The Perfect Team

As mentioned in our previous two posts, NBA free agency is upon us. With this topic as my main inspiration, I have decided to write a post about building the perfect team.

In life, we all are part of teams at work or in our daily life (no man is an island). We work as part of a team which is a part of a bigger organisation, we are members of of our families and we are in a relationship with another person. No matter how different our situations and circumstances are, we all hope for the best combo that fits.

As sports fans, we have fantasy leagues where we build our dream team by putting together the best players in the world. We love All-Star games because that's like a dream come true for fans as we get to watch these players actually play together for real. But in the sports world, like in real life... things are never so simple.

I think a friend of mine came up with the best line about putting together the perfect team. "The stars have to be aligned". In so many ways, it's extremely accurate. We need so many elements to fit together that makes it so hard to achieve.

The boss
In any business, the end result is making money. With that as the goal, we put together the most efficient team with whatever means we have to achieve it. Similarly in basketball, the management has to balance between making money and winning championships. With the salary cap in mind, they put together what they deem as the right team to entertain the fans and try to win the championship. It's not easy to get a boss who sticks to the long term plan, backs his crew and pays the high salaries willingly. Therefore, these championship teams are hard to come by and usually don't last very long together.

The coach
The boss is the guy who buys the ship and owns the fleet, the coach is the captain who steers the ship in the right direction. The coach's team philosophy and system determines the identity of the team and how well he manages the players to play within his system will equate to the success of the team. With this new generation of players who focus on individual achievements and personal glory, this is not an easy job. That's why we are all looking for a Phil jackson.

The players

Michael Jordan once said "the organisation has to build the team, but its the players who win the championships". Putting together the key players who can play together and complement each other is already quite a tall order. Aside from them, you need to have role players who are willing to support them and come up big at certain key moments to be able to win. Like Rick Fox said "sometimes for a few minutes, a quarter or even a full game, you have to be as good as Shaq or Kobe"

If you are lucky enough to do all that and succeed, keeping the team together and prevent the egos from clashing will be even tougher. And simply putting star players together together doesn't equate success (just ask the '04 lakers). These players have to be able to sacrifice part of their individual game to play better together. A flush or straight beats an ace or two any day.

In conclusion, its pretty damn obvious how tough it is to build a perfect team. I have been blessed to be a part of some great teams, both in and out of basketball... We should appreciate the great teams we are part of and those we actually get a chance to watch (whether we like them or not, like Miami Heat). A perfect team is like clockwork, working together seamlessly and yet look so effortless, an absolute beautiful thing to watch.

Today's my partner-in-crime's birthday! Happy birthday bruh!
Hope some of your birthday luck will help us sign Dwight and put us back in glory quickly.

The Original Dream Team. Widely known as the best sports team ever assembled.

The 96 Bulls team with the best record ever 72-10 and capping it with a championship.

01 Lakers team who almost went on a perfect playoff run.