NBA legend Oscar Robertson explained the double standard that surrounds superteams in the NBA in a recent edition of the “Knuckleheads” podcast.
Robertson referenced the Boston Celtics bringing in Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to team up with Paul Pierce and compared it to the negative reaction LeBron James got when he joined the Miami Heat.
Oscar Robertson speaks on double standards surrounding super teams
“When Boston got Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, that was David Stern’s deal and the NBA allowed that. Everything was fine. …But when LeBron went to Miami, ‘oh man, like how can you do this?!’”
(Via Knuckleheads) pic.twitter.com/TiK6FelSua
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 26, 2021
James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh teamed up in Miami and eventually went on to win two titles in four trips to the NBA Finals.
The Celtics won one title in two NBA Finals appearances with their superteam.
James’ move of teaming up with other superstars was widely criticized at the time, but the NBA has seen more and more players follow that path in recent years.
Now with the Los Angeles Lakers, James has another superstar trio of himself, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.
Robertson makes a good point that James wasn’t treated the same as the Celtics’ stars, and now that other stars like Kevin Durant have done the same thing, it’s interesting to look back on the backlash James got for the move and how different the NBA is now.
