LeBron James has taken a lot of criticism over the years for putting together what fans call “super teams” in order to win championships. He did it in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. LeBron also did it when he returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. This year, the Golden State Warriors put together their own Super Team when they added former MVP Kevin Durant to their lineup of three All-Stars and beat LeBron and the Cavaliers.
After the series, a lot of fans accused the Warriors of creating a super team just to get past LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. While Kevin Durant has denied that they are a super team, Warriors star Draymond Green kind of accepted the title but told James that he can’t say anything because he started the super teams.
LeBron James’ response to Draymond Green
LeBron James appeared on the “Road Trippin’” podcast alongside fellow Cavaliers players Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye and said that Draymond Green has no idea what he is talking about. LeBron James has denied that he even created a super team with the Miami Heat, as LeBron said that they had to build Miami into a contender and it wasn’t as easy as just bringing in All-Stars.
What LeBron James considers a super team
LeBron James really didn’t consider the Miami Heat or Cleveland Cavaliers a super team, saying that he has never been on a so-called super team. When asked about the comments, LeBron did say that there have been super teams build in the NBA, although he doesn’t consider the Heat or Cavaliers as being one.
LeBron James said that two obvious super teams in NBA history were around before he even made his debut in the league. LeBron points to the 2003 Los Angeles Lakers and the 1996 Houston Rockets.
Starting with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2003, Kobe Bryant was their homegrown star and they brought in Shaquille O’Neal after he had a successful career with the Orlando Magic.
In 2003, they signed Seattle Supersonics star Gary Payton and Utah Jazz star Karl Malone to join them. The result of that super team was a loss in the NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons.
The next team was the 1996 Houston Rockets. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won a ton of championships and after Jordan retired, Houston wanted to win big. They brought in Charles Barkley to join up with Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. However, things didn’t work out there either as Houston lost to the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference Finals.