There’s a new trend in the NBA these days.
Some players are benefitting, others not so much. Old school stars, like our man Shaq, have generally been “thumbs down” on the concept. The idea? “Super teams” made up of hand-picked stars from lesser teams, all coming together like a pro version of basketball Olympic teams. Sort of like an all-star team, but all on the same payroll.
Modern-day NBA players have a lot more control over their careers; where they’ll play, how much they’ll play, off-court opportunities, etc. A few decades ago (Shaq’s playing time), there was much more front-office control of players and the teams they could move to. Good? Bad? Who knows. One thing is for sure: modern free agency has made it easier for some teams to assemble all-star rosters.
Speaking on a recent podcast, O’Neal continued to express his displeasure over the idea of super teams. Yet at the same time, the Big Man admitted that if he’d had the opportunity to join a super team back in his day, his decision might have been different.
Now, that being said… during his career, Shaq played for what was probably the super-est team of the day, the Los Angeles Lakers. With the amazing duo of O’Neal and Kobe out front, the lineup didn’t stop there. The 2000-2001 Laker lineup that included Shaq and Kobe also had the likes of Derek Fisher, Horace Grant and Robert Horry. All-stars? Maybe not, but pretty darned close.
On the Big Shot Bob podcast, Shaq said he didn’t have much respect for today’ players that seek out super teams. Still, if the opportunity had come up during his playing days…? Here’s Shaq;
“The words I hate is this “new era.” We watched the era before us… and we all competed. Guys are getting real lazy and real cute and then they want guys like me and Big Shot Bob to show them some respect. Trust me, if I knew it was okay to team up after Houston busting my ass in 94, I would have went and played next to Hakeem … I would have went to go play with Tim Duncan and Dave Robinson … But I was like nope. I’m checking my leaks, licking my wounds, and I want to beat these dudes and we did. Rob got seven, I got four but whenever we saw something, we hate.”
Can you imagine a team that featured the likes of Shaq, Hakeem Olajuwon, and David Robinson? All on the floor at the same time? That would have been fun to watch, for sure… unless you were a fan of the team they were playing that night.
As for the super teams of today, most NBA pundits are crediting LeBron James with the idea. Back in 2010, James joined forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to bring a few NBA titles to Miami and the Heat.
The Golden State Warriors followed the trend and assembled a fabulous team of their own when Kevin Durant joined up in 2017. History note: That GSW team beat LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-1 in that year’s Finals.
Will the super team concept show results this coming season? Too soon to tell, of course, but it should be interesting, with the Lakers out west and the packed and stacked Brooklyn Nets in the east.