What do we know about sports?
There are all kinds of axioms, one of which is that "Galacticus" is doomed to failure.
But even if the Super-Teams have more failures than successes, the magic of connecting stars to each other will continue to outweigh the patience needed to build a team smarter.
Here, just about three years ago, it seemed like the entire NBA top was converging on it as a star-studded system.
Remember that?
LeBron and Davis in the Lakers, Kwai and Paul George in the Clippers, Durant and Kyrie Bents and Harden and Westbrook in Houston.
And what came out of it?
One Lakers championship in the bubble games, one Western Conference final for the Clippers, and two second-round appearances for the Nets.
success?
barely.
Enough to make more decision makers want to do it over and over again?
Yp.
So it's a global issue, crosses borders and industries, but what about professional sports in the US? And the NBA in particular? What do we think we know for sure about this league? Well, one thing - also in the context of team building and competitiveness, And the repetitive of the Champions League is that the draft methods, the salary cap, and the free market and the distribution of income of America guarantee a turnover at the top.A team can be at the bottom of one year, and compete for the championship the following year.
And of course, with all due respect to the fact that the latter usually pick firsts in the draft, this instant-salvation usually does not come from there.
So where does that come from?
That's right- this is exactly what the Super-Times and the Free Market are all about.
So wait.
If this is the case, and although recently the entire league has tried to attach star to star - how is it that the NBA still seems to be becoming a kind of Champions League?
I mean - a relatively closed club where the more or less the same teams reach the high stages all the time?
Look at the teams that have now reached the second round (equivalent to a quarterfinal) - Boston is here for the 5th time in 6 years, Miami for the 7th time in 12, Milwaukee for the fourth time in a row, Philadelphia once for 4 in 5 years.
The four second-round teams in the East have taken 12 of the 16 places there in the last 4 years.
In the West, Golden State is doing it for the 7th time in 10 seasons, Phoenix twice in a row, and only for Memphis and Dallas is it an upgrade from recent seasons - but with young superstars they will surely join the club in the years to come.
What's more, in the last 30 years, the percentage of teams returning to the second round in the West is 69%!
(In the East it is 57%)
What can be learned from this is that even in the NBA - a league of stars, in an industry dominated by the individual more than any other popular team sport - even there, there is no substitute for continuity and building a real team.
The Celtics' formidable sweep of the Nets in the first round was very, very symbolic in that sense.
But even the very identities of the teams that will participate in the second round continue to tell the same story: Milwaukee (Yannis), Boston (Taitum), Dallas (Doncic) and Memphis (Morant) all have one superstar.
Miami has a prominent "culture" club, a veteran coach - and zero superstars.
And even in Phoenix there is no top 10 player in the league or a realistic candidate for the MVP.
Even Philly, who is now trying something with Harden (who is no longer a superstar), is definitely a team of one big star.
And to be realistic, with how talented and deep they are, the Warriors also have one superstar right now.
You are right, together, there are 6 superstars in 8 groups.
That is, the diligent and embarrassing failures of the Lakers and the Nets - there is a second chapter.
And it's even more fun, because it's about winning teams (how much can you talk about losing?).
The biggest thing that remains open in this context is - how long will it stay that way?
How long will we continue to enjoy a league top reserved for teams that have built themselves right?
In other words - how long will it take until the next time we see a superstar connected to a superstar?
Because someone will eventually get tired of losing.
And then - then we can see how much the legacy of LeBron, Durant and Kwai has really permeated the younger generation.
I, with your permission, this time am on the side hoping for a revolt of youth.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
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