Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is often credited and criticized for kickstarting the current ‘Super Team’ era after joining the Miami Heat in 2010. After six seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, James decided to leave the team as a free agent and join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach. Superstar trios became the norm in the aftermath of the Heat forming their ‘Big 3′. Per fans and critics, it was James’ decision that permanently altered the players’ sense of loyalty to a franchise and city, as superstars started planning team-ups behind their teams’ backs. While that remains the popular notion, author Jeff Benedict believes it’s completely untrue.
The 2010 Miami Heat squad wasn’t actually the first Super Team, but rather a result of the first Super Team created. James was always a threat to his opponent teams, but the danger got bigger in the year 2007. He led a “mediocre” Cavaliers team to the Finals which caused chaos. An immediate aftermath of it was the creation of the first Super Team. Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett now joined the Boston Celtics which only had Paul Pierce to form a dominant trio that tilted the balance of the Eastern Conference.
In a conversation with Fox Sports analyst Colin Cowherd, Benedict, who wrote the book titled ‘LeBron,’ claimed Danny Ainge of the Boston Celtics and Pat Riley of the Miami Heat were the ones who understand Super Teams best. Per Benedict, Ainge adding Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett alongside Paul Pierce was just an effort to defeat LeBron James. The Celtics won 66 games in the 2007-08 regular season and their 17th championship, beating Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in the NBA Finals. The domino effect of this move led to James joining the Miami Heat squad with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in 2010.
Let us now take a closer look at the other super-teams in NBA History which were built against James.
How LeBron James was the reason for the creation of ‘Super Teams’ altering history forever
The Lebron James threat will loom in the league for as long as he continues to play. The four-time NBA MVP’s dominance on the court was the precursor to the Super Team era. Be it Danny Ainge building the Celtics with Garnett, Pierce, and Allen or Steve Kerr adding Kevin Durant to a Warriors team that featured Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green.
In his interaction with Colin Cowherd, Benedict also spoke about the greatness of James. He said, “The whole thing with [Kevin] Garnett and [Ray] Allen and [Paul] Pierce, what’s he doing?… He’s trying to beat LeBron.” He then added, “He’s trying to make sure that the Celtics can beat LeBron because he knows how good LeBron is.” Benedict said all of this about Ainge while referring to James’ capabilities.
Benedict also pointed out that the Warriors adding Durant to their squad was also an effort to beat LeBron. He said the Warriors followed the same strategy as the Celtics and gave similar results. The intent of forming super-teams was always the same: to beat LeBron James.
James’ decision to join the Heat yielded two titles, but the domino effect of his decision led Durant to the stacked Warriors, who beat him twice in the NBA Finals. It’s hard to envision whether James would have more or fewer titles had he stayed put in Cleveland and trusted the Cavaliers’ front office to build a team capable of contending with the Celtics Super Team and beyond.
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