With this year’s NBA Finals featuring Golden State for the fifth straight year, people are questioning the competitiveness of the NBA more than ever. It’s a fair question. When healthy, Golden State’s starting lineup has five All-Stars. The Warriors are a team that should not be able to exist, but they do. It is thought that after this year, the league will become open again, due to Kevin Durant and Demarcus Cousins likely leaving the Warriors. However, Golden State started a trend in the NBA that can never be undone.

People forget that the Warriors were a super-team before Kevin Durant started his next chapter in Golden State. They went to two straight NBA Finals and set the regular season wins record. They already had a dynasty. Kevin Durant made the Warriors virtually unbeatable. Even though Cousins hasn’t played much this year, he adds another element that makes Golden State unstoppable. Even if Durant and Cousins leave this summer, the core of Golden State’s dynasty is still there, likely propelling them to another Finals appearance or two.

The Golden State dynasty is bound to end. All dynasties eventually end, mainly due to age. But when one dynasty ends, another one rises. Before Golden State, the Miami Heat used to be the superteam in the NBA. More and more players are trying to play with other superstars to become a superteam. The NBA has always had superteams, dating back to Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics in the 1950s. However, fans are getting tired of seeing the same teams and players win the Finals. With NBA teams trying to mimic the Golden State model, along with players essentially controlling the decision making of teams, the superteam problem will only get worse in the future.