The NBA offered fertile ground for the “Super Team” concept.
The Houston Rockets collected four future members of the Hall of Fame in 1996-97 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen.
The Boston Celtics brought together Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to win a championship in 2008.
The Miami Heat went on to four consecutive finals (winning twice), when Lebron James joined his talents with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh from 2010-11.
The Golden State Warriors were coming off a 73-win season with NBA MVP Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green when Kevin Durant joined them to win consecutive championships.
And the Lakers already have a title thanks to the strong duo of James and Anthony Davis.
As the MLB’s most talented squad starts arriving at Camelback Ranch in Arizona on Wednesday, the Dodgers may have the closest to a “Super Team” you’ll likely see in baseball’s luxury tax era. According to Elias Sports, when each of them appears in a game for the Dodgers this season, the Dodgers will become the first team to have three former MVP winners (Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger) and three former winners Cy Young (Kershaw, Trevor Bauer and David Price) on the field for them.
“I think that on paper it is certainly a ‘Super Team’. You can’t get away from it, ”said Dodger manager Dave Roberts, praising the organization’s ability to retain young,“ controllable ”talent from the agricultural system – and the property’s willingness to pay for talent at a time when Pandemic finances have many limited teams coming back.
“I think that on the surface you look at salaries, it is certainly a ‘Super Team’. It is here that the property feels that with the fan base, what we have achieved to support our club like this, we are certainly very excited about it. Now, the fun part for me is to see how all these pieces work together. ”
They don’t always work. You can argue strongly that the Dodgers had the most talented (if not top) National League squad three or four times during their current series of eight consecutive division titles – 2013, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Only two of these teams arrived to the World Series – and only those from last year won a championship.
“First, we took the right path and I will continue – but we were deceived by 17. That’s a fact,” said Roberts. “But I think the great thing about baseball is that the best team doesn’t always win. That’s the beauty of baseball. It has been proven over the years. ”
It doesn’t look so beautiful when his season ends in early October at the hands of, say, a great wild card team that started the season losing 31 of their first 50 games, but had three elite pitchers – like the Dodgers did against the eventual champion Washington Nationals in 2019.
But in fact it has been proven over the years that the most talented team, even the most winning team in the regular season, does not always go through the October wars to claim a World Series championship. The 43-17 Dodgers last season were only the fourth team in the past 22 years to have the best baseball record during the regular season and then win the World Series (two others won after drawing the best record during the regular season).
Hey – those four Hall of Fame never won an NBA title for the Houston Rockets, either.
No baseball manager has managed more talent than Roberts in the past six seasons, and he recognizes that this represents a unique challenge.
“When you’re asking a talented cast, a group of superstars to get together and finally sacrifice yourself for the ball club’s best interests, that sounds easy. That sounds simple. But day-to-day life is not as easy as it looks, ”said Roberts, adding that he learned the importance of“ listening ”to players.
“When you’re trying to create a culture as a coach, you want your players to play for a common goal. You have a vision of what it should be like. But I think that you also have to leave space and give players freedom to express their thoughts and concerns. And also let them know when they share those thoughts, that’s not selfish on their part. I have to pick up and try to apply and at the very least listen to them, because they all have individual needs. It has to work both ways. I have to give. They have to give. It is a give and take.
“With a talented squad, like anything, communication is essential. But I still think that making each guy feel valued on his own merits is very important. ”
As spring training begins with Thursday’s first workout, the most significant issues facing Dodgers are:
Can they do it again?
After waiting 32 years for another championship and then squandering on the National League 2020 Cy Young Prize winner to make his payroll soar beyond the $ 250 million mark, anything other than a repeat title will be a disappointment. The MLB has not had a repeat champion since the New York Yankees won three consecutive times, 1998-2000 – and the Dodgers did not have a challenger in their division as threatening as the San Diego Padres during their eight-year Western NL Title race.
Is Kenley Jansen’s race in the nearest role over?
Almost finishing? yea. Jansen’s contract ends this year. But both baseball operations president Andrew Friedman and Roberts said the Dodgers’ 2021 bullpen is better if Jansen is closer and he will have every opportunity to show that he can still be effective on paper. However, Jansen’s lack of confidence was obvious during the postseason last October and he will be under a microscope in 2021.
What do you do with seven starting pitchers?
The addition of Bauer to a group that already includes Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin and will finally get Price gives Dodgers an embarrassment of wealth at a time when major league teams are concerned about pitching teams will handle returning to a 162-game schedule this year. It is a good bet that the seven talented Dodgers will start all games for the team at some point this season. But the best use of them all will require flexibility and creativity.
How do you replace Joc Pederson and Kiké Hernandez?
The pair may have been irritated in their part-time roles with the Dodgers – but they have been very productive in those roles for the past six seasons. With Pederson going to the Cubs and Hernandez to Boston, the Dodgers will find it more difficult to pursue the platoon advantages these players have given them. Zach McKinstry, Matt Davidson and Sheldon Neuse will compete to fill their roles – or players like AJ Pollock, Chris Taylor or Gavin Lux may have to become everyday options.
Can they stay healthy in the second season of the pandemic?
It is the question that hangs over all the MLB teams this spring. The Dodgers reached the last game in the World Series before a negative coronavirus test impacted them on the field. Third baseman Justin Turner had to be removed from Game 6 and then sparked controversy as he returned to the field during the post-game celebration. The challenge of following health and safety protocols remains fundamental in 2021.