Iman Shumpert says LeBron ruined today’s game by forming superteams

The proliferation of superteams in the NBA arguably became normalized once LeBron James teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat back in the summer of 2010.

Since James formed a superteam with the Heat, plenty of teams have followed Miami’s blueprint from that era. The Golden State Warriors employed Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson for several seasons, and that group won two titles together.

Fast forward to the current day, and the Phoenix Suns boast a star-studded threesome of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Durant. Despite the fact that the team is on a four-game losing streak, it has been one of the better squads in the Western Conference so far this season with a record of 9-6.

Iman Shumpert, who was teammates with James on the Cleveland Cavaliers when the team won the 2016 NBA title, suggested that the 39-year-old has played a part in influencing the superteam culture that exists in the league right now.

“The person that ruined all of this was Bron,” said Shumpert. “And I felt like even though Steph was good, I felt like Bron was the guy that did it. ‘Cause I felt like when Bron made it okay for people to team up, it stopped makin’ the star player have to come back with somethin’ added to they game.”

James played on a superteam even after his time with the Heat came to a close. For much of his second stint as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was teammates with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Love was on the heels of a dominant stint playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Irving had already cemented himself as one of the more gifted scorers at the guard position.

But it’s debatable as to whether James is a member of a super team right now. The Los Angeles Lakers do employ star Anthony Davis, and he’s looked like perhaps the best big man in the NBA so far in the 2024-25 regular season.

However, Los Angeles doesn’t exactly have a bona fide third star complementing James and Davis, even though Austin Reaves seems to be on pace for a career year.

The early returns for the Lakers have still been promising, as at 9-4, the storied organization owns the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference standings. In addition, the Lakers are winners of their past five contests.