When LeBron James made his fateful decision to join the Miami Heat in 2010 and ultimately joined forces with fellow superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to win two championships for the team, the word “superteam” entered the vocabulary of many NBA fans. Since then, the term has typically been used to describe teams with at least three top-tier stars, and while some of these units have had more success than others, the concept hasn’t flown well with everyone, including some of the league’s top players. Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum is one such player who isn’t a fan of “superteams,” and he made this clear once again in a recent appearance on China Central Television (CCTV).
Although McCollum’s comments were made several weeks ago, during a promotional tour of China to hype up his sneaker deal with Li-Ning, CBS Sports wrote that the remarks only gained attention in the U.S. earlier in the week. In this CCTV interview, McCollum responded to a question about the Golden State Warriors and other superteams, calling the trend “disgusting” and promising that he wouldn’t join such a team. The 26-year-old shooting guard was also quoted as saying that “most” other NBA players feel the same way as he does.
“I think some players will take that route, but most guys have too much pride. [They] want to really win on their own or in their certain organizations and aren’t just going to jump the bandwagon.”
CJ McCollum says superteams like the Warriors are ‘disgusting’ and he would never join one https://t.co/a7CvNqpgWQ pic.twitter.com/siqX0RXoxd
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) August 15, 2018
The Golden State Warriors were first considered a superteam by most league observers when Kevin Durant signed with the team as a free agent in the summer of 2016, allowing him to team up with fellow All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green in the starting lineup. Due to their dominant status and the fact that they won three NBA championships in the last four years, the Warriors were heavily criticized when they added a fifth All-Star in DeMarcus Cousins as a free agent earlier this summer.
As further noted by CBS Sports , C.J. McCollum also had a “mini-feud” with Durant when the Warriors forward appeared on his podcast in July, with the two players arguing about the Cousins signing. According to SBNation , McCollum later on called Durant’s decision to join the Warriors “soft” and compared that move to “getting jumped with your brothers by a gang you should have beat, then joining the gang that jumped you.” Durant then responded on Twitter by calling McCollum a “snake” for thinking so lowly of him, though little more than an hour and a half later, McCollum downplayed the idea of a feud between both men, adding that he’s “done speaking on KD and the Warriors.”
