There have been a lot of negative attitudes towards some of the NBA's top players joining forces to create “superteams,” but to Los Angeles Clippers guard J.J. Redick, there's no need to be worried.
In a series of tweets Redick posted Thursday afternoon, he discussed why the idea of the competitive imbalance in the league has no significance.
Since Miami formed their "superteam" in '10 there have been 5 different champs in 6 seasons. All this complaining about comp balance is 🚮.
— JJ Redick (@JJRedick) July 14, 2016
After the Miami Heat acquired the “Big Three” in 2010 which consisted of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, it was expected that they would easily win championships. They did win back to back titles 2012-2013 however, in 2011 the Dallas Mavericks won. Furthermore, in 2014 the San Antonio Spurs won, and in the following years the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers took home the Larry O'Brien trophy in 2015 and 2016, respectively,
Interestingly enough, a constant factor the past six seasons has been that teams with James on their roster had been to the Finals all six times.
Boston formed a "superteam" in '08 but did thru trades. Ok for teams to group greats 2gether but not for players to decide to do that?
— JJ Redick (@JJRedick) July 14, 2016
Back in 2008, the Boston Celtics management, who already had Paul Pierce on their team, acquired the former league MVP Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for their five players, Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, and Theo Ratliff, cash considerations and two draft picks on top of that. Ray Allen and “Big Baby” Glen Davis also joined the “superteam” which cost the Celtics Delonte West,Wally Szczerbiak, and the No. 5 pick in the 2007 NBA draft (Jeff Green) as well.
Players should have freedom to decide where they want to play. Period.
— JJ Redick (@JJRedick) July 14, 2016
With the NBA's salary cap hitting a record $94.143 million for the 2016-17 season, free agents basically had the freedom to sign wherever they desired. The majority of teams had already accounted for the financial leeway and were able to make substantial offers to lure players.
Kevin Durant‘s decision, however, to join the Warriors does not seem to be based on financial reasons but on the sole reason of a higher chance of winning a championship. Aligning himself with an already diverse and top tier team consisting of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green may seem cowardly by not fighting for a title with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but overall that's a legitimate decision that he was able to make as an unrestricted free agent.
[button width=”full” button size=”bigger” color=”custom” align=”center” textcolor=”#ffffff” texthcolor=”#ffffff” bgcolor=”#8b0000″ link=”https://clutchpoints.com/j-j-redick-amusing-outlook-game-1-nba-finals/”]NEXT: J.J. Redick had amusing outlook for Game 1 of NBA Finals[/button]
Follow Us
Subscribe