greatest player of his generation yet couldn't accomplish anything without having to create a 'superteam' to do it. no respect for him, his whining and the ridiculous superstar treatment he received the moment he stepped on the court as a rookie. The ridiculous stretches he'd enjoy without being called for a single foul were egregious and blatant show of favoritism by the league.
The only one of his career moments I ever enjoyed was the game where he fouled out against the Celtics in the playoffs and he couldn't get over the fact that the refs dared to foul him out.
Ah yes because the greatest players of all time weren't winning their multiple championships on super teams.
I think where people get nuts about the superteams isn't that the greatest players play on superteams, but how those teams are created. The 80's Celtics, Lakers and Pistons and the 90's Bulls and Rockets and recent teams like San Antonio, Detroit, Dallas and the pre-Durant Warriors were put together more organically. But the Heat, the Cavs, this recent iteration of the Lakers and the Durant Warriors were more about players forcing themselves together to form those teams superteams. I think that's where people get mad. Personally, it doesn't bother me. If in 2-3 years someone like Doncic or Giannis wants to force his way to Boston to form a superteam with the Jays, count me in.
I don't know if those teams were organic. For example, Magic has said a number of times if the Lakers didn't win the coin flip, he was going to go back to Michigan State and finish college. He only stayed in the draft because he wanted to play with Kareem. Moses Malone won a MVP and forced his way out of Houston and ended up on a super team in Philly. Kareem forced his way out of Milwaukee. Wilt moved around a bunch. So did Shaq. Kobe refused to report to Charlotte so they had to trade him to the Lakers. This notion that this is some new development just isn't borne in reality. Everything is way more publicized today because of the internet and tv, so there is more focus on it, but this has been happening since basically the league started.
Not remotely comparable
Sure they are. Those are players dictating where they want to or don't want to play and doing what it takes to get it done. Free agency wasn't really a thing back then, but dictating where you go is absolutely the same thing.
Apples and oranges. You're the only person I've ever seen try and compare them, unsurprisingly
agreed. these examples are not like what's happening in the NBA since the Cheatles collusion.
Magic - his option to come out when he chose. wasn't the first or last player to make that choice.
Moses - Philly had to give up a pretty significant package to get him. Much like Boston had to do to get KG as well as Ray. Kobe -- see Edited for profanity. Please do not do it again.bag Barry that pulled the same stunt on the C's in the 80's. Kareem, Shaq, Wilt -- no collusion with other players to get to play together. For that matter, Kareem and Wilt didn't have the freewheeling level of free agency that exists today and required teams to work out a deal.
GS and Miami had to give up a bunch of players to make room to do what they did. And Caldwell Jones and the Cavs future draft pick (it did end up at 3) is not a significant package. At least not for what you'd expect the 28 year old reigning league MVP to get in a trade. GS had to give up Barnes, Bogut, Speights, Fezeli, Barbosa, Rush, and Varejao. So that is 2 starters and a good chunk of their rotation to make the space to sign Durant. Every team would do it, but it wasn't like they didn't have to make some moves.
The Heat gave up a lot more for Lebron and Bosh then most people realize. They not only sign and traded for Lebron and Bosh, giving up a 2011, 2013, 2016 1st round picks, removing protections on a pick owed to Toronto (so it conveyed giving them the 5th pick in 2011), multiple 2nd round picks, etc, but they also had to move on from recent #2 pick Beasley (traded for 2 2nd rounders), traded Cook and a 2010 1st for a 2010 2nd rounder (so another 1st gone), Richardson, JO, and Wright were all sent packing. In other words, Miami decimated their roster and gave up every future 1st rounder they could (they even gave Cleveland swap rights on one pick, which obviously wasn't exercised) to create the room to sign the guys. Again every team would do that, but again it wasn't like they just added the two guys to the existing roster. It just didn't happen that way.
Unlike the defending EC champion Sixers who merely signed Malone in free agency and because back then teams could match, worked out a trade with the Rockets where they gave up a 32 year old part time starter and a future draft pick from a bad team in what would be a terrible draft outside of Sampson (ironically Houston ended up with Sampson with their own pick and not the Cavs pick which was 3rd and Rodney McCray).
To not equate what the Sixers did in the summer of 82 to what has happened recently is quite simply a fallacy.
More recently, Kobe absolutely 100% refused to report to Charlotte and demanded to be traded to the Lakers, who had just signed Shaq in free agency away from the Magic. Now I get Kobe was an unproven high school draftee, but he absolutely dictated where he wanted to play and made it happen. Of course Shaq and Kobe won 3 titles, but couldn't make it work so away went Shaq to go play with Wade and win a title in Miami.
Pau Gasol demands a trade out of Memphis and miraculously ends up in LA with Kobe to win 2 titles. Hmm.
Kareem demands a trade out of Milwaukee with NY and LA on his list of preferred destinations (also perhaps Washington). Ends up with the Lakers. Obviously not a super team, but a player that absolutely dictated where he wanted to go.
The internet, cell phones, etc. makes communication a lot easier today than back then, but this notion that players haven't been doing this since the dawn of the game is just a fallacy. This has gone on since the league was created and will continue to go on until the league fails.