Why super teams are necessary for the NBA to continue to thrive

The concept of a “super team” has become synonymous with the NBA, for better or worse. Super teams usually feature at least three All-Stars, with at least one being signed as a free agent or acquired in a trade, and that all but guarantees success in the NBA. However, there appears to be an absence of these teams heading into next season.

While that could make for a more exciting NBA, it could also be one that casual fans tune out. Fans often bemoan super teams for being unfair, but it does help drive interest in the NBA and give people something to root for and against. Take the Miami Heat’s infamous big three, which featured LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.

For four years, the NBA had a team that everyone loved to hate, and the league was better for it. Now, while parity has increased, there isn’t one team that attracts interest in quite the same way. Instead, there are at least half a dozen teams that have a legit chance of winning it all. That may be better for individual fanbases, but perhaps not as much for the NBA.

Ratings are down, and the NBA is having to adjust to more parity.

The ratings have been down in recent years, especially in the NBA Finals. To be fair, network TV ratings have declined, and with more viewing options, most sports leagues have taken a hit too. Still, it’s a surprising development for the NBA.

After all, the league has a strong online presence, with millions of fans active on social media, talking about, retweeting, and sharing clips and videos. High fan engagement should lead to high ratings, especially with the increasing frequency at which blockbuster trades occur. However, it seems that fans are more interested in following the NBA online and discussing it rather than tuning in.

The NBA has recently tried to address that by slashing the cost of NBA League Pass, making it comparable to the price of Netflix and HBO Max. Hopefully, that will lead to more fans watching games. Even then, without a true super team, the NBA will have to rely on marketing individual stars to sell games.

They can, but it’s more difficult to market Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, especially for fans in the Eastern time zone.

Staying up to 10:30 pm to watch the two-time MVP might be a harder sell than, say, watching Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers play at 7:00 pm. That’s less of an issue with League Pass because it allows fans to go back and watch games, but live ratings may continue to suffer.

Still, if the Los Angeles Lakers, for example, were any good, fans would likely make the time. Ironically, the fall of the super team is likely a result of the collective bargaining agreement working. The salary cap has skyrocketed in recent seasons, literally doubling in the last eight years, and max contracts have gone up proportionally.

This leaves little room for a team to have three max players while avoiding having to pay the luxury tax yearly. That can really add up, and Golden State is seeing the effects of it even despite playing in California, having some of the NBA’s most popular players, and constantly selling out games. It’s only going to get worse in 2025 when the NBA’s media contract expires because a new contract generally causes the salary cap to explode.

For example, the current deal, when signed, led to a $23 million increase in the cap in just one season. Some teams may not be able to afford to sign more than one player to a max deal because it would almost guarantee that they’ll eventually have to pay the luxury tax, and small markets would obviously struggle more with that.

That said, they aren’t the ones assembling super teams and will still find ways to compete. Moreover, big markets and even the NBA itself will have to adjust too. Ultimately, a lack of super teams has led to increased parity in the NBA, but it could be having a negative effect on interest from fans.