We heard it when LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers to join Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade with the Miami Heat. We are hearing it again now that Kevin Durant has left the Oklahoma City Thunder to join Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson with the already great Golden State Warriors. “We might as well cancel the season and just give them the trophy now!” many have cried, just like they did when James signed with the Heat.
We watched the vitriol in Cleveland when James left. Fans cursed his name and burned his jerseys. The owner of the team even wrote a scathing letter and had it published in the paper. Things looked like they were at their darkest point in Cleveland, and that is saying a lot.
Are NBA Super Teams Really Bad for the League?
But let’s fast forward six seasons. Yes, Miami won two NBA championships and four Eastern Conference championships in James’ four year absence from the Cavs. And yes, the Cavs stunk for four years. But look where they are now! James came back and won the city its first championship since 1964. Everything is great in Cleveland now.
And oh by the way, the team the Cavs beat in the Eastern Conference Finals? The Toronto Raptors, who Bosh abandoned that same summer. Where was Miami? Ousted in the previous round by those same Raptors. Lesson here? NBA games are played on a basketball court, not on paper. Just because it appears the Warriors will be unbeatable, doesn’t mean they really are.
Sure, they may win another NBA championship. They may win two or three. But if it takes them five or six or even seven years to do so, that means there are championships out there for someone else. The Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs can attest to this.
Raising the Bar
What these “super teams” can sometimes do is make other teams step it up. They give the rest of the league someone to aim for. Whenever the Warriors come to town, it will create a buzz in the city, much like when Michael Jordan would bring the Chicago Bulls to town or the James and Wade led Heat. These eras have been some of the best in NBA history.
Just because the Heat and Warriors went out and signed a big time free agent doesn’t mean that is the only way to build a “super team” either. The 1980’s Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers built multiple championship winners through the draft and through smart trades. The Celtics acquired Robert Parish in a trade and also Dennis Johnson, who by the way had been the star of the championship winning Seattle SuperSonics in the late 1970’s. The Lakers added some key pieces through trades as well, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks.
So really, this is nothing new. Also remember a few seasons ago when the Lakers traded for Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. How did that work out?
So fear not, NBA fans. There will still be some surprises in store. Remember, nobody really thought the Warriors wouldn’t win it all this year. That was true even with 2:00 to go in game seven.
