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Will LeBron James will be part of another Super Team in his 24th season in the NBA.
The Warriors reportedly are pursuing James and center Anthony Davis to pair with Steph Curry and Draymond Green.
A team with four Hall of Fame-caliber players? That's a good definition for a Super Team, and they have been built from the 1960s in Boston to the present day. Results vary.
Will landing James lead to a NBA championship in Year 1? In Year 3? Sporting News looked at 15 NBA Super Teams – teams with at least four players who are either in the Hall of Fame or likely will be in after they retire – to find out how soon a NBA championship is possible after they made a huge acquisition in the offseason.
MORE: Ranking every team's chances of landing LeBron James
Won NBA Finals in Year 1
Boston Celtics (1962-63)
Hall of Fame talent: Sam Jones (19.7 ppg.), Tom Heinsohn (18.9 ppg.), Bill Russell (16.8 ppg.), John Havlicek (14.3 ppg.), Bob Cousy (13.2 ppg.), Frank Ramsey (10.9 ppg.), Tom Sanders (10.8 ppg.), KC Jones (7.2 ppg.), Clyde Lovellette (6.5 ppg.)
Key additions: Havlicek, Lovellette
This is the original Super Team with a record nine Hall of Famers. Boston drafted Havlicek in the first round and traded for Lovellette, a 33-year-old center. That gave the Celtics absurd scoring depth on a team that finished 58-22 in the regular season and beat the Lakers in six games in the 1963 NBA Finals in Cousy's final season with the team.
Boston won the fifth of an NBA record eight consecutive NBA championships.
Philadelphia 76ers (1982-83)
Hall of Fame talent: Moses Malone (24.6 ppg.), Julius Erving (21.4 ppg.), Maurice Cheeks (12.5 ppg.), Bobby Jones (9.0)
Key additions: Malone
Erving led the 76ers to three NBA Finals after being acquired in 1976-77, but it was the trade with Houston for Malone that put Philadelphia over the top. Malone led the NBA with 13.1 rebounds per game and won the NBA MVP Award. The 76ers finished 65-17 and swept the Lakers in the 1983 NBA Finals. Andrew Toney (19.7 ppg.) was yet another elite scorer on the team.
Philadelphia would add Charles Barkley for the 1984-85 season, but Malone left after the 1985-86 season and Erving would retire a year later.
Boston Celtics (1983-84)
Hall of Fame talent: Larry Bird (24.2 ppg.), Robert Parish (19.0 ppg.), Kevin McHale (18.4 ppg.), Dennis Johnson (13.2 ppg.)
Key additions: Johnson
Boston had previously won a title with Bird, McHale Parish and Nate Archibald in 1980-81, but the addition of Johnson from Seattle created the more memorable core. All four players averaged double figures. Boston finished 60-20 that season and won the 1984 NBA Finals in seven games against the Los Angeles Lakers.
This group would play in the NBA Finals four consecutive years from 1983-84 to 1986-87.
Boston would add yet another future Hall of Famer in Bill Walton for the 1985-86 season to create yet another Super Team. The Celtics finished 67-15 that season – and lost just one home game – before knocking off the Houston Rockets in six games.
MORE: Why LeBron does not fit with Warriors
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Golden State Warriors (2016-17)
Hall of Fame talent: Stephen Curry (25.3 ppg.), Kevin Durant (25.1 ppg.), Klay Thompson (22.3 ppg.), Draymond Green (10.2 ppg.)
Key addition: Durant
This was the last time Golden State completed a Super team in the aftermath of blowing a 3-1 lead against Cleveland in the 2016 NBA Finals. The Warriors added Durant – and the team became a cheat code with a 67-15 record.
Golden State won back-to-back NBA Finals against Cleveland in 2017 and 2018 – and Durant was named the NBA Finals MVP both seasons. Durant tore his Achilles tendon during the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto – which marked the end of that run. Curry and Green won a fourth NBA championship together in the 2022 NBA Finals.
Miami Heat (2012-13)
Hall of Fame talent: LeBron James (26.8 ppg.), Dwyane Wade (21.2 ppg.), Chris Bosh (16.6 ppg.), Ray Allen (10.9 ppg.)
Key addition: Allen
The Heat added Allen to a group that has split the last two NBA Finals after acquiring LeBron James in 2010-11. Allen left the Celtics to join the Heat's “Big Three,” and the move paid off. He emerged as a fourth scoring option, and he hit a clutch game-tying 3-pointer in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals.
The Heat would beat the Spurs in seven games, and Allen stayed on for one more season. San Antonio won the 2014 NBA Finals. James left for Cleveland, and Allen retired.
Chicago Bulls (1995-96)
Hall of Fame talent: Michael Jordan (30.4 ppg.) Scottie Pippen (19.4 ppg.), Toni Kukoc (13.4 ppg.), Dennis Rodman (5.5 ppg.)
Key addition: Rodman
Jordan came out of retirement late in the 1994-95 season, and Kukoc had emerged as a key player with Pippen. Adding Rodman, however, took the Bulls to the next level in 1995-96. Rodman led the NBA with 14.9 rebounds per game. Chicago allowed 92.9 points per game.
The Bulls finished 72-10 and started their second three-peat by beating the Sonics in six games in the 1996 NBA Finals.
MORE: LeBron James free agent news tracker
Won NBA title within three years
New York Knicks (1968-69)
Hall of Fame talent: Willis Reed (21.1 ppg.), Dick Barnett (17.6 ppg.), Walt Frazier (17.5 ppg.), Dave DeBuschere (16.4), Walt Bellamy (15.2 ppg.), Bill Bradley (12.4 ppg.)
Key addition: DeBuschere
The Knicks added DeBuschere during an in-season trade with Detroit to a stacked team that included Cazzie Russell – who averaged 18.3 points per game – and Phil Jackson – who averaged 7.1 points per game off the bench. New York lost to the Boston Celtics in six games in the second round.
The following season, New York won the NBA championship without Bellamy. New York then added Hall of Famers Earl Monroe and Jerry Lucas to a team that won the 1973 NBA Finals.
Los Angeles Lakers (1970-71)
Hall of Fame talent: Jerry West (25.8 ppg.), Gail Goodrich (25.9 ppg.), Wilt Chamberlain (14.8 ppg.), Elgin Baylor (11.8 ppg.)
Key addition: Goodrich
The Lakers added Goodrich – who returned after a two-year stint in Phoenix – to join a cast that included a veteran core of West, 32; Chamberlain, 34; and Baylor, 36. Los Angeles also had guard Pat Riley as a role player. It was an aging group of Hall of Famers – but Chamberlain still led the NBA with 18.2 rebounds per game. Los Angeles, however, finished 48-34 and lost the Western Conference finals in five games to the Milwaukee Bucks – led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson.
The following season, Los Angeles finished 69-13 and beat the Knicks in five games in the 1972 NBA Finals. Baylor retired after the season, followed by Chamberlain in 1973 and West in 1974.
Los Angeles Lakers (1982-83)
Hall of Fame talent: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (21.8 ppg.), Jamaal Wilkes (19.6 ppg), Magic Johnson (16.8 ppg.), Bob McAdoo (15.0 ppg.), James Worthy (13.4 ppg.)
Key addition: Worthy
The Lakers won the NBA Finals in 1981-82 then added Worthy – a standout forward from North Carolina – with the No. 1 pick in the 1982 NBA Draft as a result of a trade in 1979. That created a Super Team under Riley, and the Lakers finished 58-24 before being swept by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1983 NBA Finals.
This group led Los Angeles to a victory against Boston in six games in the 1985 NBA Finals before McAdoo left for Philadelphia and Wilkes played one season with the Clippers. Johnson, Worthy and Abdul-Jabbar would win two more NBA Finals together in 1986-87 and 1987-88 with the "Showtime” Lakers.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Boston Celtics (2007-08)
Hall of Fame talent: Paul Pierce (19.6 ppg.), Kevin Garnett (18.8 ppg.), Ray Allen (17.4 ppg.), Rajon Rondo (10.6 ppg.)
Key additions: Garnett, Allen
After a 24-58 season, Boston executive Danny Ainge traded for Garnett and Allen, which meshed immediately with Pierce and Rondo to form a core for coach Doc Rivers. The Celtics finished 66-16 in the regular season and stormed through the Eastern Conference playoffs – including a dramatic seven-game second-round series with LeBron James-led Cleveland.
Boston beat the Lakers in six games in the 2008 NBA Finals, and Pierce was named the NBA Finals MVP. That same group lost the 2010 NBA Finals to Los Angeles.
San Antonio Spurs (2011-12)
Hall of Fame talent: Tony Parker (18.3 ppg.), Tim Duncan (15.4 ppg.), Manu Ginoboli (12.9 ppg.), Kawhi Leonard (7.9 ppg.)
Key addition: Leonard
The Spurs acquired Leonard in a draft-day trade with the Indiana Pacers, and he evolved into the next star player with the Spurs. San Antonio finished 50-16 that first season and lost in the Western Conference finals to the Dallas Mavericks in six games. That preceded back-to-back NBA Finals matchups against the Miami Heat in 2013 and 2014. The Spurs won the 2014 NBA Finals in five games, and Leonard was the NBA Finals MVP award.
Failed to win NBA championship
Los Angeles Lakers (2003-04)
Hall of Fame talent: Kobe Bryant (24 ppg.), Shaquille O'Neal (21.5 ppg.), Gary Payton (14.6 ppg.), Karl Malone (13.2 ppg.)
Key additions: Malone, Payton
Bryant and O'Neal had already won three NBA championships together with the Lakers, but after being bounced from the Western Conference finals in 2003 the Lakers added a pair of veterans in Payton and Malone – who were respectively trying to win their first NBA championship.
This was perceived as "ring chasing” at the time – and the Lakers did finish 56-26 and reached the 2004 NBA Finals before losing in five games to the Pistons. Malone retired, Payton signed with Boston, but the stunner was when O'Neal left for the Heat that offseason, where he helped Miami win the 2006 NBA Finals. Bryant won two more championships with the Lakers.
Los Angeles Lakers (2012-13)
Hall of Fame talent: Kobe Bryant (27.3 ppg.), Dwight Howard (17.1 ppg.), Pau Gasol (13.7 ppg.), Steve Nash (12.7 ppg.)
Key additions: Howard, Nash
Los Angeles acquired Howard, who was coming off back surgery and added Nash to the Bryant-Gasol tandem that had won NBA Finals championships in 2009-10. The Lakers fired Mike Brown and hired Mike D'Antoni after 10 games, but the pieces didn't quite fit the same for the Suns coach in Los Angeles. The Lakers finished 45-37 and were swept by the Spurs in the first round. Howard left for Houston, and Nash left after the following season, which the Lakers finished 27-55.
Los Angeles Lakers (2021-22)
Hall of Fame talent: LeBron James (30.3 ppg.), Anthony Davis (23.2 ppg.), Russell Westbrook (18.5 ppg.), Carmelo Anthony (13.3 ppg.)
Key additions: Anthony, Westbrook
The Lakers were coming off a 42-30 season, and Westbrook gave Los Angeles a third scoring option. Anthony also joined the Lakers from Portland – and he played in 69 games. James and Davis, however, combined to miss 68 games – and the Lakers finished 33-49.
This experiment did not work. Westbrook left for the Clippers, Anthony retired and Davis was traded to Dallas during the 2024-25 season. James is preparing for his 24th season – but it will not be with the Lakers.
Los Angeles Clippers (2023-24)
Hall of Fame talent: Kawhi Leonard (23.7 ppg.), Paul George (22.6 ppg.), James Harden (16.6 ppg.), Russell Westbrook (11.1 ppg.)
Key addition: Harden
The Clippers traded for Harden and added to this group – though Westbrook was more of an off-the-bench player at this point in his career. Los Angeles finished 51-31 in the regular season, but they lost to Dallas in six games in the first round of the NBA playoffs. George left for Philadelphia at the end of the season. Westbrook left for Denver, and the Clippers traded Harden to the Cavaliers last season. Leonard averaged 46 games the last two seasons and was traded back to Toronto on June 30.
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