Dearly Beloved,
We are gathered here today to say goodbye not to a departed friend and loved one, but to an enemy and an adversary. And even enemies and nemeses deserve a decent burial.
Say what you will about our deceased antagonist, but every one of us who calls themselves an NBA fan has been affected by the impact this daunting competitor has had on the sport. Perhaps it was just in a small way; or maybe it was in some transformative way. Maybe your team even blew itself up and began a total rebuild just to try to keep up with this fallen foe.
And that’s why this is not a day of sadness and mourning but a day of joy and jubilation when we can finally say goodbye to what the fawning national media likes to call NBA “super teams.” This is a day of celebration; a day like that day in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy’s tornado-transplanted house landed on top of the Wicked Witch of the East.
Ding dong, the witch is dead!
We watched her die an ugly, wretched death this NBA season when the Brooklyn Nets super team of the East got swept out of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics earlier this week and the Los Angeles Lakers super team of the West didn’t even make the playoffs.
It’s been a beautiful thing to watch as these star-studded teams of mercenary free agents flopped like a caught catfish on the bottom of a jon boat. LeBron and his accomplices at Klutch Sports Group orchestrated Anthony Davis forcing his way out of New Orleans and then essentially strong-armed Lakers management into making a deal for Russell Westbrook and his massive contract. The result: Davis turned out to be more fragile than a glazed porcelain China doll, the Westbrook deal turned into the worst experiment since the Cleveland Indians’ 10-Cent Beer Night and the Lakers finished 33-49.
As for the Nets, their super team of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden was a dud before the season even began. Irving, who makes $37 million a year to play in the NBA, wouldn’t even make the minor “sacrifice” of getting vaccinated for COVID even though he knew it would mean he couldn’t play in the team’s home games due to New York City vaccine mandate.
Harden, after seeing Irving’s lack of commitment to the team, quickly bailed and forced a trade to a better team in Philly. Durant found himself stuck on a team that barely made the playoffs before getting broomed out of the postseason by the younger, hungrier, more unselfish Celtics.
Listening to Irving after the sweep was even more annoying. He talked about how he felt at times during the season that he had let the team down by not getting vaccinated (duh!). He talked about how the off-court distractions (which he created) had hurt the progress of the team. He talked about how “so many people wanted to see us fail” (yet another self-inflicted consequence caused by being a prima donna drama king).
Finally, Irving said he and Durant must take the lead in “managing this franchise” moving forward (although he was kind of enough to include the general manager and the owner in the future decision-making process). Of course, this is the same Kyrie Irving who minimized the role of his head coach Steve Nash during the regular season by saying, “I don’t really see us having a head coach. You know what I mean? KD could be a head coach. I could be a head coach.”
Pat Riley has a name for players like Irving who put their personal agendas before the team’s success. He calls it, “The Disease of Me.” I believe it is this disease that is thankfully killing off the idea of super teams — aka teams comprised of star free agents who come together for the sole purpose winning championships instantly. Notice how I used the words “comprised of” instead of “built with.” You see, these super teams don’t build championships; they buy them.
However, with demise of the Nets and Lakers, we are refreshingly left with a bunch of teams that have essentially been built organically through the draft.
For instance, the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo with the No. 15 pick in the 2013 draft and have seen him become a superstar and a two-time MVP. They have built a deep, talented roster around him by adding quality players such as Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Grayson Allen, etc.
The same could be said for the Phoenix Suns. They drafted Devin Booker with the 13th overall pick in 2015, selected big man Deandre Ayton with the first overall pick in the 2018 draft and then added free agent Chris Paul and some really good role players. They advanced to the NBA Finals last year and compiled the best regular season record in the league this season.
Go down the list of all the championship-caliber teams in the playoffs and almost all of them are built around superstar draft picks and solid role players. The Celtics are built around young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Philadelphia is built around superstar center Joel Embiid. Dallas is built around Luka Doncic. Memphis is built around Ja Morant. The Warriors are back up and running with a roster built almost entirely through the draft.
The Miami Heat are one of the only outliers: They drafted All-Star big man Bam Adebayo, developed some other solid role players and had the organizational cache (see Riley and head coach Erik Spoelstra) to convince stars like Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry to bring their talents to South Beach.
The NBA is alive and well with good, young, championship-caliber teams that were built; not bought.
