Written by Teddy Mitrosilis at FoxSports.com
NBA commissioner Adam Silver held a press conference the other day to announce some rule changes, but it was his comments on Kevin Durant joining the Golden State Warriors that ended up making news.
Silver said he did not like the idea of the NBA being dominated by “super teams,” which many are assuming the Warriors will be when Durant joins Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the rest of the squad.
“I’ve read some stories that the league wants this notion of two ‘super teams’ that is a huge a television attraction,” Silver said. “I don’t think it’s good for the league, just to be clear. I do not think that’s ideal from the league’s standpoint. Part of it is designing a collective bargaining agreement that encourages the distribution of great players throughout the league. On the other hand, I absolutely respect the players’ right to be a free agent.
“I mean, I’m not going to complain about it,” Curry told ESPN. “I know for a fact it’s going to be a different look having obviously lost some key guys. Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Mo Speights, Leandro Barbosa — guys that meant a lot to us and our success. We gave up a lot to gain KD. We’re going to be a different team.
“At the end of the day, there’s nothing guaranteed in this league. You want to avoid that kind of situation, but we have to go out and play and it’s going to be a tough test.”
As we’ve seen in the past, many of these “super teams” never won an NBA title, so it’s not as if the NBA should just give the Warriors the 2017 title. If anything, as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said, making the Warriors a villain is a good thing for the league.
