Wednesday, August 29, 2012

You Cannot Win Without Leaders - One Leader Is Not Enough:

Chuck Daly - Head Coach

The 1992 United States Men's Olympic Basketball Team, coined the "Dream Team", was the first American Olympic team to feature active NBA players. The Dream Team defeated its opponents by an average of almost 44 points en route to the gold medal against Croatia at the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona. The team was coached by Chuck Daly, assisted by Lenny Wilkens, P. J. Carlesimo, and Mike Krzyzewski.

The below excerpt is from "Dream Team" by Jack McCallum.

The following comes from Chuck Daly's first team meeting with the 1992 Olympic "Dream Team.

Finally, Daly approached the most delicate subject, one even more frightening than terrorism since it was well within the realm of possibility.

"Look, there are twelve of you, and you're all All-Stars and future Hall of Famers," said Daly. "and there is no way I can get all of the minutes you're use to having on ----"

Magic and Jordan interrupted him.

"That isn't going to be a problem," said Jordan.

Michael Jordan

"We're here to win, and nobody is going to care about playing time, Chuck," Magic said.

Magic Johnson

Such problems, particularly the knotty one of minutes, are rarely solved that easily. This one was. Magic and Jordan said there would not be a problem, and that was that.

The two best investments a coach can make:

Improve your leadership skills
Invest in the development of your players leadership skills

Surround yourself with other good leaders:

Mike Krzyzewski

Lenny Wilkens

P. J. Carlesimo

Larry Bird

Surround yourself with talent:

The Dream Team roster: Charles Barkely, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullen, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, and John Stockon.

The best teams do not always win! When the best teams fail to win, it is usually because of leadership.

Power Thoughts:

"It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit." – John Wooden

"Leaders aren't born; they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal." -Vince Lombardi