“The market for singular superstars, especially if they’re aging and seen as mercenaries, is shrinking” - Max Kellerman questions if the era of the super team is over in the NBA after recent failures
The latest experiment of the Big Three in the NBA with the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers has been a catastrophic failure. Questions have arisen about whether superteams are a thing of the past in the league.
On ESPN's morning radio show Keyshawn, JWill and Max, sports media personality Max Kellerman spoke about how superteams are no longer appealing to the front office of franchises who are chasing championships.
"We are talking about a team that is put together where you're talking about superstars who weren't on the team and bring them in. Is it over? I'd say yes, but I don't mean it will never happen again.
"It's that success is happening with teams that have the foundation that add little piece here and there. The market for singular superstars, especially if they’re aging and seen as mercenaries, is shrinking," Kellerman said.
Kellerman spoke about how the recent success of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors this year has prompted the teams into building a roster with depth and starters.
"The Milwaukee Bucks with Giannis, the Celtics just made the Finals, I'm thinking about the Warriors. These are basically teams that are organically built and the right complimentary piece, even if it's a super one in KD, is brought in.
"That's very different from what happened in Miami with LeBron or especially in Brooklyn when you're brining in a whole bunch of parts," Kellerman concluded.
Has the NBA moved on from superteams?
Recent champions the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors have had one superstar/MVP caliber player and a lot of very good players around them. Even if you take the Los Angeles Lakers winning the title in 2020, barring LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the team consists of role players and starters from the NBA.
The Nets Big 3 are back tomorrow.
Their record since the Harden trade:
— 5-2 with the Big 3
— 14-3 with Harden & Irving
— 6-5 with Durant & Irving
— 3-0 with Harden & Durant
— 5-5 with just Irving
— 4-2 with just Harden
— 2-0 with just Durant https://t.co/NNkodYSECn
This suggests that the days of superteams winning the title are over. The Brooklyn Nets are a prime example of this as the trio of James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have just one NBA postseason series win to show for. With Russell Westbrook on the Lakers roster alongside Davis and James, they did not even make the Play-In tournament.
However, superteams aren't exactly a thing of the past as the Lakers are actively trying to acquire Kyrie Irving. That would essentially make them a superteam once again. The Nets still have Ben Simmons on their books with KD and Irving.
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The Lakers Big 3 combines for 84 points and 20 assists as they survive a late run by the Rockets 💪🏽
LeBron James: 30 PTS, 4 REBS, 10 ASTS, 2 STLS
Anthony Davis: 27 PTS, 9 REBS, 2 STLS, 3 BLKS
Russell Westbrook: 27 PTS, 9 REBS, 7 ASTS https://t.co/6HDkhwDlt1
The NBA will always have superteams. Whether these superteams work and bring success is a different conversation entirely.