Upon hearing the news of Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks last night, the inevitable has come, the Era of Franchise Players has finally come to an end. NBA superstars will have to leave the franchise that made them in order to get the much coveted ring, and team up with teams (and another legitimate superstar) with greater chances to go to the playoffs.
In the current roster of playoff bound teams, they always have this "triumvirate", or what the NBA analysts affectionately call them as the "Big Three". In Boston, they have Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. In San Antonio, they have Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan. And in Miami, they have LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. The "big three" are the franchise's main players that will lead the team to their ultimate goal, the NBA Championship. The team from Boston and San Antonio already proved to be of that championship calibre, already. Miami is still in "wait-and-see".
In NBA's yesteryears, each team is building up an individual to be it's franchise player. Every time you hear, Dr. J or Julius Erving, you associate him with the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers, as to Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing were synonymous to the Houston Rockets and the New York Knickerbockers, respectively. And of course, Michael Jordan to the Chicago Bulls. It's so funny how my paternal grandmother would say "Bulls" every time she sees Michael Jordan's face in his Gatorade commercials.
Having a "triumvirate of superstars" is okay in basketball, but the reality is, basketball is a team sport, that involves 5 people on the court, and some 7 other people coming off the bench (plus the coaching staff and trainers). The key to the real success in basketball is having role players who are willing to step up their games in case their superstar is under the radar or injured. Remember, Steve Kerr?
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