With the NBA season set to kick off in a couple of short weeks, I am providing my thoughts on the newest marvel that is the “Super team.”
When I was watching basketball growing up, it was simply fantastic. Many of the teams were similar in skill, which lead to very tightly contested games and a ton of drama. No one knew who was going to capture the NBA title, and the playoffs were filled with both energy and excitement. Times have surely changed.
These days you can practically pencil in the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors are going to be squaring off in the finals. The teams have met in the championship round in each of the last three seasons, leaving the intrigue of the playoffs completely off the table. With these teams likely to face off again this year, my question is what’s the point of playing the games if you already know who is going to win?
The dynamic of these two teams is, however, slightly different. In the Cavaliers’ case, they are simply led by quite possibly the best player to ever put on a uniform, LeBron James. On the flip side, he joined them after already having former first overall pick Kyrie Irving along with perennial basketball all-star Kevin Love. Some say he wanted to return to the city he started it off with, others say he was simply chasing more championships, which could surely be the cause.
On the Warriors’ side, as recent as two years ago they broke the NBA record for wins in a season going 73-9 in 2015-2016. They already had three of the top 20 players in the whole league, and their roster was as deep as the league had ever seen. Surely they couldn’t make improvements right? Wrong.
Their next set of business was dipping into free agency to sign four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant. Most people wouldn’t argue the fact that Durant is a top three player in the entire NBA. So there it was, the Warriors now had four of the best players in the league. After that happened, the fourth best player on their team was still an all-star. Many teams don’t even have an all stars to begin with. Doesn’t that seem fair?
One thing this season is for certain, I will not be watching the NBA as aggressively as I have in years past. Being a Raptors fan, it has been frustrating watching your team have the most success in its history, and still not coming close to having what it takes to win a championship.
Until the NBA can eliminate “Dream Teams,” I will not be putting as much effort into this coming season.