ESPY Awards 2012: Alabama and Kentucky Only Squads Worthy of Best Team Honors

The 2012 ESPY Awards will highlight a year of Dream Teams.

Alabama football had four players go in the first round of the NFL Draft and eight players heard their names called total. Kentucky men’s basketball had a quartet selected in the first round of the NBA Draft along with a pair in the second. Those two—not Baylor women’s basketball, the Los Angeles Kings, Miami Heat, New York Giants or St. Louis Cardinals—should be the only squads in the race for the Beat Team award.

Baylor and Miami didn’t win championships because of an overwhelming team effort. They won because superstars put their teammates on their back. Brittney Griner and LeBron James should be in the race for plenty of individual awards, but it’s a complete joke to consider either club a legendary unit.

The same goes with the Kings, Giants and Cardinals, but for a different reason.

Those teams weren’t even the most talented in their respective leagues. All three of them nearly failed to make the playoffs. The franchises simply got hot at the right time and they rode their momentum all the way to a world title.

Alabama and Kentucky were dominant the entire season.

The Crimson Tide lost one game all year long, a three-pointer to LSU, because their kickers couldn’t do their job. They went on to embarrass the Tigers 21-0 in the national championship.

The Wildcats went 38-2 in the regular season and were heavy favorites going into the NCAA Tournament. They lived up to ever bit of the hype, bulldozing every opponent that stood in their path until they cut down the nets.

And neither was carried to a title by an individual player. Sure, Anthony Davis and Trent Richardson were superstars, but they were surrounded by an unrivaled number of future pros.

Davis only scored six points against Kansas in the title. Richardson didn’t shutout LSU. They didn’t need to, though, because each was part of a legendary team.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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