The 2016-17 Warriors. The 2012-13 Heat. The 2009-12 Crimson Tide football team. What do all these teams have in common? They couldn’t be stopped. It’s not often that a team can have a monopoly in professional sports, but once every blue moon we see transcendent play-makers come together to form what is known as a “super-team.” Simply, a super-team is a team full of all-stars, or all-Americans in college, that come together to play with one another. Today, we discuss how a team becomes so dominant, why they don’t always work out, and what the aftermath of them are.

“Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven…” 

This, of course, is LeBron James’ ultra-famous quote regarding how many championships the newly formed Miami Heat would win in 2010. The Heat turned into a super-team (contrary to LeBron’s recent comments about never having played on a super-team) by adding LBJ and Chris Bosh to an already great Dwayne Wade. The Heat wouldn’t win seven titles; instead, they won two championships (2011-12, 2012-13) with the “big-three.” James would later leave the Heat to go back to his original team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to play with up-and-coming stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

A college football dynasty in the twenty-first century

Head Coach Nick Saban left the NFL to come to Alabama in 2007. The former LSU and Miami Dolphins’ head coach has since won four national titles, including three in a four year span. Saban is now known for producing Grade-A NFL talent and winning. A lot of winning. In 2009, Heisman Trophy winner, and now New Orleans Saints running back, Mark Ingram led Saban’s perfect team (14-0) to the promise land with a 37-21 win over Texas. Two years later, the Tide would be back in the championship game facing Saban’s old team, and school rival, LSU. ‘Bama would win 21-0 over the Tigers led by A.J. McCarron and Trent Richardson. The year after that? Another championship. This time the Crimson Tide were led by Eddie Lacy. That’s the first super-team of the twenty-first century in college football.

Kevin Durant joins the 73-9 Warriors; NBA fans mourn

Yes, we all know the narrative: “Kevin Durant joined the already historically great Warriors and formed the greatest super-team in sports.” “KD is a snake” “blah, blah, tainted ring, blah blah.” You get the point. The way I look at it, the front office in Golden State pulled of the greatest free-agent signing in all of sports history. Do I respect the fact that KD left OKC to go Golden State and destroy competitiveness in the league? No, but I do respect his desire for a championship and the Warriors organization for drafting three all-stars that perfectly compliment Durant? Yes. The Warriors of course just beat Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers in five games cementing their legacy as one of the all-time greatest sports teams to ever play. This might just be the greatest super-team ever assembled.

NO SLEEP… in Brooklyn

Ah, yes, the Brooklyn Nets. Once located in New Jersey, the Nets were led by all-star point guard Jason Kidd to the NBA finals twice (only to lose to the Lakers and Spurs, respectively)! Then they moved to Brooklyn, a move coordinated by owner JAY-Z. So what did the Nets do so great to deserve to be on this list? Oh, they just ruined their franchise and helped strengthen their biggest rival, the Boston Celtics. Trading for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, the Nets gave up an exorbitant amount of picks that allowed the Celtics to now be the number one seed in the Eastern conference this past year. So, how did he Nets fair? Well, under head coach Jason Kidd, the Nets blew up. KG and Pierce were too old to be a factor once in Brooklyn and coaching just wasn’t good. All-in-all, the Nets will be paying for this move for years.

So, what does this all mean? Well, most of the time super-teams work out well in providing championships, but they can also mortgage a team’s future. Just be careful not to help my Celtics too much!