After the result of the Brooklyn Nets-Boston Celtics NBA Playoff Series, I have come to the conclusion that current superteams are overrated. For those who are unaware of what a “superteam” is, it’s a franchise that has three or more Hall of Fame-caliber players who decided to join together in pursuit of a league championship.
Besides the Nets, another popular superteam that didn’t meet expectations this past season is the Los Angeles Lakers. Considering they were the preseason favorites (along with the Nets), they finished 11th in the West and had a record of 33-49. I mean you’d think that a team that has Lebron James, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and Anthony Davis, would AT LEAST reach the playoffs, but that was not the case.
Anyway back to the Nets. If I’m being honest, I was hesitant when James Harden joined Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the Nets “superteam” because I knew that was too many stars on one team. And look how that turned out? Brooklyn traded Caris LeVert and Jarret Allen, two rising Nets players, for Harden and by the next season, Harden requested a trade to the Sixers. Also with that many superstars, there was bound to be drama, and there was PLENTY of that this past season too.
This season also saw a blockbuster trade. Ben Simmons was the headliner as he would be part of the new Nets superteam, and James Harden would go to Philly. He was expected to play at some point that season, but it didn’t pan out, despite reports saying that he was going to make his season debut during the playoffs.
The main reason why I’m against superteams is that basketball is a TEAM sport, you cannot rely on your superstars and this year’s Nets proved that. In the playoffs, Kevin Durant avg. 26.3 pts, despite avg. 27.4 on the season, while Kyrie Irving avg. 21.3 but avg. 29.9 on the season. While these are still a lot of points, they’re both considered “superstars”, so if your team makes it to the playoffs, you are expected to play like one.
Of course, I do have to give credit to the Boston Celtics for shutting down KD and Kyrie but that just further proves my point that you can’t expect your superstars to do everything. Bruce Brown, a role player who’s like the third-best player on this Nets team, was basically the one who carried the entire series because the Nets superstars weren’t stepping up.
Yes, I know I’m focusing on just the playoffs, but even the regular season was pretty disappointing too. Kyrie was only playing road games and KD missed 21 games, during a key stretch of the season due to an injury. To me, that is still not an excuse. Other teams also had to deal with players out for a significant amount of games and yet they made adjustments. The Nets, especially Steve Nash, could have made the correct adjustments but failed to do so.
Now that the season is over, the Nets need to reevaluate what they are going to do moving forward and as a Nets fan, I’ve decided to lower my expectations due to the false hopes we’ve received.
Angelina's Angle 