When I was a kid, the NBA was all about rivalries. For many years the Lakers and Celtics, Pistons and Bulls, 76ers and Celtics or even Bulls and Knicks fought tooth and nail to see which team was the best in the league. Today, the landscape of the league has dramatically changed into what players are going to join together to form a super team and dominate everyone else.
In the late 70’s and early 80’s, the Lakers, Celtics, and 76ers, along with the Bulls, Pistons, and Knicks of the late 80’s to mid 90’s were the epitome of team. While they all had their superstars, including Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Isaiah Thomas, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Larry Bird, Dr J, and Patrick Ewing, the team was paramount. Those players all stayed with their teams for most, if not their entire, career. Today that is almost unfathomable. Looking back to the 2003 NBA draft, Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh were all drafted. Only Wade is still with his original team. In the summer of 2010, Bosh and James took their talents to join Wade and form their version of an AAU team, which is now looking to three-peat this coming June. While that’s all well and good, does anyone really expect this trio to stay together beyond this season? Certainly not me, as all three players have opt out clauses and will be looking to cash in on their next big pay day. Meanwhile in New York, Carmelo Anthony will be looking to opt out of his contract to cash in. At least the “Big Three” in Miami can say they’ve won two championships, while Carmelo looks to pad his stats, as evidenced by his recent 62 point scoring effort. Will Carmelo stay in NY and maximize his next pay day? Or will he maneuver his way to LA and join Kobe Bryant in an effort to win something other than a scoring title? Only time will tell.
Going back to those great teams of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, could you imagine if Magic Johnson had left the Lakers and Larry Bird the Celtics to join Michael Jordan’s Bulls? That team would have been like the original Dream Team, throttling everyone in the league. That powerhouse never happened because those players were dedicated to their teams, embraced the team rivalries, and were driven to defeat their opponents. They would have just assumed punch each other in the mouth, as opposed to joining together for a barnstorming tour of the NBA.
This isn’t meant to knock the players of today. It just shows how the new mentality of the “superstars” of the league dismiss team rivalries and the value of playing for one team. In other words, if they can’t beat their rivals they’ll just join them. Problem solved. This lack of competitive drive is one of the reasons the NBA’s popularity has waned in recent years and why so many fans now have favorite players instead of favorite teams.
What does this mean for the future of the NBA? More than likely you’ll see players spend five to seven years with the team that drafted them, three to five years with their next team, and then finish their careers with a third, or even fourth, team. Gone are the days that your favorite player spends his entire career with his original team. While this may frustrate fans that have to root for a different team every few years, the real loser is the league. The NBA’s popularity exploded during the 80’s and 90’s due to those intense rivalries. Now, the league is relegated to a super team that is the flavor of the year and their victims. While this may please some fans, those that remembers the historic rivalries will be changing the channel. In the end, the players get their cash and glory while the fans are stuck figuring out which team to root against.
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