10 NBA Super Teams that Blew It
As we move closer to the first game of the 2016-17 NBA season, the Golden State Warriors are getting the vast majority of attention. They added former MVP Kevin Durant to a team that was already a perennial title contender.
The general thought now is do we just engrave the Warriors’ name into the Larry O’Brien Trophy, or wait out of respect to other teams?
Sportsbooks apparently feel the same way because many of them have Golden State at -150 odds to win the NBA championship. Compare this to the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, who, at +200, are downright underdogs.
Of course, before we anoint this lineup of Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green as champions, it’s important to remember that some super teams have fallen short of expectations.
This being said, here are 10 NBA super teams that failed when it came to living up to their talent and potential.
1. 2003-04 LA Lakers
After winning three straight titles from 2000-2002 with the duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, LA fell short against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2003 Western Conference Finals.
Their answer to get back on top was adding future Hall-of-Famers Gary Payton and Karl Malone to an already strong contender. Perhaps even more so than the 2016-17 Warriors, many thought this Lakers team was a shoo-in for the title.
LA looked primed to meet expectations by running out to an 18-3 record. But Malone hurt his knee, O’Neal and Bryant struggled with lingering injuries, and the “Big Four” played just 20 regular season games together.
The Lakers limped to a 56-26 record – good for second in the West – and they turned it on in the postseason. LA ran through the Houston Rockets (5 games), Spurs (6 games), and Minnesota Timberwolves (6 games) en route to meeting the Detroit Pistons in the Finals.
The Lakers were heavily favored to win, but the scrappy Pistons dominated, winning in 5 games. After this, the Lakers super team broke up, with only Bryant sticking around for the following season.
2. 2015-16 Golden State Warriors
While few billed the Warriors as a super team entering last season, it was pretty much implied since they won the NBA title in 2015 and returned all of their pieces.
Their devastating small ball lineup – featuring Curry, Thompson, Green, Andre Igoudala, and Shaun Livingston – was like a video game cheat they could use in any close game to pull out to a 20-point lead.
Golden State entered the conversation as the greatest team ever when they complied a 73-9 record – the best in NBA history. But the playoffs became a challenge for this squad.
Curry battled injuries early in the playoffs, they narrowly defeated a Durant-led Oklahoma City team, Green got suspended for Game 5 against the Cavs, Ayesha Curry blamed the refs, and, before you knew it, the heavily favored Warriors blew a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
3. 1996-97 Houston Rockets
After failing to get a ring in Philadelphia and Phoenix, Charles Barkley jumped aboard the title-contending Houston Rockets in 1996. One year removed from back-to-back titles in 1994 and ’95, Houston thought that the former MVP Barkley would bring them back to the champions’ circle.
Also starring Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, this team bolted out to a 21-2 start. But they struggled the rest of the way, finishing 57-25 and grabbing the third seed in the West.
They battled through the first two rounds of the playoffs to meet the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference Finals. But they got no further, losing 4-2 and bowing out. The following year, this super team finished just 41-41, which prompted Drexler to retire.
4. 2014-15 Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavs’ victory in the 2016 Finals could be considered revenge for the previous season, when many expected them to win. Coming off a 33-49 season, LeBron James decided to come back home in 2014, and Cleveland traded Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love. This created a dangerous Big 3, with point guard Kyrie Irving having already been with the team.
There were warning signs in the early going, as Cleveland sat around .500 halfway through the season. But they turned on the jets and finished the regular season 53-29, second in the Eastern Conference.
These good feelings were erased, though, when Kevin Love suffered a shoulder injury in the first round of the playoffs. LeBron and Irving still led Cleveland to meet Golden State in the Finals, although Irving dislocated his kneecap and couldn’t play much.
This left LeBron trying to lead the JV squad over a heavily favored Warriors. Cleveland fought valiantly to go up 2-1, but they ran out of gas and lost the series 4-2.
5. 2010-11 Miami Heat
The 2014-15 campaign with Cleveland wasn’t LeBron’s first time on a super team. He also joined a Heat team that included Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in 2010.
Championship expectations ran rampant, and the Heat came close to fulfilling these predictions. But they would lose 4-2 to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals. This was a good learning experience, though, since they went on to win titles in 2012 and ’13.
6. 2006-07 Dallas Mavericks
After losing to the Miami Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals, Dallas was on a mission the following season. Boasting a lineup of Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Josh Howard, and Jerry Stackhouse, this team ran out to a 67-15 record and were the clear favorites in the playoffs.
Shockingly, though, they lost to the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the first round.
7. 1994-95 Phoenix Suns
This is the first time that Barkley was on a super team, as he played alongside Kevin Johnson, “Thunder” Dan Majerle, Danny Ainge, Danny Manning, and A.C. Green.
With Michael Jordan still retired, it seemed like this might finally be the year that Barley won a ring. Injuries to Johnson and Manning hurt this team, though, and they finished second in the West with a 59-23 record.
Phoenix would eventually be upset in the conference semifinals by the sixth-seeded Rockets. However, this wasn’t much of an upset because Houston ended up winning their second consecutive title.
8. 2012-13 LA Lakers
This is the worst-performing super team in history since the Lakers finished 47-35 in the regular season (7th in West), then were swept by San Antonio in the first round.
Few could’ve seen this coming when LA added All-Stars Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to a team that already included Kobe, Pau Gasol, and Metta World Peace.
Coach Mike Brown was fired after an 0-8 preseason and 1-4 start, while Mike D’Antoni didn’t have much more success. The final nail in the coffin was when Bryant went down with a season-ending Achilles injury in the 80th game.
9. 1993-94 Seattle Supersonics
After losing 4-3 to the Suns in the 1993 Western Conference Finals, Seattle marched towards the NBA’s best record the following year, winning a franchise-record 63 games.
This team had an excellent mix of offense and defense in their starting five with Gary Payton, Kendall Gill, Detlef Schrempf, Shawn Kemp, and Michael Cage.
But in one of the greatest upsets in NBA history, a Dikembe Mutombo-led Nuggets team knocked the Sonics out in the first round.
10. 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets
Team owner Mikhail Prokhorov decided to play fantasy basketball in 2013, trading away the Nets’ future assets to acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. These two combined with PG Deron Williams, SG Joe Johnson, and C Brook Lopez to form a fearsome starting five.
Prokhorov honestly thought that he was getting a championship squad. But Garnett and Pierce were more over-the-hill than anybody thought, and the team chemistry never came together. The result was a 44-38 record and loss in the conference semifinals.
Brooklyn’s future has since been trashed because all of their high draft picks are currently going to the Boston Celtics.