Iman said that instead of spending the offseason trying to add layers to their games, NBA stars nowadays would instead team up with one another.
There’s no denying that even during the 1980s and 90s, there were teams with stacked rosters. From the Boston Celtics to the Los Angeles Lakers to the Detroit Pistons, star-studded teams dominated the league. However, it wasn’t until LeBron James joined the Miami Heat in 2010 that the idea of superstars teaming up took off.
Iman Shumpert, a former NBA player for the Cleveland Cavaliers and teammate of LeBron James, recently spoke out about how he believes Bron is responsible for ruining parity in the NBA. In a conversation with legendary big man Shaquille O’Neal on “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” Shump opined that LBJ’s decision to constantly team up with other All-Stars eschewed the idea of superstars continually adding layers to their repertoire.
It’s a different league
While plenty of teams had talented rosters in the past, the idea of bona fide superstars leaving their teams to join forces with a rival was ludicrous. This is why Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, and Larry Bird never left the franchises that took a chance on them in the NBA Draft.
In addition, rather than take an easy way out, these players spent the offseason adding more weapons to their arsenal. When “Air Jordan” felt he was getting taken out by the Pistons in the late 80s, he hit the gym and added a strong post-game to his already formidable offensive repertoire. However, the NBA landscape today is different.
According to the 6’5″ wingman, who played for five teams in his ten-year career, it’s an era influenced mainly by the super-talented forward from Akron, Ohio.
“The person that ruined all of this was Bron,” Iman asserted.
“It’s like if Mike would have made it okay for y’all to just be like, ‘Yeah, I’m leaving this team, and I’m going to another ’cause I like what the owners are saying’—if Mike would have did that, there would have been no loyalty. ‘Cause we all, quote-unquote, wanted to be like Mike, right?” Shumpert explained. “I feel like when Bron made it okay for people to team up, it stopped making the star player have to come back with something added to their game.”
Superstars used to spend substantial time diversifying their games
With NBA teams employing scouting teams that utilize sophisticated technology and analytics, teams can quickly identify opposing players’ tendencies and weaknesses. This forced players to keep on working on different aspects of their game, leading to more well-rounded superstars.
However, LeBron’s constant transfers to teams with loaded rosters altered that mindset. As players saw that they could easily win championships by teaming up with other superstars, the pressure to improve their individual s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s diminished.
“Everybody would come in the league and have they thing that they do that you can’t stop. This, but now we got the scouting report on you because you made it to the playoffs. So this year, we gonna take away this, and we wait on you to come back and have this,” Shump illustrated. “So you had Bron go up to Detroit and go through all that, right? And the man went to Miami. Went to Miami instead of coming back and defending it there. So it was like, now everybody thinking it’s cool—y’all could team up.”
LBJ has done a lot for the sport, influencing the way players train and prepare for games and think about their own legacies. However, his decision to join forces with other superstars has also created a new dynamic in the league, ruining parity in the process.
