Unrivaled: Do You Care If Your Team ‘Buys’ A Championship?

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Building a super-team such as when the Miami Heat added LeBron James to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, was seen as a team going out and purchasing a championship.

James and “The Decision” didn’t help with all of the hype because it was seen as him calculating the best place to win a title, and that turned off some fans despite him being a free agent and free to go wherever he wants.

This happens a bit more in Major League Baseball when the New York Yankees would go out and sign players to massive deals with the aid of no salary cap plus they had an owner in the late George Steinbrenner wanted to win at any cost.

Reggie Miller had no interest in ever teaming up with MJ. 😤 pic.twitter.com/ADGzDTj0Ei

— theScore (@theScore) April 13, 2021

The latest team that is looking like it is trying to “buy” a title looks to be the Brooklyn Nets and the one and only Julius Erving who feels that is exactly what the Nets are doing.

“It’s reminiscent of how the Yankees used to do all the time,” Erving said on the Inside the Green Room Podcast. “They load up and they call it buying a championship. The Lakers are known for doing it too. They’re just buying a championship, man. They’re getting all these pieces.” You got a team with six former All-Stars…who have been there and succeeded in the playoffs, then that’s quite a challenge.”

It does take some chemistry even with superteams to figure things out like sharing the ball when each are used to be the primary player on their team.

What If It Was Your Team?

When your team is in the discussion to bring in high-priced talent from free agency to try to win a title, the tune likely changes quite a bit. Fans want to just win and don’t really care how that talent is acquired.

KSL Sports’ Alex Kirry has an interesting thought about if the Jazz were to build a title team only through free agency.

.@AlexKirryKSL has thoughts on if the Utah Jazz were to ever "buy" an #NBA title. pic.twitter.com/h6xZCjEtDX

— KSL Unrivaled (@KSLunrivaled) April 13, 2021

 

“My thoughts on it are, let them win the championship, let the Jazz win the championship after they’ve, quote-unquote bought it, and then I’ll decide,” Kirry said. “Just let me go first and then I’ll figure it out if I like it or not.

“Because the reality is any fan who says, ‘I don’t like the way that you won that. I don’t like the way that we’re celebrating with this parade going down Main Street. I don’t like the way that this team is putting a banner up that says world champions on it. It didn’t feel right,’ will make fun of the other big teams for doing it.”

If the Jazz had the resources like bigger market teams to lure in players with off-the-court opportunities or go over the luxury tax consistently, the Utah ownership would do just that to try to bring a title to the fans of the Utah Jazz.

If the Jazz could bring in a bunch of All-Stars to win a title and not care about the luxury tax, you’d be lying if you weren’t celebrating an NBA title.

Tune into KSL Unrivaled every Monday through Friday, 7-9 p.m., or subscribe to the podcast. Also, download the all-new KSL Sports app on iOS or Android.