While
most folks are not as big of sports fanatics as I am, there are quite a few
individuals worldwide that were following the past few months’ worth of
playoffs action for the National Basketball Association. In fact, Nielsen
ratings say that 22.4 million viewers watched Game 5 of the NBA Finals, where
the San Antonio Spurs hosted the Miami Heat in a rematch of last year’s Finals.
As a huge fan of the San Antonio Spurs, I was especially pleased with how
things panned out for the NBA championship as the Spurs won their 5th
title in 15 years, but the implications of this year’s Finals don’t end there.
This
year’s championship run for the San Antonio Spurs basketball team is an
excellent example of the parallels between sports and business. First and foremost, like any company, a
successful sports team needs strong leadership.
While I might be a tad bit biased, I believe Gregg Popovich is the
absolute best NBA basketball coach, exemplified by him winning his third NBA
Coach of the Year award earlier this year, and the team trusts him completely.
Likewise, R. C. Buford (the General Manager for the San Antonio Spurs) was
rewarded for his excellence in leadership with the 2013 – 14 NBA Basketball
Executive of the Year award. Plus, there is a good deal of leadership on the
court as Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have been together as “the
big three” for the San Antonio Spurs for the past 12 years, throughout 4 of the
Spurs’ championships.
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| 2014 NBA Champions |
During
the 2013 NBA Finals, having won the opening game in Miami, the San Antonio
Spurs seemed to have the championship in hand as they went back to Miami for
Games 6 and 7 in the “best of 7 series” with a 3-2 lead, needing only one more
win to clinch the trophy. Yet, that just wasn’t to happen as the Spurs let a
5-point lead disappear over the final 28 seconds in Game 6, where the Heat
pulled away to win in overtime and, subsequently, used that momentum to secure
the championship in Game 7. It would have been easy for R. C. Buford to have
considered the team a failure, blowing it all up and starting from scratch the next season. Instead, the Spurs’ organization used this
experience to pull together, refocus and instill persistence in achieving its
goals. Through this, they exhibited the definition of TEAM in that “Together,
Everyone Achieves More”.
This
year’s team successes for the San Antonio Spurs exhibited key traits of
successful businesses. Anyone watching the Spurs play saw their approach to
teamwork… Passing the ball more on each possession than any of their opponents,
trusting teammates to be in the right position at the right time to fulfill
their roles, communicating clearly as to what is needed of each role player and
each team member dedicating himself 100% to the specific role asked of that
individual. This unified team pulled together a group of stellar
athletes to win the Finals series against “the best player” in the NBA.
As
the NBA opens up free agency today, I find it fitting to spotlight one of the
many ways in which the San Antonio Spurs set themselves up for being such a
tremendous team. When Tim Duncan negotiated his most recent contract back in
2012, he went from making $21.5 million in one season to $9.65 million the
next. This wasn’t because Tim Duncan couldn’t get paid more… Absolutely not!
Instead, Tim Duncan approached the San Antonio Spurs’ management team with a
goal of freeing money for the team to sign other free agents that could support
Duncan, Parker and Ginobili as the team moved towards winning more
championships, helping the Spurs avoid the NBA’s luxury tax penalty. It is with
this complete team that the San Antonio Spurs are able to excel in a team sport
such as basketball, empowering each member of the team to fulfill his specified
role. When each team member does his own part, the combination of those roles
is a winning team. Wow… What a concept!
Do
you have a favorite team in collegiate or professional sports? If so, how does
that team exhibit principles that make it successful similar to success in the
business world? Are there things your sports team does that could benefit your
company and how can you implement those tactics for your own success?
