The Super Team narrative in the NBA is not something new. It was started long back by several teams like Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, etc. We have also seen the 1992 Chicago Bulls, 2016 Golden State Warriors were some of the super teams which dominated their respective eras. At this point, there are only two super teams in the NBA.
There are a lot of criticisms against the idea of super teams in the NBA but it has always been a part of the league for many decades. Among the people who support super teams former NBA champion with the Lakers in 2010 Metta Sandiford-Artest (also known as Ron Artest) feels that he was a part of the superteam which won the NBA.
The Brooklyn Nets became a super team after they signed James Harden last season. The second team in the NBA is the Los Angeles Lakers, they already had LeBron James and Anthony Davis and now they have signed several veterans to their roster. But the inclusion of Russell Westbrook has made them a proper super team.
The Nets have a fierce big three of James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and all of them are All-Stars and can change the course of the game anytime. Whereas the Lakers have players like LeBron, AD, Westbrook and Knicks legend Carmelo Anthony. All four of them are former All-Stars.
Ron Artest who won the title with the Purple and Gold army in 2010 expressed his views on superteams in an interview with Brandon Robinson of Bally Sports.
“I’m really happy they teamed up because if you don’t team up in the NBA good luck trying to win a title, good luck. I don’t care what nobody says super teams are necessary. You just see what happened with the Lakers,”
Robinson asked him about Durant and Harden’s roles in the Nets. To which Ron Artest opined, “Their roles are going to be the same. And I think those guys are just elite and they love basketball you know what I mean.
“And you can just see the passion, I remember when I was I guess their age I guess when I was 32 I was still loving the game, playing the game, trying to win another title, everybody trying to win a title you know that’s it.”
Artest feels that the most important thing for a super team is to play with coordination and momentum. He feels that more talent in a team allows that team to play more quality basketball.
