Gabrielle Union took a shot at Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and other former Boston Celtics players for their refusal to admit that they started the controversial era of the superteam within the NBA.
Union, the wife of Heat legend Dwyane Wade, appeared on “The Old Man & the Three” podcast and spoke bluntly (at the 28:57 mark) about how the Heat’s superteam of a decade ago wasn’t the first instance of teams bringing superstars together to win an NBA title.
“I was here for all of that s—,” Union said. “But I was also here for when KG (Garnett) and Paul and [Rajon] Rondo and Ray [Allen] all came together, even though they don’t want to admit it that they kicked that b—- off. There’s been superteams before. They just didn’t, they didn’t have, it wasn’t in this era with this platform and with social media and sports talk radio 24/7. It’s different, and how you look at it, it’s different. And the whole, ‘Built, not bought,’ whatever. Boring is what it says to me. Okay, you built it. Did anyone come? No, your fans are leaving at f—— halftime. Cheerleaders can’t be bothered.”
That superteam era for the Heat began in 2010, when the team acquired LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Over the next four years, the Heat reached the finals every season and captured the NBA title in 2012 and 2013.
Prior to that run of success, the Celtics had acquired Garnett and Allen in 2007 and paired them up with Pierce and Rondo. The Celtics then won the 2008 NBA championship and reached the 2010 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.
The key difference in this comparison is that the Heat were subjected to severe criticism during their run, while the Celtics’ methods for building their team were seemingly ignored by the media and fans.
Celtics fans would no doubt argue that acquiring James and Bosh is distinctly different than adding players through trades. Yet, it’s likely that few Heat fans lose much sleep over past criticisms as they continue to treasure the two titles captured by their particular superteam.