It’s NBA free agency time right now, a time for teams to load up on talent as they prepare for the 2024-25 NBA season. Basketball, unlike most other sports, uses a relatively small number of athletes to compete (only five players start), making it a really big deal when teams stack talent in the form of a “Big-3” (three superstar-caliber players). Ever since the original Big-3 in Boston that won the championship in 2008 (Kevin Garnett, Paul Peirce, and Ray Allen), many teams have tried to replicate Big-3 success — but failed. In fact, outside of the Miami Heat Big-3 (LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh) most teams who have loaded up have, ironically, failed miserably. So why is it that a team that looks unbeatable on paper, can turn out to be really beatable by the end of the season? What is the psychology behind successful team construction, and why do stacked teams rarely actually work? While many youth sport coaches consider building super teams, it may be in the end that a committed, balanced, mentally tough team provides the most team success.
Managing personalities is really challenging
Unlike video games, real-life players are not programmable avatars. With video games, loading up on talent almost always leads to total domination, but when using real human beings the job of coaching a championship team is much more difficult. Aside from the fact that assembling a star-studded team almost always depletes team financial resources (i.e. the Phoenix Suns last year after creating their own Big-3), there are new roles for players to accept and fulfill. Additionally, star players have to re-check their ego when sharing the spotlight with other similarly talented players, and very few players enjoy taking a step back after previously being a superstar.
Balancing egos and personalities is really tough work, and demands a lot of attention and detail. Candidly, most coaches struggle with this concept, as the general hope is that talent alone will trump any player insecurities that might surface. But, as we have now seen countless times, threading the needle and getting it right (meaning a Big-3 assembled team wins the championship) rarely lives up to expectations.
How to get it right
The best teams, from preps to the pros, consist of athletes who know their specific role on the team — and happily embrace it. Unlike video games, where the goal is to collect as many athletes with a 99 rating as possible, smart coaches know that they will get a lot more from a team when the following things are present:
- Every player knows his or her role. When athletes clearly know their role on the team, only then can they cull all their focus and energy and direct to their specific role. Compare this approach to assembling “Big-3” type teams where multiple players tend to focus on the same role (i.e. the star player who scores points).
- Players are empowered by their role. Players on successful teams feel that their role, regardless of how big or small, is absolutely vital toward team success. Great coaches know this, and they spend the time needed to develop relationships with their players so that every player feels he or she is invaluable to the team.
- Players are valued equally, regardless of position or talent. Great teams require a totla team effort, and this means even players who rarely see the field still feel that their presence is imperative toward team success.
The formula of getting the best players for each position — compared to stacking up a team full of stars — is a winning formula from the preps to the pros. The key for coaches is to build unique relationships with players so that the least skilled player feels just as important toward team success as the best skilled player on the team — when coaches get this right, amazing things happen with the team!
Final thoughts
While super-teams are fun to build on video games, they rarely work out in real life. Stacking a team full of all stars who all do the same role is not nearly as effective as finding players who embrace their unique role, and play it to their fullest ability — even if it is just a utility player off the bench who rarely receives much attention. Great coaches, from youth sports to the pros, know that building teams through clear roles, encouragement, support, and positive reinforcement allows for teams to come together and go far together and provides for the best potential future success. Save the team-stacking for video games, instead, find the right players for each position.
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