Ever since July 4, 2016, the fateful day Kevin Durant decided to join the Golden State Warriors, the National Basketball Association has been trying to rebuild. There was no question as to who would win the championship, and the Warriors delivered on that by going a staggering 15-1 in the playoffs and plowing straight over the only team that had a chance: Lebron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers.

This past offseason proved just how shook the league was by the Warriors domination. Free agents scrambled to join any team that would make it harder for them to sweep their way to the finals again. Paul George and Carmelo Anthony joined reigning MVP Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City to have a shot, Chris Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets to join James Harden, and it still won’t be enough to stop the powerhouse.

It really comes down to the Cavaliers, who acquired Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and former MVP Derrick Rose and reunited Dwyane Wade with Lebron. All of this to beat a team that went 73-9 two years ago.

This is a problem. The NBA needs to to be more competitive. When two teams have a combined four former MVPs, then there’s something wrong. Not only that, but they have a combined seven players who were selected to last year’s All-Star game, while 13 teams didn’t have a single player in the game.

Some would argue that this season will be different with all the moves made this offseason, but it really won’t be. The regular season can be interesting as we watch seeding play out, but just as the Cavs were the two seed to the Celtics last year, they’ll still roll on to the finals like they were the one seed. No amount of star power will be enough to beat Steph Curry and the Warriors from walking out of the West.

The NBA needs to take action for this. The post-season was practically non-existent last year, and fans are thirsting for some more action after the regular 82 games.

Loyalty and money have lost their meaning to players, they only want a shot at the championship. The days of putting a city on your back and building them from the ground to a championship caliber level are over. Players would rather hop onto an already unstoppable train and have an easy ride to the finals, where they’ll face players who did the same exact thing. So even the championship will mean less.

This new generation of players needs to rebuild the culture of competitiveness and intensity instead of following in the footsteps of players such as Kevin Durant and Lebron James. If they don’t, then the NBA may forever be stuck in a loop of the same three or four teams always being super-powered.

As an NBA fan, it’s sad to see all these all-stars joining two teams that we already knew were going to win. The few that remain loyal to the team that drafted them have gained my respect, but they aren’t going to get anywhere.  

We NBA fans turn to the Ben Simmons’ of the league in hope that they’ll make things more interesting and become the new superstars, because we’re tired of the old ones playing together.