On Jan. 14, the Brooklyn Nets acquired James Harden, a six-time All-NBA first team player, from the Houston Rockets, as part of a three-team trade that involved the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets, and the Houston Rockets. Immediately after this official statement was released to the public, it spurred controversy amongst all NBA fans. Simultaneously, critics shifted their attention towards the super team strategy that would continue in the Nets as a result of this addition.
“After reading news about James Harden’s interests in forming a superteam in Brooklyn, I expected to see such a trade happen,” Joshua Hwang (9), JV basketball player, said. “However, now that I see the team put together, I understand that this is a group of great magnitude, great capabilities, and endless possibilities for the future. James Harden, as a six-time All-NBA player, may be able to enjoy his new circumstances more than he did during his time in the Rockets.”
Prominent in other sports as well, such as soccer, the super team strategy is a game plan in which superstars of a certain sport are populated in one team to dominate the league. For the Brooklyn Nets, the superteam will consist of James Harden, the subject of the recent trade, Kyrie Irving, six-time All-Star and one time champion, and Kevin Durant, nine-time All-NBA, two-time champion, and ten-time All-Star player. To this end, some consider the Nets to have the best odds at winning the Eastern Conference as well as the NBA finals.
“Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving, are three prominent basketball players in the league,” Andrew Nam (10), avid sports fan, said. “I have seen the superteam strategy in soccer as well, especially in Real Madrid. In the team, there was a strategy called the galacticos, where world famous soccer athletes were recruited as part of the galacticos policy. Since this strategy was successful in soccer, I am placing my bets on the Nets this year.”
However, despite its arsenal, some critics consider the Brooklyn Nets deal to be rather impetuous than devious. Harden has been criticized in the recent past for his negligence towards COVID-19 guidelines and irresponsibleness towards the Houston Rockets. Most importantly, Irving and Durant, as well as Harden, are all ball-dominant players, meaning that there is a great area of overlap between the players. Therefore, if not played out successfully, the three will most likely clash and prove each other ineffective to the team’s success. Given the new circumstances surrounding the Brooklyn Nets, one could look forward to viewing either the despondent failures or the great successes of this superteam.
“My view of the superteam strategy is that it is often ineffective and rather counterproductive,” Timothy Munro, varsity basketball coach, said. “In this case, it is even more so in that the tendencies of the three players all clash, as they are ball-dominant. Even so, what concerns me most about this trade is that James Harden has been a disappointing player to the NBA all season long. A positive way that one could view this is the Rockets removing a harmful player and Harden also getting his cut of the deal. Even though I do not truly agree with the prospects, I will look forward to the future of the Nets as well as Harden.”
