories, ticket sells always being high, and constant entertainment year round. Although Super teams bring many positives to the league, I believe they bring more negative values to the league such as an imbalance of talent throughout the league. For example, the Golden State Warriors have 4 of the top 15 best players in the league on the same team with the addition of KD. Adding KD just automatically eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunders chance of being a title contender. The NBA is the only sport where every off-season, you can name only 4 to 5 teams that have a chance to compete for a title. With all the great players in the league joining up on the same team, it leaves no room for an underdog to rise up and compete for a championship. Of the 18 franchises that have won an NBA title, 8 have droughts of 33 seasons or more, which is to say that the past 33 championships have been shared among 10 franchises. In contrast, the other three major North American sports have each had at least 15 franchises become champions over the same time period. The NBA has 7 franchises that have never been qualified for an NBA final, which is the most in any North American sport league.

Kevin Durant’s decision to join the Warriors is now the weakest move by an NBA super star in history. Whatever happened to staying with the team who drafted you, develop your team, and compete to the best of your ability? We now are a part of a league where “if you can’t beat them join them” attitude is acceptable, and our league is suffering dearly from it. Going forward, hopefully this will not be what our NBA turns into, we must go back to the old days of competition. KD potentially has a chance to help build the next NBA dynasty, but at what cost? Is his legacy tarnished? Maybe, maybe not. Only time will tell if this was a good move for him as basketball player. One thing is for sure, the Warriors must win a title this coming season. If not, they will be the most disappointing super team in NBA history.