The Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors are playing for the NBA Championship. I don’t care who wins, but I’m glad to see teams that were built via player development and smart draft picks playing for the championship.
Basketball has changed so much since the days of Magic, Bird, and Jordan. Players are no longer loyal to teams nor are teams loyal to players. The turning point came with Lebron James’ “The Decision,” an overblown media event where he revealed he would be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat as part of the first player organized superteam with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. For James in particular, it was the start of a pattern he would repeat when returning to the Cavaliers and later leaving again for the Los Angeles Lakers. He didn’t display loyalty to a team. He hired out his services to whichever organization would commit to surrounding him with specific stars in order to buy championships. He wasn’t the face of the Cavilers, Heat, or Lakers as much as a rented spokesperson.
Players like Magic, Bird, and Jordan were not like that. They were the face and personality of their teams. Magic will forever be a Laker, just as Bird is a Celtic and Jordan a Bull. They were also superstars that could elevate the play of others on the team. They needed talent around them to win, but not several superstars imported from other teams.
When the Lakers missed the playoffs this year and the Nets and 76ers were eliminated, I felt relief. Is the era of the superteam in its twilight? With teams like Golden State, Boston, Milwaukee, and Dallas showing that player development and team chemistry is more important than rent-a-stars, I can only hope it is.