Bulls' Dwyane Wade says superteams are 'great' for the NBA
Well, of course he would say that
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2 min read
Chicago Bulls star Dwyane Wade spoke at length on the sometimes-touchy subject of superteams on Thursday. As well as confirming that he and LeBron James considered joining the Bulls in the summer of 2010 before the Miami Heat reached an agreement with Chris Bosh, Wade said that, when stars team up, it is not just good but "great" for the NBA.
"I think certain moments -- it's great," Wade said. "At the end of the day, whether you dislike the Heat or you loved the Heat, you was tuning in to watch the Heat, right? Same thing with Golden State. Whether you dislike what happened with Kevin Durant or whatever the case may be, you're going to tune in to watch, whether you want him to succeed or fail.
"Our game is growing. Eyes are on our game. And at the end of the day, me as a player, I just love the fact that players have the ability to control their own destiny.
"That's what we fight for when it comes to lockouts and all these things. We want to be able to do the things we want to be able to do because they can trade us at any moment, they can get rid of us at any moment. So to have the power to be able to do what we did in 2010 -- that felt great. That was a great moment for us. Three young African-American kids got an opportunity to control their own destiny and call their own shots. That's what we wanted. So our game is not taking a hit; our game has only grown."
It's safe to say that Wade isn't on the same page as Paul Pierce, who directly criticized Kevin Durant's decision to sign with the Golden State Warriors in an interview with SiriusXM NBA radio and said that players are not "as hungry or competitive as my generation was." Rather than framing this as an issue about competitiveness or parity, Wade has made two arguments here:
- Superteams are a reflection of players taking power back from teams and taking control of their careers. This is what retired players fought so hard for in collective bargaining. Jerry West made the same point in the summer, adding that he wished free agency was an option when he was a player.
- Regardless of the negative reaction was when Wade, James and Bosh teamed up, people watched them. Superteams tend to generate a ton of interest in the NBA, and it's unlikely that a potential rematch between the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers will have any trouble drawing huge ratings. People might say they hate superteams, but that doesn't mean they're going to ignore them.
Wade's points are both sound. If I was making the case for superteams, I'd add that people want to watch the very best play against the very best. That's what made it great when the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers were full of Hall of Famers in decades past, and that's why it's been amazing to see James' teams go up against stacked Warriors and San Antonio Spurs rosters in the past few years.
Of course, none of this is likely to change anybody's mind. If you hated Durant for going to Golden State yesterday, you probably still do. As Wade said, as long as you keep tuning in, it's OK for everybody.
