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Here is an excerpt from an article published online on Yahoo! Sports...   >>>

Here is an excerpt from an article published online on Yahoo! Sports



"Stars align in NBA’s new galaxy"

By Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports



"...This is today’s NBA: The stars not only understand the appeal of playing on a larger stage – a lure that has existed for years – they also now see a benefit in teaming together with players who had been their personal rivals. From the creation of the Big Three in Boston to Pau Gasol’s(notes) trade to the Los Angeles Lakers to LeBron James(notes) and Chris Bosh(notes) joining Dwyane Wade(notes) in Miami to a trade deadline that sent Anthony to New York and Deron Williams(notes) to the New Jersey Nets, the NBA’s superstars are forming their own super teams – a transition that has many questioning whether the league’s small- and mid-market franchises can continue to compete.



“I always thought it was special to be in one place and you could put together a team, especially in a small market like San Antonio’s,” said Hall of Fame center David Robinson, who won two championships and spent his entire 14-season career with the San Antonio Spurs. “But it’s real tough because the small-market teams don’t have the money to do what a New York can do and the Lakers can do. It’s going to be hard for a lot of small-market teams.”



The transition began in the summer of 2007 when the Boston Celtics engineered a pair of trades to acquire Ray Allen(notes) and Kevin Garnett(notes). Unlike four years earlier when the Lakers brought in an aging Karl Malone and Gary Payton to join Kobe Bryant(notes) and Shaquille O’Neal(notes), Allen and Garnett were still close enough to the prime of their careers to help Paul Pierce(notes) turn Boston into a championship team. Spurred by Bryant’s trade-me-or-get-me-some-help demand that same season, the Lakers plucked Gasol away from the Memphis Grizzlies in a steal of a deal that has since delivered L.A. two championships and three straight trips to the NBA Finals – in two of which they met the Celtics.



“The Celtics laid the blueprint for everything, and it showed that you can be successful with three superstar guys,” Bosh said. “I know a lot of people were kind of skeptical when they first came together on how it would work out. Was the ball big enough for them? They proved they can they can play together and put the ego aside as a team.”



After the Heat went from NBA champions in 2006 to first-round fodder in three straight seasons, franchise president Pat Riley brought in the biggest free-agent haul in NBA history by luring James and Bosh to play with Wade. After a slow start to this season, the Heat trail only the Celtics in the East and look like legitimate title contenders. Meanwhile, the former teams of James and Bosh – the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors – own the league’s worst and fifth-worst records..."



Read more of this article at Yahoo! Sports