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Should Super Teams be allowed in the NBA?

One of the good things about sports is that it helps in nurturing talents of individuals as

they unleash their potential while engaged in playing different games and for teams. Basketball,

in particular, has played a great role in ensuring that both fans and players get satisfied while

they watch and play games respectively. Through different leagues, both prominent and less

prominent basketball games have proved to be very essential and inclusive. National Basketball

Association (NBA) league just like other leagues around the world has been on the forefront to

entertain fans and give chances to players to excel in their sports career. However, the emergence

of super teams within the NBA league has introduced another course in the league that might be

compromising in the long run. The perceptions of fans as well as players have been changed by

the super team concept to an extent that the true love of the game is gradually fading away. For

this and other reasons, the existence of the super teams in NBA should not be encouraged. The

following are some of the reasons against the existence of super teams in the NBA league.

The first reason is that the existence of super teams has interfered with the loyalty of

players to their teams especially after they have signed up to play in the NBA league (Mulanny,

Alex). The players have always wanted to play for the super team and the means by which they

strive to do that are varied. They tend to seek the easy way out to reach to the top and this might
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include the use of morally unacceptable means. The need for hard work to gain success has been

compromised in this perspective. Thus playing basketball in the NBA league is gradually turning

to selfishness by the players who just look into their benefits in the long run. It is not a bad idea

for the players to put their interests first when they are playing but looking the bigger picture,

being loyal to one team for a long time has great benefits to many people especially those

upcoming players who are inspired by their teammates.

The second reason is that the super teams have continued to undermine smaller markets.

This is given by the fact that a winning team which is mostly one of the super teams will always

draw more fans (Mulanny, Alex). For this reason, the super teams overshadow other teams so

they are not seen by fans. For instance, the existence of super teams has caused smaller markets

such as Milwaukee, Memphis, Indiana, and Charlotte to continue being overshadowed by the big

teams. The reason for this is that the players of the small markets do not gain enough exposure to

sponsor deals and merchandise sales and this has negative impacts on the players as well as the

ownership.

The overshadowing of the small markets by the super teams makes the running of these

teams to be increasingly expensive. The small teams upon losing fans for lacking mainstream

exposure will have less revenue which also strains their activities as they need to front office

staff, pay players, travel and do other related activities that require money. When financial

pressure becomes too high the small teams can eventually fade away. In the long run, the smaller

markets will tend to remain at their levels with little or no progress. This situation spells a lot of

setback for many people especially the upcoming players who will have to struggle to be seen.
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The third reason against the super team is that it does not encourage people to watch

games (Mulanny, Alex). The fans tend to watch the games for the sake of watching and not with

the passion that once was there. For instance, the fans of the super teams will tend to shift with

their favourite players. In the long run, the fans lose incentives to continue with watching the

games especially when their favourite super team players have reduced in their performance. The

end result is a group of fans who like basketball but do not support a team. For this reason, for

instance, their commitment to teams reduces and this gradually hurt the league in the long run.

Reduced fan base eventually has far-reaching effects to the entire league. If this continues it will

reach a point when the league will be faced with challenges because fans have no business

watching the games. This is when financial challenges will be an issue to the entire league to

threaten its existence.

The fourth reason against super teams is that they tend to create excessive spending of the

individual teams leading to diminishing parity (Mulanny, Alex). It is worth mentioning that

excessive spending was initiated by the NBA league advancing soft salary cap accompanied by

the basic luxury tax for teams that spent more than the maximum amount. The richest teams

through soft caps have the capability to buy their way to the top by buying good players from

upcoming players. This dissolves the competitive balance as the richest teams will tend to have

the top players while the other teams remain without experienced players.

The fifth reason against the existence of super teams is that they create separation in the

league especially between everyone else and the super teams (Mulanny, Alex). The fans have

divided opinions regarding the existence of the super teams and this comes from the fact that the

experienced players tend to be moved from one team to another and their fans as well as the fans

of the teams they previously played for remain confused about where they stand. For instance,
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Joakim Noah was signed as a free agent and Derrick Rose was traded by the Chicago Bulls at the

time when New York Knicks formed their super team. The movements of these key players from

their respective teams have some effect as far as the fan base is concerned. The fans, in the long

run, lose the urge to actively participate in the games because of the divided interests.

In conclusion, even though the existence of super teams in NBA has some positive

impacts on the league and the players, they have far-reaching negative impacts as well. As seen

in the above discussion the teams instead of fostering inclusivity in basketball games, have

indicated potential danger to every party involved: the players, the team owner, the fan base and

the NBA league at large. The super teams, therefore, have less positive impacts on the future of

the NBA league and should as well be discouraged as soon as possible.

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Work cited

Mulanny, Alex. "5 Reasons Why Super Teams Ruin The Integrity Of The

NBA". Sportskeeda.Com, 2018, https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/5-reasons-why-super-

teams-ruin-integrity-nba/5. Accessed 10 Dec 2018.