Losing in Order to Win in the NBA

The National Basketball Association is a star driven league, more so than any other sports league in the world. Basketball is played with five players on the court at a time, with rotations of eight or nine players being commonplace for most teams. Compared to a sport such as football where there are eleven starters on defense and eleven starters on offense, it makes sense that a single player in basketball will have more impact on the game than a single player in football. Players such as James Harden and LeBron James create top teams in the league that would otherwise be mediocre because of the presence that they bring to the basketball court.
Every owner and general manager of every team in the National Basketball Association desires a superstar that can vault a franchise to the next level. This is easier said than done. There are only a limited number of franchises that can attract stars through free agency, and teams do not often give up their best players through trades. Even when a star does become available through trade, the price to acquire that star is often so steep that the team trading for him fails to improve in the process. While one player can have a huge impact in basketball, it is still necessary to surround that player with players that have a proper skillset. For James Harden and LeBron James to have the most impact on the court, it is best to surround them with good three-point shooters that can give them space to drive to the rim and provide them with the option to pass the ball out to the perimeter.