The Best of the NBA: Superteams of the 2010s
It is a significant source of joy for NBA fans whenever they see three or more All-Star superstars playing together in one team, forming what is now known as a superteam. This has grown to be quite a popular talking point for over 15 years now. Fans love seeing the best players in the sport teaming up.
However, there is a split of opinion since a section of the fanbase believes that there isn’t any competitiveness when players start combining forces to challenge a trophy win. There has been a recent development where there is a possibility of James Harden leaving the Houston Rockets and joining the Brooklyn Nets.
The seasoned star will be joining the likes of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, forming another one of the coveted superteams. This speculation is what has brought forth new debate over the matter.
The Brooklyn Nets will now stand a higher chance of becoming the 2020/21 NBA champions if James Harden joins them. But that won’t be the only superteam in the recent past. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the most successful superteams of the 2010s. The infographic below, taken from a Betway NBA article outlines the latest NBA Superteams.
Boston Celtics (2007-12)
The 2007 Boston Celtics team became the first superteam in the NBA across this modern age. The team boasted of having the 5-time NBA All-star Player Paul Pierce. Pierce was still in his prime at this point. However, the season 2006 season wasn’t an easy one for the Celtics since they came in last that year.
But that didn’t stop Danny Ainge, the general manager at the time, from adding two key players to the team. First in was Kevin Garnett, who had won the MVP award in 2004. The other superstar was Ray Allen, a reputed sharpshooter who had already made his mark in the world of Basketball. Garnett was previously a part of the Minnesota Timberwolves team while Allen was from the Seattle SuperSonics.
The impact was immediate, with the three players helping Celtics clinch the NBA title with stiff competition from the Los Angeles Lakers. However, Allen later joined Miami Heat in 2012, which saw the end of the formidable trio.
Miami Heat (2010-14)
Miami Heat in 2010 is arguably the most popular superteam there’s ever been although, it attracted its fair share of controversy. LeBron James was the most awe-inspiring talent at the time and was approaching the final stages of his contract.
Rumors started spreading around that he would be teaming up with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade, who were also All-Stars. They would form part of the formidable Miami Heat team, although it took a while to taste glory. LeBron James faced a lot of criticism for ditching his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers Team both from fans and players.
It wasn’t long before James and his teammates led Miami Heat to the two consecutive NBA titles in 2012 and 2013. LeBron clinched the MVP award on both occasions. The team went on to reach the finals four times until James made a return to his former Cleveland team.
2014-17 Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James decided to return to his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. This was after winning back-to-back titles with Miami Heat, during which time he had already made his mark as the best NBA player. He would go on to join Kyrie Irving, a rising superstar with promising potential. But the two of them weren’t enough to achieve superteam status.
Not long after, the 3-time All-Star player Kevin Love was on his way to join the Cavs making the team a formidable superteam. They went on to reach the finals that season but were beaten by the Golden State Warriors.
The next season was the Cavs’ breakthrough season, who went on to clinch their first-ever NBA title. In 2017, Irving chose to join the Boston Celtics, which meant that the team wasn’t as powerful as t once was. LeBron later left the Cavs, but this time with favor from the fans as well.
Golden State Warriors (2016-19)
The Golden State Warriors had already achieved superteam status in 2016. They were the NBA champions in 2015, led by the stellar partnership of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson.
Right before losing to the Cavs in 2016, the team had broken the record for having the best regular season of 73-9. Kevin Durant, already among the best in the competition, later became part of the Warriors team, which meant that they were the most talented NBA team of all time.
Durant and teammate Curry were the winners of the last three MVP awards. The offensive ability of the two playing together was unmatched. The team went on to clinch two successive league titles in 2017 and 2018.
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It’s funny how the Warriors forming the superteam of all superteams makes the other superteams not so super in comparison. I hated that Heat superteam at the time not just for the fact that James and Bosh ditched their incumbent teams to join Wade but how they (especially James) did it. James being an attention whore with his one-hour nationally-televised Decision. Anyways, from a basketball standpoint, both James and Bosh joining Wade in Miami truly did give them the best shot at a championship. Same for Durant with the Warriors.
Although it doesn’t guarantee a championship, amassing all the talent one can get is the best way to become a championship contender. These teams instantly became championship contenders once they added those stars; even though the Warriors were already contenders, they not only instantly became the undisputed favorite once they added Durant, everyone just basically handed them the trophy even before they played a game.
It takes balls (and assets and money) to assemble a superteam but props to the teams that have and can do it. These teams were unafraid of pissing people off in their quest to win a championship. They were willing to open their wallets and pay the luxury tax. They took the leap of faith and made the trades and signings to get the stars.
People tend to make the mistake of having one or another; why give up something when one can get something else for less. Why not have both? I think about all the missed opportunities to not necessarily form a superteam but to add as many pieces as one can get. 2009-10 Orlando Magic: Fans and the press almost all say we got Vince Carter so we don’t need Turkoglu or we could’ve made the 2010 Finals if we had Turkoglu instead of Carter. Why not both? Yes, it would’ve meant an even higher luxury tax bill than their already high bill but have to go for it to win or even just reach the Finals as the Magic’s losing in the 2010 ECF showed. Even though the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors won the title, they had to give up fan-favorite Demar DeRozan, the only Raptors star who wanted to stay there, to get Kawhi Leonard. They could’ve formed their own superteam with Leonard, DeRozan, and Lowry, becoming the clear East favorite and having a legit shot to beat the Warriors even with a healthy Durant and Thompson. I know it’s useless to think about what-if’s but it’s interesting food for thought.