The NBA and the "Super Teams"

The "Super Team". This is a term that is tossed around in any sport from high school football to every professional team that we have ever seen. But right now it's become a very real situation, and one filled with such douchbaggery that an unnamed star from Cleveland decided to pull an hour long stunt on ESPN to announce that he's "taking his talents to South Beach". 

Let's take a look at these super teams. We have of course the Miami Heat, the Knicks are being considered a super team since the Carmelo Anthony trade, and the Boston Celtics. These are just the three that I can think of right now. (Keep in mind I'm NOT an NBA guy.)

I have a few questions for you: 1) What are the benefits to having a super team? 2) What do you do with your superstars? 3) Ego.

I'll start right off with the number one. The benefits. Do I really need to go into this one? Aren't they obvious? Money. Money. Oh, did I mention money? The amount of money generated when you bring in just ONE superstar is insane. But when you put together 2 to 4 superstars the money that is just dropped into your lap is blatantly obscene. The counter and follow up question and comments go something like this: If you have all these superstars together don't they cost more? Yes. Yes of course they do. However, don't you think that when LeBron McDouche (Name changed to protect identity) went to the Miami Heat they didn't up the ticket prices? It's stuff like that the cancels out all the crap about spending too much money.

Question 2. The superstars question gets kind of complicated when trying to put together a super team. The reason being is the plural tense of the word superstar. Usually when you think about it there's only one. One person that is clutch. That one player that you go to at the buzzer. The one person that no matter what, you want the ball in their hands. But once you start putting together your super team you have not only one of these players, you have anywhere from 2 to 4. How do you put into an equation that can even itself out and still keep the "team" mentality. The truth is you can't. Once you start a super team, just about everyone else gets forgotten. For example, name 2 of the other Chicago Bulls starters that AREN'T Michael Jordan or Scottie Pippen. Point proven.

Now perhaps the biggest question of all. Ego. With all this super team talk, you start to count chickens before they're hatched and that turns into what I like to call the "Dallas Cowboy Entitlement". This means that they start reading the headlines, start believing their own hype, and start thinking that they should win by simply showing up. How do you manage egos the size of the state said players live in? By beating them mercilessly? No. By getting an ex Marine Corps Drill Sergeant? Not bad, but also not right. By making sure that they can't read! I wish. The truth is that you can't. The hope is that you have coached and mentored the player and team to understand that even though they are a bad mamajamma and they HELP you win. You can still win games with less talented players.

To me the real key to any team is really good "lunch pail" players. The players that come off the bench, work hard for their minutes and are happy just to be in the NBA playing with players that are the talent caliber of the Kobes, the Dwight Howards, the Carmelo Anthonys, and the Dirks. 

The biggest question I have is: Are the super teams the new evolution in the NBA? 

Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow with some nerd talk about other things!