TEAM PLAYERS: AN EXAMINATION OF WHAT MAKES GOOD SPORTS LEADERS GOOD

Pete Rogers Bechtol

TC660H Plan II Honors The University of Texas at Austin

Thesis Supervisor Dr. Paul Woodruff Plan II Honors Philosophy

Second Reader Dr. Michael Starbird Plan II Honors Math

ABSTRACT

Author: Pete Bechtol

Title: Team Players: An examination of what makes good sports leaders good

Supervising Professors: Dr. Paul Woodruff & Dr. Michael Starbird

Sports leadership is a topic about which many books and articles have been written. Many of those works examine traits or even habits of good sports leaders. This thesis examines sports leadership through three case-based studies: Tom Brady, Steph Curry, . Each study examines the nature of the individual in question, their time with various sports teams, and the finding of qualities that either exhibited good leadership or not. While this thesis will create neither an exhaustive list of what good leadership looks like nor what good leaders should do, it will draw conclusions about how a good sports leader fits into a team dynamic, and what these three successful athletes have both done and not done that has helped them find success.

CONTENTS

Introduction 4 The Patriot Way: A system designed for success 10 The Dawn of a 10 Understanding the Patriot Way 13 Tom Brady 17

Trust, Commitment, Care: How Steph Curry leads 21 Story 21 “I can do all things...” 22 Why Winning Matters 25 Building the Warriors 27 “Strength in Numbers” 32 Sharing the Spotlight 34 A Bully Pulpit: Christian Laettner’s loud leadership 37 Laettner Hate 37 The Bully and the Tyrant 40 Lightning Rod 41 The Leader? 42 Dream Team 44 The Fire 45 Brady, Curry, Laettner: What can we learn? 49

Bibliography 52

Introduction

When I entered my senior spring of high school, I quit lacrosse. I struggled with how to phrase that for a while before I finally just wrote it. I did—I quit lacrosse. I didn’t quit because of playing time—I joined the baseball team and happily chewed sunflower seeds in the dugout for nine innings a game. I didn’t quit because I was lazy—I wanted to play a sport my senior year even if it was not lacrosse. I didn’t quit because of my teammates—I am still friends with many of them. I quit because of the coach.

He did not understand what it means to be a part of a team. Everyone on a team has to feel valued. And I’m not suggesting we hand out participation trophies for everyone who signed up to play. But if you want to have success as a team, you must have a culture in which everyone on the team feels like they are playing a role–like they are contributing to the success.

There are exceptions to this rule, especially in high-school sports, but if you want to create long-term, sustained success within a program, the culture must reflect that . In his 24 years, the boys lacrosse coach at my high school had one conference championship and two state championships. In her 21 years as the girls lacrosse coach at my high school, Angie Kensinger won 11 conference championships and 12 state championships. Coach Kensinger created a culture that was geared towards playing the game the right way, and making each team member feel like value-added.1 Culture is important.

Culture creates the conditions for winning teams, but without a leader to synthesize and execute, winning stays out of reach. A good sports leader brings together the pieces that makes a good sports team and generates success. In the early stages of my research, I decided there were

1Rosenblum, “Playing for Coach K.” three basic types of sports leaders: those who lead the sport itself, those who lead beyond the sport, and those who lead a team. Those who lead their sport might do so by revolutionizing some aspect of the way the game is played. These are people like Kenny Sailors, who invented the .2

Venus and Serena Williams are examples of those who lead beyond the sport. They have been at the forefront of fighting for equal pay for women. And then there are those who lead a team. These are those who lead people, and those who people choose to follow. They lead by example. They lead with their attitudes. They lead with their words. Sports leaders push their teams to achieve competitive greatness.

This thesis will focus on this third category of sports leader. I debated the best way to examine and analyze this type of leader. I realized it is much easier to say ‘this action is an example of good sports leadership’ than to say ‘good sports leadership requires this action’ because good sports leadership takes different forms. No single style of leadership is applicable to every

situation, every game, every team.

Perhaps we can narrow our scope.

The Hersey-Blanchard Situational

Leadership Model3 attempts to distill

leadership down to four basic contexts.

The model focuses on the ability and

willingness of the followers, laying out

these four combinations of the two traits:

2 The question of who invented the jump shot is actually unresolved, though enough evidence points to Sailors. 3 “Situational Leadership II Model - S A Partners.” unable and unwilling, unable but willing, able but unwilling, able and willing. It then argues that a leader should adopt the following leadership styles respectively: directing, coaching, supporting, delegating—depending on the context of their followers. The model suggests that a leader should simply adapt to the context of his or her followers, but this leaves little room to lead. The model also suggests that the leadership styles and follower contexts are fixed in a 1:1 correspondence. In other words for each context, there is only one suitable style. But why shouldn’t a leader who is directing also do some delegating or some coaching? The Hersey-Blanchard Situational

Leadership model is a nice place to start, but falls apart when you get into the nuts and bolts of sports leadership.

However, it is impossible to examine all good examples of sports leadership–impossible to examine each nut and bolt of each good leader and his or her methods. I decided to take a blended approach. Through a thorough examination of three successful sports leaders, I will seek to answer the question ‘What makes good sports leaders good.” I will not attempt to develop a road map or a list of directives like Hersey and Blanchard, but rather examine sports leaders within the contexts of the teams they led, and draw general conclusions about good, effective, successful sports leadership.

The first of these case studies is Tom Brady, the second is Steph Curry, and the third is

Christian Laettner. On the surface, there is extreme homogeneity in these three examples. All three are men. All three played in the last thirty years. Two are white men. Two play .

However, there are some deeper differences that make these cases interesting for the purpose of examining and analyzing leadership.

Before we delve into the sporting worlds of Brady, Curry, and Laettner, though, we need to pin down a working definition of sports leadership. Consider my lacrosse coach. He did not, I claimed, ‘understand what it means to be a part of a team’. This is a good building . He was not a good leader, and he did not understand what it means to be a part of a team. So, perhaps a good sports leader should understand that? I think so, but I think it goes further than that. I think a good sports leader should understand how each individual contributes to the team. In doing so, that leader can use his position of leadership to bring the individual contributions out of each member, synthesize them, and help guide the team towards a common goal. That goal might be winning a lot of games, or winning the championship, but that goal could also be personal growth.

For example, winning is fun but it is not necessarily the purpose of playing high school sports. In that instance, winning is a goal but a more important or more apt goal is learning to work in a team environment. My lacrosse coach did not understand how that environment works, so he could not begin to create or even lead such an environment in the first place.

I want to pivot slightly, and talk about leaders’ focusing on negative vs. positive value.

Because even if a leader understands how each individual contributes to the team, there are different ways of framing that contribution, and different ways for a leader to convey how he frames that contribution.

In the first half of Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, there is a scene in which Private

Pyle is caught hording a jelly doughnut in his footlocker. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman makes Pyle eat the doughnut while the rest of the platoon does pushups to ‘pay’ for it. Hartman’s message is that the platoon is a unit. He interprets Pyle’s contribution to the unit as negative. And when one member of the unit does something negative, the entire platoon has done something negative.

Coaches sometimes employ this strategy in team sports. They will make the player who is late to practice sit down while his teammates run sprints to atone for his tardiness. While this tactic might cultivate more resentment than camaraderie, it is an attempt to demonstrate that negative action adds negative value to the team. If one person is late, that hurts the team. If everyone is on time, that is good for the team.

I don’t want to presume to tell Gny. Sgt. Hartman how to run his platoon. Nor do I want to tell the militaristically-inclined coaches how to run their teams. However, I believe it is more beneficial to a team environment to show how positive action adds positive value, rather than how negative action adds negative value.

This gets back to Hershey and Blanchard’s formulation of leader-follower relationships, and even introduces Dr. Paul Woodruff’s own thoughts on the matter. Hershey and Blanchard believed in directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating. These are positive actions that are designed to encourage followers to eventually take on tasks for themselves—to develop agency.

Woodruff believes there must be trust and freedom between the leader and follower in order to maximize a successful relationship between the two.4 Each must trust the other, and the follower must feel as though the choice to follow was her own.

If a leader focuses on trusting teammates in the right situations, and leading them towards success in those situations, then they will be more likely to succeed in those situations. Thus, the team will be more likely to succeed. If the leader can understand how the members of the team contribute to overall success of the team better, the team is more likely to find success. If the leader focuses on how each member of the team brings negative value, then the team will be much less likely to find success.

The leaders which I examine in this thesis are concerned with how each member of the team adds value of the team. They understand that being a part of a team means relying on your

4 Woodruff, The Garden of Leaders. teammates. They understand that being a good sports leader requires an understanding of how each member contributes positively to the team.

The other aspect of sports leadership this thesis will examine is that of culture or team environment. Each of these leaders—Brady, Curry, and Laettner—led in environments conducive to success. Much of that positive culture can be attributed to the coaches of those teams. You will find that though this thesis focuses on the individual athletes who led, the coaches must also understand how each member contributes positively. The good coaches are the ones who understand who their leaders are. They, like the leaders with their teammates, understand the positive value leaders bring to the team dynamic.

The Patriot Way: A system designed for success

The Dawn of a Dynasty In New Orleans, Louisiana on February 3rd, 2002, Adam Vinatieri of the New England

Patriots found himself a 48-yard away from winning the Super Bowl and defeating the heavily favored St. Louis Rams.5 But how did he get there?

The 2001 season leading up to the 2002 Super Bowl was nothing short of difficult for the

Patriots. The organization was coming off of a 5-11 season with a 5th place finish in their division.6

Their sophomore , Bill Belichick, was determined not to repeat the disappointing previous year. Their odds to win the Super Bowl were 60-1, and that was before they lost their franchise quarterback, Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe had a solid career going with the Pats. He won more games than he lost and even led them to a Super Bowl. Nothing spectacular, but solid. In week 2 of his ninth season with Patriots, Bledsoe suffered an injury that took him out of the game and out of the Patriots’ depth chart. Belichick brought in Tom Brady.7 When the Patriots drafted Brady

199th overall in the 2000 draft, no one expected him to play over Drew Bledsoe. By his own admission, he was a decent high school player and a good college player that didn’t see a lot of playing time.8 But he was confident. When he met Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft, Brady said “I’m the best decision this organization has ever made”. He wasted no time backing up his bold statement. In 2001, that decision led the Patriots to an 11-5 season, and a trip to the Super Bowl.9

5 Super Bowl XXXVI - Tom Brady’s Final Drive (2002). 6 “New England Patriots Team History | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site.” 7 “Historical Look at Patriots Preseason Odds | Boston.Com.” 8 Tom Brady on Being Labeled the GOAT, Aaron Rodgers I NFL I NBC Sports. 9 “Patriots Tom Brady Told Owner Robert Kraft ‘I’m Best Decision This Organization Has Ever Made’ After Draft.” Their opponent in the 2002 Super Bowl10 is the St. Louis Rams, a team dubbed the

“Greatest Show on Turf” and heavy favorites against the Patriots. But with the game tied at 17 in the 4th quarter, with 1:21 left on the clock, and the Patriots positioned on their own 17 yard line, favorites don’t matter. In the announcers’ booth, John Madden insists the Patriots should “play for overtime.” Pat Summerall agrees. Why? They doubt Tom Brady. But not only that, any team tied in the Super Bowl with 1:21 left and no timeouts would probably play for overtime. It is the conservative decision. An aggressive drive with essentially a rookie quarterback, sophomore head coach, no timeouts, a stellar defense opposing you, 87 yards of field to cover, and barely more than a minute to succeed? That is the risky decision. So why risk it? Certainly because Belichick wants to win. Maybe because he knows he can. Maybe both. Regardless, once he makes the decision,

Brady has to execute. At the start of the drive, Madden keeps repeating that he would “play for overtime” and that he “doesn’t agree with what the Patriots are doing”. Three plays later, the

Patriots are on their own 40 yard line. Madden changes his tune. He remarks on Brady’s coolness and calmness, and he says he now “kind of likes what the Patriots are doing”. Two plays after that, the Patriots are on the Rams’ 40 yard line, and Madden is ecstatic. He is impressed with the coach calling the plays. He is impressed with the quarterback making the plays. One more pass gets the Patriots to the Rams’ 30 yard line. Brady spikes the ball to stop the clock with 7 seconds left, Vinatieri trots out to the field, nails a 48 yard kick, and the Patriots’ dynasty begins.11

While on the surface this was just a dramatic sports event, the final drive of the 2002 Super

Bowl says a lot about who Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are, and how the Patriots are managed.

That was Brady’s first season as a starter. It was Belichick’s second season as the team’s head

10 The 2002 Super Bowl marked the end of the 2001 Season. 11 Super Bowl XXXVI - Tom Brady’s Final Drive (2002). coach. A duo that green was an extremely unlikely pair of Super Bowl victors. So why were they so successful? The answer is the “Patriot way”. The Patriot way is not a concrete thing. It does not have rules or guidelines, but it does have characteristics. The Patriot way stresses the importance of preparation.

This chart provides the Wins-Losses for each season of the Patriots’ since 2000. Note that there has not been a losing season since 2000. Also, they have won 6 of the last 18 Super Bowls, and been to 9 of them.12

Patriots Season Wins Losses Super Bowl 2000 5 11 n/a 2001 11 5 Appeared, Won 2002 9 7 n/a 2003 14 2 Appeared, Won 2004 14 2 Appeared, Won 2005 10 6 n/a 2006 12 4 n/a 2007 16 0 Appeared, Lost 2008 11 5 n/a 2009 10 6 n/a 2010 14 2 n/a 2011 13 3 Appeared, Lost 2012 12 4 n/a 2013 12 4 n/a 2014 12 4 Appeared, Won 2015 12 4 n/a 2016 14 2 Appeared, Won 2017 13 3 Appeared, Lost 2018 11 5 Appeared, Won Totals 225 79 6

12 “New England Patriots Team History | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site.”

Understanding the Patriot Way Following an embarrassing Week 4 loss in the 2014 season, Bill Belichick said in a postgame interview “we’re on to Cincinnati”.13 He answered every question in that interview with

“we’re on to Cincinnati”. He had no interest in dwelling on the past; he was only concerned with the future. Such is the tone of most Belichick interviews. But in the April following the historic comeback the Patriots mounted in Super Bowl 51, Belichick offered more than his usual most.

Belichick told interviewer Suzy Welch that winning is the goal.14 But what strikes me about this is the process he outlines for achieving that goal does not mention winning. Said differently, they don’t preach winning. They preach things that help them win. Winning is the goal, yes, but it seems to be the byproduct of focusing on the means not the end. Getting a perfect score on a test is the goal, but there is a lot you must do to get that score. The Patriots win not simply because it is their goal, but because it is a byproduct of diligent preparation, a keen understanding of their personnel, and adept situational readiness.

There are not a lot of riveting stories that demonstrate preparation, but there is a video of

Belichick and Brady sitting in Belichick’s office breaking down film on Baltimore Ravens safety,

Ed Reed.15 Reed was one of the most dominant safeties in the league, and Brady notes that when he steps up to the line of scrimmage, it is impossible not to be aware of where he is. Because of this, the duo must make plans to minimize Reed’s ability to make plays. The process of breaking down film is not unique to the Patriots. Neither is changing a game plan to try to trick the opponent’s defense. But Brady and Belichick’s cooperative planning is the important takeaway.

13 On to Cincinnati | Do Your Job. 14 Bill Belichick On Leadership... (Exclusive) | CNBC. 15 Tom Brady Tells Bill Belichick How to Play Ed Reed. | YouTube Belichick uses Brady’s knowledge of the game and experience to create a play that might alleviate the pressure that is Ed Reed.

The Patriots hold the art of preparation in high regard. Belichick is not big on sayings or quotes, but one of the few signs in the Patriots’ facility is a Sun Tzu quote that reads “Every battle is won before it is fought”.16 Think about that quote; it is saying the same thing Belichick believes.

The goal is winning the battle, but that victory is a byproduct of what one does to prepare for the battle. This perfectly captures the first key component in the Patriot way. But how does this relate to leadership? Another principal piece of effective preparation is effective communication.

Belichick and Brady can sit in an office and hash out game plans, but eventually that game plan has to be communicated to the team. Everyone must be on the same page in order for a game plan to function correctly. Not everyone can concoct game plans. The football minds must create the game plan so the leaders can convey it to the team. Belichick argues that communication is essential in successfully leading a team. I will revisit the importance of communication later in this section, but for now I want to shift the focus to another characteristic of the Patriot way.

When I played high school lacrosse, there was a particularly harsh coach who used to yell

“K.Y.P.”. If a player passed the ball to a bad player and the bad player dropped it or turned it over,

Coach Stark would yell “K.Y.P.”. It stands for “know your personnel”. While I was, and still am, under the impression that this was not conducive to the bad player’s development nor to the team’s camaraderie, I am also under the impression that this advice is not all bad. Yes, K.Y.P., but know that while a player may not be the best to recipient of a pass, they may be a good blocker, or they may have excellent field awareness. Knowing your personnel goes beyond knowing who is good

16 Bill Belichick On Leadership... (Exclusive) | CNBC. and who is bad. It should extend to understanding each players’ individual talents, and how those can be used for the betterment of the team...to better the team.

The Patriots understand the value of valuing each member of a team. This is the second key component in the Patriot way. The Patriots have a history of finding value in players other teams do not. Tom Brady was drafted 199th overall and is now considered the greatest quarterback of all time. The Patriots drafted Julian Edelman 232nd overall and he is now a 3x Super Bowl

Champion and has a Super Bowl MVP title.17 Rodney Harrison, Wes Welker, Mike Vrabel, and

Chris Hogan are among other stories with similar plotlines. The Patriots find value in the undervalued, and channel that value towards improving the team. However, simply stacking a roster with a team that could work, does not mean it will work. The second component to knowing the value of your personnel is instilling a sense of self-worth in them. You have to communicate this sense of self-worth and value in order for players to act on the qualities which make them valuable. It is not enough for Belichick to know Edelman adds value. Edelman himself must feel valued.

In the Welch interview, Belichick also mentions the importance of players’ being attentive, doing their job, and putting the team first. Forbes writer Glenn Llopis published a piece about the success of the Patriots organization in 2019.18 In the article, Llopis mentions that the Patriots’ success is due, in part, to the buy-in from its members. For the New England culture, you either fit, can fit, or don’t fit. If you are attentive, do your job, and put the team first, you fit the culture.

Belichick expounds on the particular importance of putting the team first. He notes that the team makes individuals better, and individuals make the team better. In his book The Garden of Leaders,

17 Clark, “The New England Patriots Have Mastered the Art of the .” 18 Llopis, “The New England Patriots.” Paul Woodruff asserts “leaders emerge in a healthy community, but leaders also bring health to their communities...we cannot have one without the other”.19 It is from this we can understand another key aspect of good leadership: good culture. Again, I will revisit this aspect later in this section, but I want to shift focus again to the third key component of the Patriot way.

The final drive of the 2002 Super Bowl was sensational, dramatic, and brilliant. At its essence, it was a two-minute drill. A two-minute drill is a modified offensive strategy that teams utilize when a drive is time-sensitive. Such drills make for some of the most exciting finishes in professional football, but the excitement is generated by the rareness of a successful two-minute drill. From the 17 yard line, a winning drive in under two minutes that ends in a field goal or touchdown has a 30% completion rate.20 So did the Patriots get lucky? Maybe. More likely though, they were just prepared. The Patriots know the importance of situational football. Situational football is a specific part of the preparation process that the Patriots do really well. Reporters asked running back Dion Lewis how often New England practices situational football, and his reply was

“every day.”21 In the Welch interview, Belichick noted how much easier it is to make adjustments when prepared. Players have noted that plays in practice almost always come with a situation that players must factor in to their decision making. This keeps players on their toes, and keeps them engaged in practice. It sharpens their football IQ, as well as their physical ability. It does not allow players to sit back and go through the motions, but rather actively engages their brain and body on every play. This is how the Patriots practice and master situational readiness.

19 Woodruff, The Garden of Leaders. 20 “The Two-Minute Drill.” | Football Analytics 21 Staff et al., “How Do the Patriots Prepare for Every Scenario?”

You can see that each of these aspects or characteristics of the Patriot way is a two-way street. The organization prepares its players, and expects its players to be prepared. The organization values its players, and expects the players to add value. The organization practices situational readiness, and demands players to be ready for any situation. There is no doubt that the

Patriot way generates success. The Patriots have clearly dominated the NFL for the past eighteen seasons. Their overall record is 225 wins and 79 losses. They have been to nine of the past eighteen

Super Bowls, and won six of those nine.22 It is certainly a byproduct of the Patriot way, but I believe it is also a byproduct of Tom Brady.

Tom Brady One afternoon in 2016, the Patriots were preparing for the upcoming season. Tom Brady was under , but the defense was stopping everything. Brady could not complete a throw, receivers could not get open. It was a poor offensive showing that day in practice.23 Following the weak performance, Belichick came into the locker room and verbalized his frustration. “We have quarterbacks who can’t make throws”.24 He called out Tom Brady in front of the entire team. Brady is the best quarterback of all time, and Belichick called him out. And did Brady shutdown? Did he snap back at Belichick, frustrated that someone would question his ability? No. He did the opposite. He stayed after practice and worked on his passing. At the time, he had four Super Bowls to his name, and a coach who was unhappy with his performance that day in practice. He focused on the latter, because that was more important to his future, to his teammates, and to the organization.

22 “New England Patriots Team History | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site.” 23 Goss, “Bennett’s Great Story on Brady’s Coachability.” 24 Ibid This story comes from Tight End Martellus Bennett, and is one of many anecdotes that illustrates Brady’s leadership qualities. I like this story because it shows quiet leadership. Brady could have told everyone that he would be better the next day, and he probably would have.

However, Brady stayed late and put in extra work. Everyone in the Patriots’ organization (save

Brady) would say he’s the greatest quarterback of all time. He didn’t need to stay and work on his passing, but he did because he wanted to convey to himself and his team that he would prepare, add value, and be ready the next time. Brady understood that he was a member of the team as much as anyone. His staying behind to work on his contribution to the team showed that he was not above the team. He wanted his positive value added to be as positive as it could be.

Tom Brady was the perfect quarterback for the Patriots’ system. “Leaders emerge in a healthy community, but leaders also bring health to their communities...we cannot have one without the other.”25 If the Patriots organization is the healthy community, Brady is the leader.

Tom Brady would not be Tom Brady without the Patriots, and the Patriots would not be the Patriots without Tom Brady. I want to examine how Tom Brady brings health to his communities and what traits he exhibits that make him a good leader.

In the 2017 Super Bowl, the Atlanta Falcons notched their 28th early in the second half. The 3rd quarter touchdown made the score 28-3, and sucked the air out of the Patriots’ sideline.The odds of a Patriots’ victory swung from 1% to 100% between the 28-3 score in the 3rd quarter to the 34-28 finish after overtime.

25 Woodruff, The Garden of Leaders.

It was the biggest comeback in

a Super Bowl–passing the previous

record by fifteen points. Even if Tom

Brady was fully convinced they would

lose the game, he did not act like it on

the sidelines, and he did not act like it

on the field. He lifted his teammates

up, encouraging them to “start

showing some fight”.26 Brady

communicates a sense of value and an urges preparation to his teammates.

In an interview with Rodney Harrison, Brady discussed the respect he has for his opponents.27 His competitiveness heightens when he is facing a good quarterback, he studies the film of other great players to learn what they do better than he, and he has an ability to look at competition as a way to get better. Being able to learn from other great players demonstrates humility. Brady is not afraid to admit he is not the best he can be; he is not afraid to stay late and practice passing, and he is not afraid to learn something from someone who knows better than he does. These are non-verbal, lead-by-example qualities that help elevate himself, and elevate his teammates.

26 Super Bowl LI. | YouTube 27 Tom Brady on Being Labeled the GOAT, Aaron Rodgers I NFL I NBC Sports. Humility also helps Brady connect with teammates and make them feel valued. He greets everyone the same way: “Hi, I’m Tom Brady”.28 Everyone knows who Tom Brady is when they meet him, but those four words level the playing field. It makes him Tom Brady the human being instead of Tom Brady the legend. Woodruff discusses the importance of freedom in a leader- follower relationship. The followers must have the freedom not to follow. He argues leadership occurs only when a leader “[invites] them past [the limit of their authority] and they follow” is he exhibiting leadership. Said differently, when followers choose to follow when they don’t have to, it is because someone is leading them. Brady does not make his teammates feel like his followers.

He makes them feel like his teammates. They do not follow him because they have to. They follow him because they decide he is worth following.

The massive success of the Patriots’ organization in the 21st century is the result of a healthy community and a leader who brings health to that community. Brady prepares, values, and adapts.

The members of the community prepare, feel valued, and adapt. It is a healthy relationship in which each member benefits from the next. Neither Brady, Belichick, nor the organization preaches winning. Winning is the byproduct of the healthy community with healthful leaders.

28 Murphy, “Tom Brady Says the Same 4 Words to Every New Player on the New England Patriots, and It’s Pure Genius.”

Trust, Commitment, Care: How Steph Curry leads

Cinderella Story On March 30th, 2008 in the annual March Madness NCAA tournament, the 10-seed Davidson College basketball team should have been watching the round from their couches. Instead, they were on the court in Detroit, Michigan taking on the 1-seed

Kansas Jayhawks.29 In 2008, no 10-seed had ever been to the Final Four. Davidson was one win away from being the first. It only was the seventh time a 10-seed had ever been to the Elite Eight.30

This was rare air.

The were not the main story. Nor were the 35-3 Jayhawks. Steph Curry was. Today, in 2020, Steph Curry is a household name. He is a two-time NBA MVP, three-time

NBA Champion, and is third on the all-time three-pointers list.31 Then, he was Dell Curry’s son.

He was an overlooked from North Carolina with no offers to play basketball at big

Division I schools. But on March 30th, 2008, Curry was the story. Senior Writer for ESPN, Kyle

Whelliston, dubbed Curry the “unquestioned star of March Madness 2008.”32 Lebron James had been to the Davidson v. Wisconsin game in the Sweet 16 to see Steph Curry play. He was leading the tournament in points per game, and had everyone wondering if he was going to enter the NBA draft after the year was over.

With 56 seconds left in the game, Curry drains a three-pointer to make the score 59-57

Kansas. Kansas possesses for the next 40 seconds until they ultimately force a jumper as the shot- clock expires. Wildcat head coach Bob McKillop calls a timeout. Curry dribbles the ball up and

29 “Kansas vs. Davidson Box Score, March 30, 2008.” 30 “How No. 10 Seeds Do in March Madness | NCAA.Com.” 31 “NBA All-Time 3-Pointers Made Leaders: Career Totals in the Regular Season.” 32 Whelliston, “Curry Keeps Humility during the Madness.” tries to find shooting space. He gets double teamed as the clock winds down to three seconds, and realizes he has to get rid of the ball. The opportunity to send Davidson to the Final Four ends up in the hands of Senior Jason Richards. Richards misses.33

“I can do all things...” Those words were written on Steph Curry’s sneakers during the 2008 March Madness tournament.34 I like this quote because it appears cocky, but it’s actually not. Looks can be deceiving. It is only the first half of the bible verse Philippians 4:13 which says “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”35 If you bought courtside seats to one of Curry’s sensational

2008 performances and saw those first five words written on his sneakers, you might think the

6’3” baby-faced kid from Davidson was an arrogant, cocky, flash-in-the-pan kind of basketball player. Bob McKillop was sitting courtside, but he knew the next 5 words of the quote.

McKillop was the Davidson basketball head coach who recruited Steph Curry. While grateful, Curry was still slightly disappointed in his college search process because of encounters such as his “lunch” with a Virginia Tech assistant Coach.36 Virginia Tech had offered Curry a walk-on spot where he would likely get little (if any) playing time, but he did not want to wait a year to keep playing ball. McKillop, on the other hand, was elated that Curry chose Davidson, and told the few who would listen that Steph was “something special”.37

33 Kansas vs. Davidson. 34 Whelliston, “Curry Keeps Humility during the Madness.” 35 Ibid 36 Curry, “Underrated | By .” 37 Dinich, “Curry Makes Name for Himself.” In describing his first memories of Davidson, Curry emphasizes that the basketball team’s setup was humble.38 They were student-athletes – big emphasis on ‘student’.39 They split court space and time with the volleyball teams. They were given a home uniform and away uniform.

They were given two pairs of sneakers. There was no pomp; there were no frills. This was not the basketball program that would attract seven future NBA players. Davidson would have to find another way to win.

Bob McKillop knew this, and he placed value on things other than winning. There is a tattoo on Steph Curry’s wrist that reads “TCC”.40 It stands for Trust, Commitment, Care – one of

McKillop’s mottos. McKillop did not have a singular focus. He recognized that big Division 1 programs have the ability to recruit the best players, focus on winning, and win. Even if their culture is not perfect, or their offensive scheme sub-optimal, their margin for error is significantly reduced by the talent of their recruits. McKillop’s program relied on more than good players and a will to win. Here is a quote from McKillop that outlines why he places a premium on TCC:

“Leading allows freedom but requires accountability. It inspires confidence but teaches humility. It demands a foundation of trust and commitment and care – by the leader and those under his or her charge. These are powerful tools with which leaders can surmount the most vexing obstacles.”41

His words suggest that winning games isn’t everything.42 Now, I don’t think Bob McKillop would be pleased with a season if he went 0-32. However, I think he is suggesting that if you lead

38 Curry, “Underrated | By Stephen Curry.” 39 Ibid 40 Junod, “Inside the Relationship That Unleashed Steph Curry’s Greatness | Abc7news.Com.” 41 McKillop, “Bob McKillop: Teaching Leadership on and off the Court.” 42 Vince Lombardi, famous football coach after whom the Super Bowl trophy is named once said “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” McKillop seems to disagree with the 2x Super Bowl champion. this way – if you allow freedom and require accountability – you are not going to go 0-32. By establishing those characteristics, you establish the groundwork for a successful team.

Most Bob McKillop quotes do not mention measuring success with winning or even winning games at all. His pluralistic philosophy for creating a good culture focuses on intangible virtues. On its website, Davidson recognizes Bob McKillop as a “game-changer.”43 By Davidson’s definition, these are people who are “questioning the status quo and pushing themselves and others to achieve more than they thought possible.”44 McKillop is the only coach on the list, and the page devoted to him opens with this line: “Understanding that the strength of a player comes from the team, not oneself, is the foundation of Bob McKillop’s life.”45

This seems to be the foundation of his basketball program as well. He is able to find value in overlooked players such as Steph Curry. He believes success is found in the aggregate of the individuals’ collective value. Curry has noted his past frustration when people said he was

“Undersized.” “Not a finisher.” “Extremely limited.”46 What frustrates him more, though, is the fact that basketball scouts, even in 2020, still classify players and prospects by attributes they do not possess, or things they cannot do. Why focus on the downside?

McKillop didn’t. The first time he watched Curry play, McKillop saw him commit about

10 turnovers. But he says he “watched the way [Curry] responded to the turnovers.”47 He liked that Curry did not get lazy or mad. He did not let it affect the rest of his game. He responded well to failure, and remained a good teammate.

43 “Bob McKillop | Game Changers.” 44 Ibid 45 Ibid 46 Curry, “Underrated | By Stephen Curry.” 47 Whelliston, “Curry Keeps Humility during the Madness.”

“I can do all things through Him that strengthens me.” While that is a biblical verse and

“Him” is God, I think “Him” is also everyone who strengthens Steph. It is certainly his family. It is also the Virginia Tech assistant coach, Bob McKillop, and everyone on the Davidson basketball team in 2008.

Why Winning Matters The night before the Kansas game, Steph describes the scene in the hallway of their hotel:

“The guys were sitting there, right on the floor, with their warm-ups on and their clunky 2007 laptops out. Like, this bunch of dudes that had just given back-to-back whoopings to Georgetown and Wisconsin. Sitting on the floor, typing away.”48

These were not NCAA superstars. They had no business being in the Elite 8. Steph was a future NBA lottery pick, champion, MVP, all-star, A-list celebrity, you name it.49 He was not only the best player on his team, but the best player in the tournament. He had set single season NCAA shooting records.50 He had posted the highest point totals in the tournament – toppling 2-seed

Georgetown and 3-seed Wisconsin.51 But with three seconds left in the Kansas game, Steph passed it to one of the dudes sitting in the hallway the night before.

I think that pass is a great representation of both McKillop’s culture and Steph’s leadership.

Jason Richards was not a superstar. He was a solid basketball player; he led the NCAA in assists that year.52 But he would not have been anyone’s first pick to take the game winner against Kansas.

He probably was not Steph’s first pick to take the game winner against Kansas. Nevertheless,

48 Curry, “Underrated | By Stephen Curry.” 49 “Stephen Curry Stats.” 50 Ibid 51 “2007-08 Davidson Wildcats Roster and Stats.” 52 Ibid Steph passed it to him. Steph Curry has escaped double team coverage before. He has taken bad, wild shots that go in miraculously. They are mind-boggling shots. He might have made this one.

But Richards had a more open shot, and Steph trusted him.

Plus, I think about the optics. Taking a bad game winning shot over dishing it to a wide- open Richards makes Curry look like he was the only weapon on the team and the only reason they were in the game against Kansas. Maybe he was, but he did not believe that. Bob McKillop did not believe that. Like McKillop, Steph believed that the strength of a player comes from the team. So he passed the ball to Jason Richards, his teammate.

I want to propose a scenario. Imagine everything I have just described to you is true, but

Davidson had not played Kansas. Instead, Richards’ shot had been in their first game against 7- seed Gonzaga. The Richards miss is significant because of Curry’s performance leading up to it.

It is significant because Davidson beat other top-tier basketball programs as ‘little-old Davidson’.

David was wiping the floor with every Goliath he faced.

The NCAA tournament is not decided by who has the best team culture. We cannot quantify that. So we turn to other metrics of success. The easiest one to quantify is wins. How much do you win? How much do you win by? How much more do you win than lose?

In The Division of Labor in Society, Émile Durkheim elaborates on why we must seek to quantify only the quantifiable. He explains why in understanding what he calls social solidarity, one cannot study the individuals of society and expect to draw meaningful conclusions. One must study the products of the society in which those individuals participate. Durkheim seeks to understand something immaterial by measuring the tangible things it produces, rather than the immeasurable parts that create it. He believes that if a society creates something, that something is an extension of the individuals through the filter of the collective.53

In this way, we can think of wins as a quantifiable metric of success. If a team is winning, they are finding success, and it is likely because of something less concrete like good leadership or good culture. The Davidson basketball team had both. One way to measure their individual leadership is to examine the traits they exhibit and values they hold. Another is to examine the success of the team in terms of statistics such as win-count. Wins can certainly be the result of healthy communities and good leaders. Davidson’s unlikely wins in the NCAA tournament put

Steph Curry’s story and leadership and Bob McKillop’s team on the map.

Davidson Basketball was successful during the Steph Curry era. They were 85-20.54 Steph

Curry was a great leader. You can see it in the way he plays, the way he treats his teammates, and the way he carries himself. You can also see it in the success his team had. To be sure, not all successful teams have great leaders. And not all great leaders have success. I believe it is when the leader and the team each make the other better that we see success.

Building the Warriors Steph Curry’s career did not end at Davidson College. Recall that he is a two-time NBA

MVP, three-time NBA Champion, and is third on the all-time three-pointers list.55 He is arguably one of the greatest players of all time, and perhaps the greatest shooter of all time.

While he’s third on the all-time three pointers list, the numbers indicate that he is the best.

Ray Allen, first on the list, made 2,973 3’s in 18 seasons, 1,300 games, and 7,492 attempts. Steph

53 Durkheim, “The Division of Labor in Society.” 54 “Davidson Wildcats Roster and Stats.” 55 “Stephen Curry Stats.” Curry has made 2,495 3’s in 11 seasons, 699 games, and 5,739 attempts. Steph makes more per game, more per attempt, and more per season.56

With stats like that to come, and a record-setting career at Davidson, it is no wonder why he went 7th in the 2009 Draft. Well, actually, it was a wonder.

About two months before the draft, NBA Insider Doug Gottlieb is quoted saying “[Curry] doesn’t have the upside of Rubio. Jennings, Flynn, Mills, Teague all more athletic.”57 After the

2009 draft, ESPN Senior Writer Chad Ford released his “draft grades”. Each team had a letter grade on a +/- scale except two: Orlando who didn’t have picks that year, and Golden State who drafted only Steph Curry. Ford’s reasoning for the Golden State snub: “ I think it's too early to know what grade to give Golden State. I love Curry, and if the Warriors keep him, I think he's a great addition to Monta Ellis in the backcourt. Neither guy is a pure point guard, but Curry's shooting should complement Ellis' slashing nicely.”58

After a lot of thought about that quote and Ford’s unwillingness to grade the warriors, I decided I think he, like many others, were confused by Steph Curry. By all conventional metrics,

Curry should not have been good at basketball. He was short, light, physically underdeveloped.

He had bad ankles.59 Yet, he was the 2008-2009 NCAA leading scorer. But, the NBA was not a

3-pointer oriented league. That all changed when Steph entered the league. Sports Reporter for

The Wall Street Journal, Ben Cohen, sums up what many call the ‘Curry Effect’:

In the year before Stephen Curry entered the league, only three teams attempted more than 26% of their field goals from behind the 3-point line, and not a single team relied on 3-pointers for more than

56 “NBA All-Time 3-Pointers Made Leaders: Career Totals in the Regular Season.” 57 Curry, “Underrated | By Stephen Curry.” 58 Ford, “Draft Grades.” 59 “Stephen Curry Stats.” 33.5% of its shots. Now, with more players shooting from all over the court, every team is above 26% and half the league is above 33.5%.60

Above is a chart marking the plateau before Curry entered the league, and the boom that seems to correspond with his rise to stardom.

To be sure, this could be a correlation-causation mix-up, or a post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy. However, Curry’s influence on how point guards play the game is well documented61, and permeates basketball strategy from the NBA to the high school level.

But in 2009, no one had that graph. No one had that knowledge. The question people like

Doug Gottlieb and Chad Ford still had was: Will he make it in the NBA? Golden State Head Coach

Don Nelson sure thought so.

Like Bob McKillop, the saw something in Steph Curry. After the draft, Nelson said this: “We drafted him because we think he's a terrific player that fits right into our program. He ain't going anyplace.” 62

60 Cohen, “The First Shots of the NBA’s 3-Point Revolution - WSJ.” 61 Doherty, “The Steph Effect.” | “Stephen Curry’s Impact on Basketball.” | Winter, “Stephen Curry’s Impact On Basketball Is That He Forever Changed The Sport’s Aesthetics And Fundamental Purpose.” 62 ESPN, “Warriors Will Not Trade Curry, Coach Nelson Says.” The Golden State front office, though, felt differently about . After Steph’s first season with the team, took over as head coach. That same year, the Warriors drafted

Klay Thompson, who would later be an integral part of the Warriors’ dynasty.63 After a year of

Smart, filled the head coach role for three years. By the end of Jackson’s tenure, he had two playoff appearances, but had lost at least 30 games a season. It was time for a change.

The Warriors hired Steve Kerr to fill the position, and he brought new vision to the

Warriors’ locker room. When Kerr took the reins the Warriors’ roster included Curry, Thompson,

Draymond Green, , and . These five, plus 2014 addition Shaun

Livingston, were the key players of the team’s historic first season under Kerr.64

When Kerr and his coaching staff arrived in San Francisco, he told the players “We respect what you've already done. You've already built this foundation. We're here to just try to help you to take the next step.”65 The foundation was due largely in part to a constant over the past five seasons: the leadership of Steph Curry. As coaches and players cycled in and out of the Warriors’ organization, Curry remained a top scorer on the team, and took the reigns as leader in the two years between the Warriors’ losing their long-time veteran Monta Ellis and gaining current coach

Steve Kerr.66

Kerr brought a new offensive scheme to Golden State. He knew the team was already good, but he knew they were still missing the right offense.67 Kerr’s scheme was based on passing–he

63 “Golden State Warriors Franchise Index.” 64 “Golden State Warriors Franchise Index.” 65 Shiller, “What Steve Kerr Told Warriors When He First Took over as Coach in 2014 | NBCS Bay Area.” 66 “Stephen Curry Stats.” 67 They had been ranked 12th the previous season in offensive efficiency. At the time, nine of the previous ten NBA championship teams had been in the top 10 on offensive and defensive efficiency. The Warriors’ defense had been ranked 3rd, so improvements were necessary in the offensive category. wanted to up the passes per game to 300. The previous season, they had ranked last in passes per game. Kerr implemented the new scheme, and after some initial difficulties in adjusting, the

Warriors finished the season 1st in defensive efficiency, 2nd in offensive efficiency, and averaged

315.9 passes per game.68 Kerr brought a similar philosophy to the game as Bob McKillop did.

They both believed in the value of the individual to the betterment of the team. Here is Kerr on his philosophy with the Warriors:

It wasn't just play your best five guys to death, it was play everybody. You go deep into your rotation, even if it means losing a couple of games in the regular season, just empower everybody. It's kind of the beauty of basketball, the old cliché about the total being greater than the sum of its parts -- I believe in all of that. Five guys have to operate together, but the other seven on the bench, or nine, however many, they've got to feel part of it.69

Steph has received so many accolades for his success on the court, the Sportsmanship

Award he won after the 2010-2011 season tends not to make the list. While an important and telling honor, I think the reason it is not is its difficulty to quantify. The award “honors a player who exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court—ethical behavior, fair play and integrity.”70 Even if you are just a lead-by-example type, ethical behavior, fair play, and integrity are good examples to perpetuate. Through setting those examples and being a consistently good player on the team, Curry helped build the foundation Kerr discussed in his opening remarks to the team. Kerr came into the Warriors’ organization at the perfect time, and he was the perfect

68 Holmes, “The Crazy, True Story of the Birth of the Warriors’ Historic Offense.” 69 Ibid 70 NBA.com, “Stephen Curry Wins 2010-11 NBA Sportsmanship Award | Golden State Warriors.” complement to Steph Curry. Like the Brady and Belichick with the Patriots, Curry and Kerr created a culture which valued each member of the team, relied on passing, and generated massive success between the lines.

In 2015, Steve Kerr’s first year with the Warriors, they won the championship. Steph Curry won league MVP. Andre Iguodala won finals MVP.71 After receiving the award, and in the midst of the championship bliss, Iguodala said “I want to be just like Steph when I grow up.”72 Iguodala was 31 when he won finals MVP. Curry was 26. The quote says more about who Steph Curry is as a person and a leader than a player. Even in Iguodala’s moment as finals MVP, he remarked on the influence of a player five years younger than he. That kind of comment in that kind of moment only comes from one thing: respect.

“Strength in Numbers” That’s the Warriors motto. It’s apt. The Warriors appeared in the 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015 finals. With the exception of 2019, their opponent in each series was the LeBron James- led .73 After a Warriors victory in 2015, the Cavs won in 2016. The next year, they faced off again, but the Warriors team looked a lot different. One NBA superstar had been added to their roster: . They show strength in their statistical numbers, and in 2017 they added another one of the best scorers in the game to their family.

The Durant acquisition was a highly controversial free-agency move. It happened on July

4th, 2016. Just over a month before, the Warriors had defeated Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma

City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. Durant tweeted a link to a Player’s Tribune article

71 “Golden State Warriors Franchise Index.” 72 Shiller, “What Steve Kerr Told Warriors When He First Took over as Coach in 2014 | NBCS Bay Area.” 73 “Golden State Warriors Franchise Index.” he had written titled “My Next Chapter”.74 It broke the internet. Players tweeted their opinions of the move with reactions ranging from “Congrats” to “Woah” to taunts of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”.75 Fans posted footage of themselves burning Durant’s Oklahoma City Jersey.76 Former

NBA superstar spoke out, accusing Durant of cheating by “[weakening] another team” and going to “gravy train on a terrific Warriors team.”77 League commissioner Adam Silver agreed: “Just to be absolutely clear, I do not think that's ideal from the league standpoint.”78

All of these people were concerned that the superteam would ruin the spirit of competition of the league, and that Durant was the face of that campaign. They saw Durant as a traitor, or a weak player who joined the team that beat him. But Silver, Barkley, and the jersey burners did not understand what Steph Curry and the Warriors understood: success is more important than credit.

Here is Kevin Durant discussing what convinced him that Golden State was the right decision for him:

"Those four coming to my meeting and talking to me about the culture and how they built it and how they want to sustain it, it was key. I've seen a lot of guys with crazy egos. ... [Curry] showed that he was all-in on this. He flew away from his family to come to the meeting and be a part of the meeting, and that showed me how much he cared, how much he wanted me to be a part of it."79

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln defeated William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates in the Presidential election. Post-election, Lincoln appointed Seward as secretary of the treasury,

74 Durant, “My Next Chapter | By Kevin Durant.” 75 “Players React to Durant Joining Warriors.” 76 ESPN, “Fans Burn Durant’s Jersey after He Leaves OKC.” 77 Barkley, “Stars like Durant ‘cheating’ for Title.” 78 Silver, “Impact of Durant Joining GSW a Concern.” 79 ESPN, “Durant: Warriors’ Vibe Was ‘Organic, Authentic.’”

Chase as secretary of State, and Bates as attorney general. Lincoln appointed his political rivals to his cabinet. He made them a part of his team because the nation would be stronger for it.80 Curry and the Warriors did the same with Kevin Durant.

Sharing the Spotlight Before Durant arrived, Curry was averaging 30 points a game, he was the league MVP in

2015 and 2016, and he had a championship. The season Durant arrived in Golden State, Curry did not retain the league MVP title, and his average points per game dropped to 25. However, the

Warriors won the championship in 2017 and 2018. Durant won Finals MVP in both years.81 ESPN

Insider Rachel Nichols sat down with Curry in an interview after game 3 of the 2017 Finals. The

Warriors were up three games to zero. Nichols asked Curry a slew of questions regarding the fact that with Durant’s arrival, Curry had “ceded some of the spotlight”.82 She asked him what it was like to watch Kevin Durant take the game winning shot in game 3, and Steph’s reply was “did you see my celebration when it happened? That was a genuine feeling of ‘I know I’m not bigger than anyone else on our team and this is something we all have to do together.’”83

Curry relinquished the spotlight for the betterment of his team. He knew Kevin Durant would help the team, and he wanted to help the team. Adam Silver, Charles Barkley, and many others saw the situation as weak on Durant’s part, and dumb on Curry’s. But , saw it as unselfish. He said, in discussing the large part Curry played in the signing of Kevin

Durant: “That's the thing that never gets any credit. But yet, if he does not do that, do we ever have three championships? No one will ever say, 'Steph Curry brought championships here with his

80 Fried, “An Extraordinary President and His Remarkable Cabinet.” 81 “Golden State Warriors Franchise Index.” 82 Steph Curry Recalls His Part In Recruiting Kevin Durant To Warriors | The Jump | ESPN. 83 Ibid unselfishness.' They'll only say, 'Steph Curry brought championships here because of his shot.' The unselfishness is even bigger than his shot."84

There are a lot of little stories that demonstrate Curry’s leadership on his team, and in some ways, those are the best demonstrations. When Kevin Durant suffered a knee injury in the 2017 preseason that almost kept him from participating in the playoffs, Curry ratcheted up his intensity in practices, trained harder, and rallied his teammates through setting an example of hard work.85

When Curry himself got injured in 2018, instead of distancing himself from the team and doing physical therapy on his own, he attended practices and games and worked with backup point guard

Quinn Cook offering all the advice he could.86

Steve Kerr has said of Steph’s coachability: “He's obviously a superstar player, but he acts like he's the 12th man.”87

Kevin Durant has said of Steph’s leadership: “The way he carries himself throughout the game, his temperament, how he approaches his work habits. All of that stuff you can see just shining bright through Steph, and he doesn't really have to say anything because of it. I think that's just the making of a leader, not just as a basketball player, but in the household, as a brother, a family member, a friend. That transcends the game of basketball.”88

Steph Curry is a sterling example of good sports leadership. He is a true team player. He lifts his teammates up because he knows that generates success. He is not afraid to share the spotlight if it makes the team better. He works hard to make his game better, even though he is

84 Daniels, “Draymond Green.” 85 Haynes, “How Steph Curry Leads like No Other NBA Superstar.” 86 Ibid 87 Ibid 88 Ibid already one of the most prolific scorers of all time. He brings health to his community. He has found success because of all of these qualities, but he has also been in healthy communities that value the same things. Bob McKillop gave Steph Curry a chance to play Division 1 college basketball because he ignored everything Steph could not do, and focused on how he would make the Davidson team better. He valued him as a player and a leader. He cultivated a community of trust, commitment, and care. Steve Kerr joined a team Steph had helped lay the groundwork for, and synthesized it. He built an offensive scheme designed to generate points by encouraging teamwork and input from each team member. That was Steph Curry’s kind of scheme. He is the leader. He is the guy who makes the big shots in the big games, but he’s not afraid to pass the ball.

A Bully Pulpit: Christian Laettner’s loud leadership

“Anyone who holds what we call a leadership position will at one time or another look like a bully or a tyrant. And sometimes a bully or tyrant wins where a leader would fail.” Paul Woodruff, The Garden of Leaders

Laettner Hate In order to understand why Christian Laettner was a leader, you have to understand why he was a bully and a tyrant. And to understand that, you have to understand the set of circumstances which fueled decades of hatred from fans, opponents, and teammates.

Christian Laettner grew up in a lower-middle class family in Buffalo, New York. His father was a printer at the local newspaper and his mother taught 3rd grade at the local public school. His mother, Bonnie, describes herself as “strict”, and through the chores she had him do, Laettner learned the value of hard-work from a young age. His brother Chris was exceptionally tough on

Laettner, and pushed him emotionally and physically to be competitive, driven, and tough. When he discovered the game of basketball, those traits translated well. And as he grew taller, it became apparent that he was going to be an exceptional player.89

He seamlessly moved from the middle-school to the high-school level. Nichols preparatory school offered Christian a spot on the basketball team, but his family could not afford tuition. So he performed janitorial work around the school in exchange for financial aid.90

However, despite his humble upbringing, Laettner himself was aggressive on the basketball court, and bothered teams both intentionally and unintentionally. He talked trash, got physical on defense, and scored seemingly at will. He was tall, good-looking, good at basketball, and white.91

89 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 90 Wojciechowski, “How Laettner Got to Duke.” 91 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. Even in high school, his opponents saw him as the poster-child for white privilege who had success handed to him.92 This misperceived reality would follow Laettner throughout his career. I call it misperceived because while he did not grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth, many believed his ethnicity and college were signs that he did.

The American Dream is rooted in the idea that if you work hard, you can achieve success.

If you grow up wealthy, you cannot really live the American Dream because there is seemingly a requirement that you must come from humble beginnings. People like success stories so long as the success is earned. is a symbol of success that is not earned, but endowed.93

Tobacco Road is the name given to the group of four North Carolina universities: The

University of North Carolina Tar Heels, the North Carolina State University Wolfpack, the Wake

Forest Demon Deacons, and the Duke University Blue Devils.94 All four teams play in the Atlantic

Coast Conference, and their rivalry is deep and historic. The first three schools on this list each pay homage to the roots of their state in some fashion. Duke does not. UNC and NC State especially evoke the image of the North Carolina farmer or blue-collar working class family. These are the true North Carolinians. Duke is not. Duke looks like an ivy league school with its gothic architecture, school crest, and associated prestige.95 The stark contrast between Duke and the other schools on Tobacco Road has contributed substantially to their incendiary rivalries.

Duke hired as the men’s basketball head coach in 1980.96 He wrapped up his first 5 seasons with 85 wins and 65 losses.97 Not terrible. But if he had continued on that

92 Wojciechowski, “How Laettner Got to Duke.” 93 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 94 Featherston, “What Is Tobacco Road?” 95 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 96 “Mike Krzyzewski Coaching Record.” 97 “Mike Krzyzewski Coaching Record.” trajectory, he would not have reached 1,000 career wins.98 In 1986, he started to find his stride. He led Duke to a National Championship appearance, and over the following three seasons, he notched 89 wins and only 19 losses. When Laettner arrived, “Duke became Duke”.99

As Coach K aptly puts it, Laettner had a storybook college career. In 1988, Coach K had been to two final fours. In his freshman (1988-‘89) and sophomore (1989-‘90) seasons, Laettner added two more to that total.100 However, there were still no championship trophies. The

University of Nevada, Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels ended Laettner’s sophomore season with a 20- point rout in the finals. Even though they were the better team, most college basketball fans saw

UNLV as the underdogs playing the establishment. Duke was the establishment.

The loss to UNLV was the result of a lack of toughness. After the 1990 tournament, there existed the narrative that Duke–the soft, rich, white boys–could not win the big dance.101 But a year later, when Duke beat UNLV in the semi-finals and Kansas in the finals, “that perception changed. And that's what [Laettner] wanted to change."102 In changing that perception, Laettner made Duke the villain of the NCAA Basketball world. Now the soft, rich, white boys from the elitist Duke University had a National Championship too. Seemed like these guys had everything so easy. And who was the poster child for the Duke hate? Christian Laettner.103

Laettner’s statistics at Duke are incredible. He led Duke to four final fours in a row. He is a two-time National Champion, all-time leading tournament scorer, recipient of both the Wooden

Award for Outstanding player and Naismith Award for outstanding player.104 He is simply one of

98 Coach Krzyzewski holds the all-time NCAA Men’s Basketball win record. 99 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 100 “ Index.” 101 PennLive, “Love Him or (More Likely) Hate Him, Christian Laettner Did It His Way.” 102 PennLive, “Love Him or (More Likely) Hate Him, Christian Laettner Did It His Way.” 103 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 104 “Christian Laettner Stats.” the best college basketball players of all time. But plenty of players find laudable success, what made Laettner’s detested?

For many, it was the Kentucky in the Elite Eight. For others, his cocky attitude was enough. Whatever the specific reason, the underlying rationale was ‘Duke embodies privilege, and Laettner embodies Duke.’ This is why people hated Christian Laettner.105

The Bully and the Tyrant On March 28, 1992, Duke played Kentucky in the regional semifinals–also known as the

Elite Eight–of the NCAA tournament.106 With 2.1 seconds left in overtime, and Duke trailing by one point, Duke Forward was to inbound the ball. He threw it like a football all the way down the court and into the hands of Christian Laettner. Laettner had his back to the basket and stood at the line. He dribbled once, faked right, went back left, and sunk the game- winning shot.107

The shot sent Duke to the Final Four and ultimately to a repeat championship. It also capped off a perfect night for Christian Laettner. He truly did not miss a single shot in his 31-point performance.108 However, many thought he should not have even been in the game to take the shot. Earlier in the game, Laettner had stepped on Aminu Timberlake’s chest. Many believed he should have been thrown out of the game immediately and even suspended for the following game.

105 Brodess, “50 Most-Hated Figures in College Basketball History.” | Bender, “Most Hated College Basketball Players of All Time.” | “NCAA Basketball: 10 Most Hated Players.” | In each of these articles/blog posts ranking the most hated players, Laettner tops the list at either 1st or 2nd and Duke has the most players in the top 10 on each list. These are the rule not the exception. People hated and still hate Duke. 106 “Duke Blue Devils Index.” 107 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 108 “Christian Laettner Stats.” They would have to settle for a , though.109 People saw that moment as Laettner stepping on Timberlake as if to say you are beneath me, and then getting away with it because he was Christian Laettner and he got away with everything. The bully went unpunished again. That was how people saw Laettner. They saw a bully who would step on their players, and they saw a tyrant who would do whatever he needed to do to win.

Lightning Rod In the 1991-1992 season, Christian Laettner and the Blue Devils played Shaquille O’Neal and the LSU Tigers. Quite unlike Laettner, Shaq is one of the most beloved basketball players of all time. Throughout the game, Laettner faced the opposing crowd’s boos, homophobic slurs, and offensive chants.110 They saw the game as a showdown between the privileged, cocky Christian

Laettner and the humble, fun-loving Shaq. Laettner won.

Laettner could not enter an opposing arena without opposition from the crowd. The hate was visceral, emotional, and often over-the-line – extending to verbal abuse of his family members.

His response? “I’m gonna go harder.”111 And he did.

The hate Laettner received did two things: it redirected all the hate froam Duke to him, and it fueled his competitive drive. , Grant Hill, , and the other members of the Blue Devils were afterthoughts to the crowds. Everyone wanted to boo Laettner. He was a lightning rod that absorbed all the crowd’s taunts. Laettner did not mind it. In fact, at times, he relished it. He did not just absorb all that hate like a lightning rod, he used it to charge him up. He fed off of the opposing crowd. It takes courage to walk into an arena as an 18-22 year old, have an

109 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 110 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 111 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. entire crowd chanting awful things at you for two hours, and hang 20 points on the scoreboard.

Laettner did that for four years.112

Anyone can lead a team to victory with no resistance. Adversity makes good leaders show up.113 Was Laettner a good leader? He was certainly a successful player. His scoring and tenacity on the court helped earn Duke back-to-back championships. But was he a good leader? Was he even a leader? Recall that Curry and Brady understood what each member of their team brought to the table. They used the positive attributes of their teammates to contribute to the success of the team. So far, it would seem good sports leaders do at least those things. Did Laettner?

To answer these questions, we have to look closer at the teams on which he was a ‘leader’, and the teams on which he was a follower. The following three subsections will examine Laettner’s career on Duke, the 1992 Dream Team, and his 1992-1993 Timberwolves team.

The Leader? All the lightning Laettner absorbed had to go somewhere. Some of it went to his spectacular performances in games, some of it went to physical scraps with opposing players. And some of it went towards his own teammates. Bobby Hurley was perhaps the most frequent recipient of

Laettner’s pent up aggression. It never amounted to much more than headlocks, shoves, slaps on the head, or calling him “Bart Simpson.” But it irritated Bobby.114 Laettner, though, had good intentions.

Coach K’s wife, Mickie, said Laettner did this “to get the best out of Bobby.”115 But she also thinks Christian derived some pleasure from getting into Bobby’s head. Whatever the

112 “Fans don’t boo nobodies.” – Reggie Jackson. Christian Laettner was certainly somebody. 113 Woodruff, The Garden of Leaders. 114 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 115 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. rationale, it made Bobby mentally and physically tougher. Coach K offers his own explanation for why Christian bullied his teammates in this way. He says “Christian knew he could not [win] alone. He knew he could only win if others were good.” The bullying, Coach K continues, “was part of passing a test.”116 Christian confirms this, saying he “was always challenging [his] teammates to be tougher and more passionate and have more intensity and one way to do that was to beat them up and smack them around a little bit.”117 He did what he did because he needed

Bobby to be tough enough to win. All of that bullying and roughing up “translated into win after win after win.” And winning, Laettner says “cures all.”

In the 1992 Championship game, Duke battled the Michigan Wolverines. Michigan was home of the ‘fab five’–five future NBA players that all started for Michigan. They were cool, they wore baggy shorts, they were in pop culture. Other than Duke fans, everyone was rooting for the fab five. After the first half of the game, Laettner was 0-7 from the field, but Duke was only down

31-30.118 Still, the one point differential on the scoreboard did not reflect how badly Duke was getting beaten without their star in peak form. At halftime, Bobby Hurley got in Laettner’s face.119

He ignited the fire in Laettner, essentially telling him they needed him and that he had better show up in the second half. He listened. Laettner alone dropped 19 on Michigan, Michigan managed only 20 second-half points, and Duke won 71-51. Bobby Hurley won tournament MVP.120

I think that 1992 tournament says a lot about the Duke team. First, they were good. Second, they would not have won that finals game without Laettner. He had the perfect game against

Kentucky and he put Michigan away in the second half of the championship. Third, they would

116 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 117 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 118 “Duke Blue Devils Index.” 119 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 120 “Duke Blue Devils Index.” not have won that tournament without Bobby Hurley’s toughness. Hurley scored 26 against

Indiana in the Final Four, and is credited with igniting the Laettner fire in the Michigan game.

Laettner was not the only reason Hurley found success in the ’92 tournament, but as Coach

K says, Laettner knew he could not win without his teammates at their best. To make his teammates mentally and physically tougher, Laettner bullied them. He has said he does not regret any of it—

Laettner says it got them to four Final Fours and won them two championships.

For all of his arrogance on the court, and the hate he received off the court, Laettner was at least team-oriented. While he criticized, yelled at, and slapped teammates, he did it all in pursuit of greatness and in the spirit of extracting competitiveness from each of them. Does that qualify him as a good leader? Does Duke win 2 championships in ‘91 and ‘92 without the often tyrannical presence of Christian Laettner? Does the success on the big stage outweigh the bullying in practice? In other words, does winning really cure all?

I might argue that it does not. Curry and Brady were good leaders. Should we elevate

Laettner to their status as “good leaders?” Are these three really in the same ballpark? Laettner was in charge of his teammates, but did they feel free? It appears as though he manipulated them to success rather than encourage them to greatness. He identified a weakness in Bobby Hurley, and picked on it. That’s a Gny. Sgt. Hartman-move more than a Brady-move or a Curry-move. To me, it’s a sign of an immature leader. Would it translate to the next level? No. Laettner would have to adjust if he was going to continue to find success.

Dream Team In the summer of 1992, the USA basketball committee NBA put together a team of the best professional superstars in the country to compete in the Summer Olympics. It was the first year professional athletes were allowed to compete, and the US assembled a team of stars like , , , and Charles Barkley. In fact, of the team’s 12 players, 11 of them would go on to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.121 The outlier? Christian Laettner.

Laettner had been selected because the USA basketball committee felt one roster spot should be reserved for a collegiate player as a nod to the old requirement that Olympic teams be entirely amateur athletes. Many basketball fans felt Laettner was an undeserving candidate and wanted Shaquille O’Neal to be the 12th man. Laettner took the new role in stride. He knew what his new set of duties were: “Keep your mouth shut. Watch. Learn. Pick up the bags, pick up the balls.”122 He accepted his twelfth-man role on the Dream Team perhaps better than Shaq would have. Shaq was a loud, arrogant player in a different way. He knew he was one of the most dominant players of all time, but he was fun about it. He hyped the crowd up and had fun with the game. He had a big personality that might have clashed with the other 11, well-established members of the Dream Team.

Laettner’s ability to shed the glory and status of being a senior on a repeat championship

Duke team and don the 12th man warm-ups is a testament to his ability to be a follower. Knowing when to step aside from a leadership position and follow is a quality of leadership.123

The Fire Laettner knew how to get the best out of his college teammates and win games. Laettner knew when to step aside and let other, more established leaders lead him. But Christian Laettner failed as a leader in the NBA. Why? Not because he stopped being who he was. Not because he lost his talent or his scruples. I think Christian Laettner’s NBA career was over before it even

121 Maisonet, “Starting Lineups.” 122 Maisonet, “Starting Lineups.” 123 Woodruff, The Garden of Leaders. started. People did not want to see him succeed in the NBA. They had seen the glory, and they were ready for the fall-off. But another reason Laettner never found success in the NBA was that he was not a truly good leader. In college, he was a successful leader, but he did not possess the qualities that can apply at any level such as poise, humility, and effective communication. We see

Brady lose his composure or Steph arrogantly shimmy down the court, but those qualities do not drive their style of leadership. Is there something to be said for the fact that Laettner was hated the moment he stepped into an arena? Does that hinder one’s ability to lead? Sure. But that hatred stemmed in part from his arrogance and bully-tactics. Those are not the qualities of a good leader.

After Shaq and got drafted first and second, Laettner was drafted third overall by the Timberwolves in the 1992 NBA Draft. In his four years with the Wolves, they went 86-242. The rest of his career was not much better. During that same four year stretch, there were 3 different head coaches.124 The second of those three, Sidney Lowe, called Laettner

“spoiled rotten.”125 That’s not exactly what you want the head of your basketball program calling one of the players. That’s bad leadership. Lowe and Coach K had a conversation in which Lowe expressed his frustration with managing Laettner. Coach K replied “Sidney, you have to look at

Christian like he’s fire, and you’re the superintendent of a big apartment building. If you use the fire correctly, you’ll heat every apartment in that unit, if you don’t, he could burn the building down.”126 That is an example of how Coach K found the positive value in Laettner, and used it to heat his team. He did not let the building burn down. He was a good superintendent.

Sidney Lowe was not a very good superintendent. was better. He was the head coach of the when Laettner arrived in 1995. For Laettner’s 3 seasons, the

124 “Christian Laettner Stats.” 125 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. 126 I Hate Christian Laettner - ESPN Films. Hawks had a winning record, and Laettner was an All-Star for the second season of those three. A year after Laettner left, Lenny Wilkens and the Hawks finished with a 28-54 record. Laettner’s departure was by no means the reason for that significant fall-off. Other key players such as

Mookie Blaylock and left around the same time Laettner did. However, Laettner was consistently in the top scorers on the team and helped the Hawks string together some impressive seasons.127

The rest of Laettner’s career was unimpressive. But, in his final season in the NBA, he signed with the . His teammates included Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning.

The 2004–2005 Heat went 59-23, finished first in their division, and made it to the semifinals of the NBA tournament.128

Christian Laettner is not typically a name that comes up in sports leadership conversations.

While he was a phenomenal college player, he was hated in the NCAA, he was a bully, and he never really lived up to the expectations people had for his NBA career. But Christian Laettner was a leader. Not a good leader, but a successful leader. He found success when his coaches used his fire and his passion to heat the team. I think the Coach K quote describes his leadership style well. Laettner had the ability to push all of his teammates to be at their greatest, but he also had the potential to create problems on his teams. Laettner exhibited some good leadership qualities.

He often helped lead his teams toward success, he pushed his followers to be great, and he knew when to be a follower himself. But Laettner was not the kind of leader who could lead in any environment. He was not the kind of leader who understood the positive value of each player. He

127 “Christian Laettner Stats.” 128 “Christian Laettner Stats.” knew he could not win without the team, but he could not extract greatness or harness success in just any environment because he often focused on what people were bad at. Coach K focused on what Laettner was good at, not what he was bad at. After describing Laettner to Sidney Lowe, he said “I’d rather have that fire.”

Brady, Curry, Laettner: What can we learn?

Perhaps the greatest college basketball coach of all time––has said that he

“rarely, if ever, even uttered the word win…or exhorted a team to be one.” Wooden instead, among other things preached self-improvement, and achieving personal best. These were not his goals. Nor were loyalty, enthusiasm, respect, or the other 22 factors of Wooden’s pyramid of success. At the top of the pyramid, though, is competitive greatness.129

Phil Jackson is the winningest professional basketball coach of all time. He is quoted saying

“Approach the game with no preset agendas and you'll probably come away surprised at your overall efforts.”130

Pat Summitt is the winningest women’s college basketball coach. She says “Winning is fun... Sure. But winning is not the point. Wanting to win is the point. Not giving up is the point.

Never letting up is the point. Never being satisfied with what you've done is the point.”131

And it’s not just basketball coaches.

Legendary hockey coach Herb Brooks has said “success is won by those who believe in winning and then prepare for that moment.”132

For all of these coaches, and for Belichick, McKillop, Kerr, and Krzyzewski, winning was the byproduct of preparation. Belichick created an environment that focused on preparing, understanding their personnel, and adapting to situations. McKillop created one of trust, commitment, and care. Kerr, one that emphasized the importance of each individual of a team.

Krzyzewski, one that used each player the best way they could be used. All of these coaches

129 “The Legend Basketball Coach John Wooden – A Case Study in Leadership | The Sport Digest.” 130 “ Quotes (Author of Eleven Rings).” 131 “Pat Summitt Quotes.” 132 “Herb Brooks Quote.” wanted to win, but they all focused on the factors that created winning. And perhaps the most important factor for a coach to focus on is culture. A good culture is conducive to synthesizing the strengths of each of its members. A good leader builds on that aspect of good culture. For all of these coaches, they found success when their culture was right, and a leader came along and capitalized.

In each of the case studies, the leader found success in an environment poised to be successful—in a healthy environment. The athletes themselves led, but they did it with strong cultures around them. Brady communicates with his teammates exceptionally well, and fosters a sense of value and importance within each of them. He is humble. He makes them feel as though they each add something to the equation. Curry does the same. Laettner, too, but in a backwards way. He is not the mild-mannered Brady or the humble Curry. Laettner is the loud leader. He led by picking on the negatives of his teammates. He pulled the best out of his Duke teammates, but through aggression. The value and importance his teammates felt came only after a win. His picking on their weaknesses might have been detrimental to the team dynamic if not saved by

Coach K’s own leadership style. He knew Laettner was good in doses ‘if you use him the right way.’

Each of the three leaders has at least one defect. Each was a kind of misfit in their own right. Brady was the 199th draft pick. He was on the verge of not ever playing professional football because of his slowness and unathletic physique.133 Curry was overlooked by division-1 programs for his size. Laettner had the athleticism and size, but he was hated more than any college basketball player ever. Despite this, each had coaches who focused on their positives, and not their

133 Every now and then, the picture of Tom Brady in his boxers and flabby, chubby body at the NFL combine gets circulated on Twitter with some caption about how many Super Bowl rings he now has. negatives. Distinguishing a players’ positive contributions from his negative contributions, ignoring the negative ones, and harnessing the good that can come from the positive ones is the easiest way to create a culture which generates success. That process is good sports leadership.

Each of these sports figures had coaches who understood their value, and used it to better the team—an idea which harkens back to Woodruff’s argument that good leaders bring health to their communities, and good leaders emerge out of healthy communities.

One of my fathers’ favorite John Wooden quotes is “things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.” I think that quote is apt—especially when considering

Brady and Curry. Brady, drafted 199th overall, and Curry, overlooked college prospect. Both have found success. They certainly made the best of the way things worked out. Laettner, on the other hand had never been overlooked or undervalued as a player. He found success, but he likely found it difficult to see the true value-added contribution of his teammates. He knew he needed four other people on the court to win games, but I’m not so sure he saw how each player contributed to the team as well as a Brady or a Curry. Leaders should be inclined to see value-added rather than value-lost. Perhaps it was easier for Brady and Curry to see the value-added by their teammates because they themselves had been undervalued—they had gained perspective.

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