Before diving into a topic that probably has the country at odds and a topic that is arguably sensitive for many reasons, let me first state: I am in no regard a Basketball expert, nor am I a historian of Basketball Legendaries. Granted, I have basic education on the obvious… Isiah Thomas, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Bill Russell just to name a few. Therefore, let this piece of writing serve as a story using the example of our 2018 NBA Finals as I “try” to (I’m human and I take pride in constantly evolving) relate what we saw over the last couple of emotional days to leadership concepts that can be used in any line of work, field or industry.

For starters, I like to remind readers of why I am here. I like to refer to myself as a non-traditional educator, by trade I am NOT a classroom teacher BUT by training, research and scholarship I help students and communities navigate to new found methods of being life-long learners, rather that be in the classroom, traditionally or outside the classroom, which is my personal hands-on favorite. With that I look at everyday situations from the perspective of “How can we learn from this?” or better yet “What can we learn from this?” I watched the NBA 2018 Finals with that perspective and I must admit when watching it using the actual sport at hand as a supporting factor and not the priority, you can unpack a lot of characteristics that can be applied in everyday life.

LeBron James is arguably the greatest NBA player of THIS generation, rightfully so. In January of 2018, LeBron surpassed Kobe Bryant and fell just 8,000 points shy to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, being the youngest player to accumulate 30,000 career points. Kareem at 38,387 career points. LeBron didn’t need the platform of collegiate basketball to provide him the opportunity at a chance in the NBA, he was drafted right from High School and has soared since his entry into the National Basketball Association in 2003.

But what I noticed from both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors bypasses the evident talent that showed up on the court. From an academic stand point, one can take this circumstance to dissect how Leadership is not only crucial to the work environment but can be an effective way to any level of success.

Think about it: How do you view leadership? What does leadership mean to you? 

Team sports is probably one of the most vivid instances of viewing an individual’s leadership abilities.

Here are the facts:

• Leadership is a heavy component of Sports.
• Although the importance of leadership in sport is widely recognized, deliberate teaching of leadership skills does not always occur (Monda, Voelker, Kimball, et al , 2016).
• Athletic organizations find themselves working to stay within the rules of the game as a primary goal, not necessarily focusing on developing the athlete as a person (Huntrods, An, Pascarella, 2017).
• Seeing oneself as a leader is one of the most positive influences that participation in athletics can have on individuals (Pascarella & Smart, 1991: Ryan, 1989).

So what can we conclude from this year’s series?:

It is clear that Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and the Warriors are very skilled in their sport but what they also displayed was sportsmanship. Achieving a goal is often times more tangible when the sportsmanship lives within all of the team’s players and not just a few. Golden State not only played good basketball, they are a modern day example of what Team Work looks like. In my observation, each player had the opportunity to contribute to the greater goal by adding their strength to the overall performance, you also noticed a lot of communication happening on the court between the Warriors.

It is imperative to mention synergy at this point. Synergy, in a nutshell, is the interaction of two or more organizations/individuals, in order to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. When speaking of synergy, looking at the Golden State Warriors, each individual player added to the strength of the team therefore making the team effort greater than if they each played separately. Meaning, Curry is a great player but could he move, function and perform on the court the same without Durant, vice versa and so on!?

I get it, the argument could be that “LeBron James doesn’t belong to a team with as many advanced experts (players), therefore, he isn’t set up in the same privilege as Stephen Curry.” —This could arguably be true, but lets examine the facts that doesn’t have much to do with overall team performance.

For whatever reasons that weren’t clearly highlighted on National TV, what we do know for a fact is that LeBron James walked off the court without the traditional line-up of shaking hands after a game has ended. I will acknowledge that with only a few seconds remaining on the clock, LeBron did congratulate the Warriors as he proceeded to his sideline seat to watch the clock run out. But after the clock ran out, LeBron immediately walked out and into the locker-room without participating in the traditional congratulatory handshakes that usually happens alongside…..Teammates! Apparently, this isn’t the first time LeBron has done this.

Communication can save a life, can save money, and can bring a victory home. What we noticed on the court with the Warriors is something that was missed by the Cavaliers. A few months ago, JR Smith stated in an interview that communication on the defensive end while on the court is terribly ineffective.

Even so, both teams each game showed up with a different humanistic vibe when performing on the court. The Warriors, even in the few instances when they lagged in score, continued to communicate, praise each other and work together. In the last three NBA Final Series the Warriors have always displayed their sense of humbleness even in the midst of beginning to tap into a world of breaking history and dynasty building. The Cavaliers, at least in my opinion seemed to show up as individuals, when on the court…. Everything appeared to be an individual play and for LeBron to be considered the greatest on that team, his leadership method of leading by example became lackluster. Speaking of which, funny how for the majority, we have for the last week or so, referred to the teams as The Warriors and Then LeBron James. Now you see the problem?

What is unknown and would probably serve as concrete evidence, is the Cleveland Cavaliers and their performance off the court. When in practice, since many can validate the argument of LeBron being the greatest; Does his leadership skills reflect building up the rest of his team? Is he motivating his teammates or is he worried about himself, his statistics and his individual greatness.

As a leader, no matter how your work environment may look, it is more often than not that your obligation is to become selfless. When leading, you go from worrying about one person, yourself; to worrying about the overall greatest of those on your team. An effective leader, leads from the inside outward. They not only give direction, they practice what they preach. They also are more than likely responsible for providing platform opportunity for their team to display strengths and to also support in areas of growth and improvement. I don’t know LeBron personally but from what I can conclude, he may be putting himself first and looking through a perspective that includes himself as the star and not the co-star!

Personally, this series helped me critically analyze the importance of Leadership. And what I do know, no matter if it is regarding sports, education, health, politics, etc….. Skill may equal talent, but leadership equates to success (Yes…! Quoted by Myself, Courtney BrieAnn). 

So next time you are struggling in your leadership position, or within a team; I challenge you ask yourself this question: Should you move like the Warriors or should you walk like LeBron James?!

 

Courtney Morris will be a 1st year Doctoral Student in Educational Leadership, her research focuses on Integrating Hip Hop Culture and Urban Education, as well as storytelling and using current events as teaching methods in the realm of Education. Courtney has a sub interest in leadership development among urban education and students of color. Courtney obtained her Associates of Arts from Schoolcraft College, Bachelors of Science in Health Administration (concentration in Social Work), Masters of Arts in Higher Education/Student Affairs and Graduate Certification in Academic Advising. Feel Free to connect with Courtney via email at Connect@BeMentallyRich.com or via instagram at @MsCourtneyBrieAnn