As usual, LeBron James was classy in defeat after the Warriors pulled away from the Cavs in Game 5 to win the NBA title. But he made one comment during his press conference that left many people scratching their heads.
LeBron: “I don’t believe I’ve played for a superteam. I don’t believe in that.” pic.twitter.com/gIf0quUafP
— The Ringer (@ringer) June 13, 2017
Whoa there. Let’s start by refreshing our memory of when James joined Dwyane Wade, who was in his prime in Miami and also got Raptors star Chris Bosh to sign with the Heat in 2010.
Yeah, nothing “super” about that.
James won his first two titles with that stacked roster. Then when he split from Miami in 2014 and returned to Cleveland, LeBron joined Kyrie Irving, one of the best offensive point guards in the game, along with stud power forward Kevin Love to make a team that was good enough to beat the winningest team of all-time in the 2016 NBA Finals.
Some people will say LeBron started the trend of super teams. That’s false. The 2007-08 Celtics were the first of their kind, pairing Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen with Paul Pierce to turn a 24-win team into a 66-win team that won the 2008 NBA title.
If you’re going to take LeBron’s side in this argument, I think there’s only one way you can go, and that’s arguing that this year’s Warriors took the concept of “superteams” to a whole new level, having four of the top players in the NBA compared to LeBron’s trios. Golden State’s fourth-best scorer was Draymond Green. The Cavs’ was Kyle Korver. For the Hea,t it was Mario Chalmers and then an old Ray Allen. The Celtics were a bit more like the Warriors in that they had Rajon Rondo, who made three All-Star appearances during the “Big Three” era, as their fourth-best player. But even so, you’d be wise to take this year’s Warriors in a matchup against any of these old super teams.
But c’mon, ‘Bron. You’ve already endorsed the formation of superteam rosters. Own up to the fact that you’ve been on such a team for the last seven years.
