The topic of forming superteams has been a point of contention in NBA circles since LeBron James took his talents to the Miami Heat in 2010 to form a big three alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Since then, other stars have followed in James' footsteps. Who could ever forget the time when Kevin Durant, fresh off a 3-1 choke job against the Golden State Warriors, chose to join a team that had just won 73 games the season prior? Hall of Famer Julius Erving certainly doesn't.
In an interview with Joy De'Angela, Erving let loose on the concept of superteams, with the now-Phoenix Suns star specifically in the Philadelphia 76ers legend's crosshairs.
“Look how many times Durant has hopped around. […] “The prisoners are running the show and not the warden. It's where the star player on the team is like, ‘Screw this city and all this support that they've given me and I'm going south, I'm going to Florida, I'm going to LA or I'm going to Texas or I'm going somewhere else. They're business decisions, understand, but they have not helped the game,” Erving said.
"They have not helped the game and they have not helped to keep the parity within the game when you build these super teams… Look at how many times [Kevin] Durant has hopped around."
Julius Erving on NBA stars changing teams 👀
(via @joydeangela)pic.twitter.com/MMn5O9uIqW
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 28, 2023
That is indeed a fiery indictment of the player-empowerment era in the NBA. Back in Julius Erving's day, the league placed a premium on building “the right way”, with shrewd drafting and trading the ultimate way to achieve success in the league.
These days, however, superstars who are under contract for multiple seasons can threaten to withhold their services or fail to give their best to a team should the team that employs them refuse their trade request. Although Kevin Durant didn't exactly do any of that before his trade to the Suns, we are currently seeing the aforementioned situation unfold following Damian Lillard's trade request from the Portland Trail Blazers.
At the end of the day, given how much importance critics tend to put on championships won when determining legacy, forming superteams seems to be the most surefire way to put one's self in the best position to do so. That doesn't mean that oldheads such as Julius Erving should like the way the game is trending.
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