Kevin Durant chose the Golden State Warriors over the summer, the superteam was formed, and a lot of people said it was over before it started.One thing becoming super, however, does not mean everything else turns rotten.This NBA regular season proved that.It wasn't solely about the rich getting richer.What needs to be understood was how those other guys built off the team-first momentum that the Warriors' style of play established in past seasons.Houston's James Harden and Cleveland's LeBron James especially increased their emphasis on setting up teammates for open threes this seasonthe well-known Warriors wayand the superstar images of The Beard and LeBron were enhanced rather than dampened by taking the edge off their individual scoring.Stars in today's game are now judged more by a willingness to sacrifice their scoring to win.This is a copycat league where coaches are always stealing from other coaches, a place that famously featured those Michael Jordan-Larry Bird anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better McDonald's commercials.And the Warriors' community approach to basketball reached a new height of renaissance this season.It wasn't Golden State that just set the new NBA three-pointers record for a season; it was Houston and Cleveland.The Rockets and Cavaliers both made at least 1,000 threes this season, the first time two NBA teams have ever accomplished this feat in a single NBA year.The fact that three-point kingpin Stephen Curry of the Warriors knew off the top of his head the obscure statistic of just how many more three-pointers the Rockets attempted compared to the Warriors is a reflection of how the rest of the NBAand especially Rockets coach Mike D'Antonihas kept trying to challenge the Warriors."They shoot a lot of themmore than we do by like nine a game or something like that," Curry said. "If a team has the talent and have shooting threats around the court, it [the team record for three-pointers] definitely could be something that is pushed further and further."Three-point shooting is just a part of this wave.The whole NBA feels like a shared experience these days, everyone seeing the game in largely the same way and moving the ball to the first open teammate. So many capable of putting on a show. Nightly improvisation that feels fresh rather than staged.Sports is already a lot of teammates sitting on the bench and seeing the game together, sitting in the locker room and listening in together, sitting on the bus or plane and looking forward together.It's a feeling of community.Russell Westbrook's individual dominance was embraced because he wasn't giving the impression he was just going for his own.He was getting triple-doubles that through assists and rebounds sold the world that he was trying to impact the team as opposed to solely inflate the considerable ego that Durant left behind in Oklahoma City.Westbrook's season has been similar to Kobe Bryant's in 2005-06, carrying an otherwise uninspiring roster into the playoffs with individual excellence. But solo scoring can only take you so far, especially in the minds of people who love the idea of basketball as a team sport. When Kobe completed his 2006 season, averaging 35.4 points per game on 45 percent shooting, he finished fourth in the MVP balloting. Westbrook, the first player to average a triple-double in more than five decades, is likely to finish no worse than second in the vote.Indeed, no one but Wilt Chamberlain (five times) and an impetuously daring young Jordan in 1986-87 has ever averaged 36 points or more.Such solo dominance is awesome, but sharing with others is better understood in today's world, where man.As much as the superstar icons still matter so much that the commissioner frets over their sitting out marquee games, a richer beauty can be found in the depth of talent.It wasn't just Harden and Westbrook stepping up every night. Thirteen different playersan NBA recordaveraged at least 25 points this season. Ten different playersanother NBA recordscored 50 or more points in a game this season.One night could be Devin Booker's night. Another could be Damian Lillard's or Jimmy Butler's or Karl-Anthony Towns'.No longer do we have to wait for the All-Star Three-Point Contest to see guys put on crazy shooting spectacles91 different players made at least 100 three-pointers this season, another NBA record.That Bryant has become a symbol of the NBA's past is relevant in that it also became clear this season that the NBA world didn't stop orbiting just because Bryant or Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett retired.Same as there was plenty of NBA global business besides the rich-getting-richer Warriors, we didn't sit around pining for Kobe, Timmy and KG.You can't spend your life sitting around counting other people's money or obsessing over whether Steph might get jealous of KD's big contract. And just because a loved one moves on, life doesn't end, either.We nitpick on things we don't like: tanking or resting or a less-than-thrilling Rookie of the Year race. But let's also celebrate that there has been plenty of positivity and inspiration, including a rising NBA social consciousness, political commentary, union-management accord and all this really fun communal offense throughout the league.Let this NBA season serve as a reminder that synonyms are a lot more powerful than antonyms when people are building on momentum already established.Rather than hanging their heads at the prospect of the Warriors superteam running to a title with ease, a whole lot of people around the NBA set out to be excellent, outstanding and terrific, too.We've all had a super season together.Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.
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