Basketball is a team sport and in competition winning is most times than not, everything and the only thing that matters. In the quest to win, teams may not think as a group but decide to go for it by any means necessary. For these teams, chemistry counts less, as the front office believes more in acquiring talent than building chemistry from the ground up. This is the world of super teams. In the NBA, a super team refers to having three or more All-star-level players in the same roster. Boston, Miami, and most recently Golden State and the list will go on for some time yet, this is becoming the new normal in the NBA and fans love to hate it (that is if you are not a fan of the team).
As the NBA season gets underway this year, the Brooklyn Nets are now favourites to win the East and very high up on the favourites for the championship courtesy of being the league’s newest super team (or almost, if we do not consider Spencer Dinwiddie and cross fingers for the Harden trade).
We take a look at the super teams from back in the day. Courtesy of this Betway infographic:
Super teams are now all the hype in the NBA, but they have been around for the longest time, dating back to te 80s, and the Celtics team of Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish, and Larry Bird, to which they added Dennis Johnson in 1982 for good measure. That team had to go up against the Lakers, just before they were “showtime”. Magic Johnson just newly drafted, in his rookie season would take the league by storm but fall just short of a title, losing to the Celtics in a seven-game thriller. That Lakers team would go on to beat the Celtics the following season and add James Worthy to their ranks in 1982, becoming a super team of their own and winning the championship in 1985, the first of three. Worthy would become known as “Big Game James” for his ability to shine brightest in clutch games and moments. In Los Angeles, Worthy would win more than just rings, earning MVP honors in the 1988 finals. 1983 was the year of the Philadelphia 76ers, who with Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, and Bobby Jones, would go on to add Moses Malone to the mix just to make sure there was no surprises after losing to the Lakers in the previous finals. Malone was an insurance policy that was worth every effort, as the 76ers routed every competition in the postseason with a 12-1 record en route to the much-coveted championship, sweeping the Lakers in the finals for good measure. Moses Malone would be rewarded with a ring and a finals MVP.
The Lakers, Celtics, and Philadelphia 76ers would bounce titles amongst themselves for eight years, with the Lakers finally imposing themselves in the latter half of the decade, before the Detroit Pistons would put an end to the hegemony by winning the last two titles of the decade in 1989 and 1990.