Brains are more flexible than bodies. If Bob Noyce takes over what Gordon Moore was doing before, I think you can still find work that’s more useful for Moore than the NBA equivalent of stashing the 28% 3-point-shooting D. Wade in a corner.

1) All 6’9″-and-under superstars are elite off-the-dribble penetrators. Being exceptionally good at getting to the basket is necessary and sufficient to be a superstar.
2) Some of these guys can shoot (Durant), some can’t (Wade). Some can play D, some can’t; some can pass, some can’t. It is penetration that’s the distinguishing factor.
3) To penetrate you need the ball in your hands.
4) Since there’s only one ball, penetrating players substitute for one another.
5) In contrast, 3-point-shooting complements penetration; and defense and rebounding are neither substitutes nor complements; more D and rebounding is always good.

Concretely, the Spurs have two stars, one penetrator (Parker) and one bigman (Duncan). And their “non-stars” like Leonard and Green are elite 3-point-shooters, defenders and rebounders (for their positions).

There are many more examples.

But I think the explanation for their findings isn’t that too much talent is bad; it’s that certain kinds of talent are substitutes; and since, for non-big men, the ability to penetrate is superstardom, that’s that.

The effect would vanish if you didn’t have idiots running teams like the Knicks and Nets.