“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” These are the wise words of former professional basketball player, Michael Jordan, crowned NBA most valuable player five times and clinching a total of six championships. While he is undeniably talented, Jordan constantly states that alone we can only do so little, emphasising the importance of teamwork in propelling one towards the elusive championships.
1. When individual strengths come together, performance is enhanced
Strengths and weaknesses, we all have them. Rather than nitpicking flaws, teamwork ensures that we recognise each and every individual’s strengths, and tapping into them allows each member to expand on their skill set, while another member can effectively help to cover up an area of weakness.
Phil Jackson, the coach of Chicago Bulls, once said, “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” This quote encapsulates the notion of teamwork in basketball - that is that every member is equally valuable in helping a team attain their goal, and no one person should be viewed as more inferior in a team. With this in mind, a basketball team is then able to function at its optimal level - each person taking on a role and position which best suits their ability.
2. Teamwork helps members to let bygones be bygones
It is no surprise that basketball comes with its own array of conflicts, just as most team sports do. Conflicts are bound to arise in team settings when members fail to see eye to eye regarding certain issues - whether it is a disagreement over who to take on a certain role, or even over members who have faltered and have made mistakes, the presence of conflicts are completely normal.
That being said, teamwork ensures that communication triumphs over this friction, and serves as the basketball team’s binding glue. A basketball team lacking in the aspect of teamwork would breed and harbour resentment in the long run, and this, in turn, diminishes a team’s morale which affects their chances at a game. Ultimately, teams that possess the value of teamwork tend to play better on the court as less time is wasted bickering and deflecting blame onto someone, while more is spent fostering team effectiveness.
3. There is a constant drive to improve and soar to greater heights
As humans, we all possess an innate drive to strive for betterment when we compare ourselves to others. In a basketball team, one is privy to the strengths of his team members and is exposed to a variety of talented players. This, as a result, often gravitates one towards attaining capabilities as pronounced as his peers. While on one hand this can be seen as a good thing for there is impetus within the team to sharpen their abilities, competition can prove detrimental when basketballers start seeing their own team members as enemies that they must “win against” when vying for the limelight. But where there is teamwork, the court no longer becomes an arena where individuals pit themselves against their own team members. Instead, there is healthy competition - athletes possess the maturity to better themselves to reach their teammates' level without feeling like they have to one-up them. In hindsight, teamwork ensures that team spirit is not affected in the name of competition,and that the journey towards improvement is not equivalent to pitting oneself against their own team.
4. Mutual support
Losing and winning matches are a common sight in basketball, after all when it comes to team sports, trajectories are never fixed. With teamwork, however, there is one constant - and that is the team members who celebrate our sky highs with us, but also support us through our rock bottom lows. Such a support system is important in basketball to ensure that our achievements are recognised, and that one is always encouraged to try again after a setback.
Echoing after Michael Jordan, our advice to basketball players is this - teamwork in itself is a remarkable sport, one that ultimately holds more value than winning the game itself. After all, the more the merrier - success can get lonely, but achieving success as a team is a whole different ball game altogether, one that is quite unlike any other. Sign up for private basketball lessons and start balling now!