There is no denying that over the last two decades, NBA players have ushered in the era of the superteam. Most fans and media members can look back to the 2008 Boston Celtics and their acquisitions of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett as the first example of this. A few seasons later, LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to join Dwyane Wade in Miami with the Heat. Just a few seasons after Miami disbanded, the Warriors went 73-9, then added one of the best players in the world after losing in the NBA Finals. All three of those teams are examples of successful and championship-winning superteams. However, being a successful superteam is not always so cut and dry.
- 10. The 1994-95 Orlando Magic
- 9. The 2015-16 Los Angeles Clippers
- 8. The 2007-08 Phoenix Suns
- 7. The 2017-18 Oklahoma City Thunder
- 6. The 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers
- 5. The 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets
- 4. The 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers
- 3. The 1997-98 Houston Rockets
- 2. The 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers
- 1. The 2021-22 Brooklyn Nets
During these two decades, there have been many attempts at building a superteam in order to deliver an NBA championship. Many of these attempts fell well short of their goals, prompting disrespect for certain players’ legacies and setting back franchises for years to come. Many of these superteams fell victim to injuries and age, limiting time on the court together. Others failed due to a lack of team chemistry and a bad fit alongside each other. Whatever the reasons for their failed venture, they all set out with the same goal in mind, which none of the teams below ended up delivering on.
These are the 10 superteams in NBA history that failed and disappointed.
10. The 1994-95 Orlando Magic
Some may look at the 1994-95 Orlando Magic and think, “There’s no way they were a superteam.” If you take a bit of a closer look, the Magic were as close to a superteam that the 90s got aside from the Bulls. Shaquille O’Neal was already among the best centers in basketball and, in 1994-95, averaged 29.4 PPG, 13.2 RPG, and 2.4 BPG. Penny Hardaway was a bright young star as well at point guard averaging 20.9 PPG and 7.2 APG in just his second season. The team had also added Horace Grant from the Chicago Bulls and was already armed with veterans Dennis Scott, Nick Anderson, and others.
As the NBA headed into their second season with no Michael Jordan to be found, the Magic took their opportunity to become one of the very best teams in basketball. Michael Jordan would unretire late in the season and eventually led the Bulls to a second-round matchup with the Magic. Shaq and Orlando would eliminate Jordan and the Bulls as they advanced to the NBA Finals. Up against Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets, the Magic were overmatched from start to finish and were swept in four games. The following season, they would be swept in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Bulls, and Shaq would move on to the Lakers.
9. The 2015-16 Los Angeles Clippers
Any basketball fan during the 2010s will clearly be able to iterate the excitement and buzz that surrounded the Lob City Clippers. From 2013 thru 2017, the Clippers rolled off five straight 50-win seasons and gave more hope to Clipper Nation than they had ever felt in franchise history. The trio that led the Clippers into battle was led by one of the best point guards in basketball, Chris Paul, as well as the athletic and walking highlight reel Blake Griffin. The trio was rounded out by All-NBA big man DeAndre Jordan as they sought to be the first Clippers team to ever reach the NBA Finals.
As it turns out, this Big 3 would fizzle out by 2017 after never even reaching a Conference Finals together. The worst collapse of their string of bad luck came in the 2015-16 playoffs. The Clippers had just won 53 games and were given the fifth-best odds in the NBA to win the championship. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul would each play just four of the Clippers’ six first-round games against the Trail Blazers as they feel and once again disappointed a hopeful fanbase. The Lob City Clippers must be considered one of the worst failed superteams in NBA history.
8. The 2007-08 Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns of the 2000s were always just a step or two short of their goal and winning an NBA championship. They were armed with two-time league MVP Steve Nash as well as Amar’e Stoudemire and Shawn Marion. They were led by Head Coach Mike D’Antoni, who instilled a game plan that ended up producing the most potent offense in the entire NBA. After years of coming up short, the Suns took a gamble in 2007-08 by acquiring Shaquille O’Neal, who was on the last legs of his prime, in exchange for Marion.
For the rest of the season with the Suns, O’Neal averaged 12.9 PPG and 10.6 RPG to help them win 55 games and qualify for the NBA playoffs. The Suns would be completely embarrassed in the first round of the playoffs that season by the San Antonio Spurs, who dismissed them in five games. The following season, O’Neal would be an All-Star, but the Suns would fail to make the playoffs, and the D’Antoni era in Phoenix was all but over.
7. The 2017-18 Oklahoma City Thunder
When Kevin Durant left the Thunder abruptly following the 2015-16 season, it set the NBA world ablaze and the Thunder into panic mode as to what they were going to do next. Russell Westbrook stepped up and became an MVP for the 2016-17 season, becoming the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double for an entire season. This gave Oklahoma City some hope for the future as they looked to rebuild their franchise. After the season concluded, they would add All-Star Paul George and former All-Star Carmelo Anthony to the mix, sparking optimism in the team and its fans,
The 2017-18 season would go great as both Westbrook and George would be All-Stars, while Carmelo still provided 16.0 PPG as a pure scorer. The team would win 48 games in their first season together and qualify for the NBA playoffs. The Thunder would get eliminated in the first round by the Utah Jazz in six games as the trio failed to perform at the same level as they had during the regular season. They would get eliminated in the first round once again in 2019, prompting a full rebuild in Oklahoma City and the departures of Anthony, George, and Westbrook before the 2019-20 season even kicked off.
6. The 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers
Following an embarrassing exit during the 2011 and 2012 playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers scrambled to put together a roster worthy of competing for a championship during Kobe’s final prime years. They made the biggest splashes of the offseason by acquiring Bryant’s former Finals foe, Dwight Howard, as well as annual playoff adversary and former MVP Steve Nash. The trio was supposed to run through the NBA and win the Lakers yet another championship during the decade. Things did not turn out in their favor, and they disappointed everyone.
First, there was the reported beef between stars Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant. Kobe was a notorious workhorse, so it is only fair to assume he pushed Dwight to match his intensity. Howard’s drop in production wasn’t helpful to their playoff odds, and neither were the 32 games Steve Nash missed due to injury. The Lakers would qualify for the playoffs but would be blown out in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs. Howard would be traded in the offseason, and Nash would give it one more year but be clearly finished and done with his career. The experiment lasted just one season but is still one of the biggest superteam failures ever.
5. The 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets
The duo of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett helped make the Boston Celtics one of the most formidable opponents in the Eastern Conference during the 2000s and 2010s. The duo led the Celtics to multiple Conference Finals and NBA Finals appearances during their time together. That is why, when their run in Boston promptly came to an end in 2013, it took Boston fans by surprise and had Nets fans filled with optimism. Neither feeling would last very long.
For Brooklyn, acquiring Jason Terry, Garnett, and Pierce was supposed to make them a superteam along with Joe Johnson and Deron Williams. However, they would win just 44 games in 2013-14 and lose in the second round of the playoffs to the Heat. As for the Celtics, they ended up lucking out with the draft capital they acquired in exchange for their aging stars. They were able to get both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum with the draft picks and build a championship core for years to come. It took the Nets years not to feel the effect of this disastrous attempt at a superteam.
4. The 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers
Anybody who tells you the 2022 Lakers were not at least attempting to build a superteam is out of their mind. After winning an NBA championship in 2020, the Lakers were unceremoniously eliminated in the first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs. In order to make a splash that intrigued both fans and the roster they had already put together, they were able to keep their core duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James before trading away multiple pieces for former MVP Russell Westbrook.
It seemed the Westbrook era in Los Angeles was doomed from the start. As the team struggled to fit together on the court, they began to fall apart from it as well. Westbrook caught most of the criticism for the Lakers’ bad play as LeBron James, and Anthony Davis struggled to stay healthy and on the court. The Lakers would go on to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2019 and head into the summer searching for answers. It took an abysmal start to the 2022-23 season for the Lakers to move on from Westbrook by the time the trade deadline came around. They look like they’re headed back to the playoffs, but they also look like they could compete for a championship if all ends up right.
3. The 1997-98 Houston Rockets
In all seriousness, the 1998-99 Houston Rockets should have been able to at least compete in the Conference Finals or for an NBA championship. The Rockets still had the duo of Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley, as well as Clyde Drexler. After a 1997 season that saw them win 57 games and advance to the Western Conference Finals, hopes were high that there was still some magic left for Houston to win another championship.
This was not to be the case as the age and physical limitations of their core trio began to rear their ugly heads. Hakeem Olajuwon would miss 35 games due to various issues, and Charles Barkley would miss a bit of time as well. The team would struggle to even reach .500 as a unit. Finishing 41-41 as a team, they would qualify for the playoffs, but their run would be short-lived and disappointing. The Rockets would lose to the Western Conference champion Utah Jazz in the first round and be eliminated from further contention.
2. The 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers
The 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers were looking for answers after falling short of four straight NBA championships in 2003. The duo of Kobe and Shaq were making magic on the court but reportedly at odds constantly in the locker room. However, Lakers brass thought all of that could be mended if they won another championship. By adding veterans Karl Malone and Gary Payton, that is exactly what the team would set out to do.
As far as the regular season goes, things looked great for the Lakers. They would win 56 games, with Kobe leading the way alongside Shaq, with Payton and Malone filling their roles perfectly. Malone would end up injured for 40 games in the season but return for playoff action, which helped the Lakers reach the NBA Finals. The Lakers’ run would end there as they were dominated in five games by the Detroit Pistons, and the Shaq era would come to an end in Los Angeles as a result.
1. The 2021-22 Brooklyn Nets
Nowadays, you would think the duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving would be enough for any team to compete for an NBA championship. Well, after missing out on the NBA Bubble in 2020, we all found out that wasn’t true, as the Nets were back to the drawing board for the 2020-21 season. The franchise quickly decided to go all in for 2020-21 and acquired James Harden from the Houston Rockets to create the most exciting Big 3 in basketball. Just two years later, none of those players remain with the Nets in 2023.
The Nets would enjoy a semi-successful season battling injuries and personal issues that saw the lineup of Harden, Kyrie, and Durant barely see the court together. The trio would help the Nets advance to the NBA playoffs but would not have the success they had hoped for, losing to the Bucks in the second round. They would be swept in four games in the first round of the 2022 playoffs, and the run was all but essentially over. Harden was traded midway through 2022, while Durant and Kyrie were both dealt earlier this season. It is the greatest superteam failure and disappointment in NBA history.
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