There Is No "I" In Team

Recently (written in June, 2011) the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat in the sixth game of a best of seven series to win the NBA Finals and hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time in franchise history.   What made this championship series so intriguing wasn’t the fact that I now live in Dallas and was pulling for the home team.  It wasn’t that I was rooting against LeBron James as a former Clevelander who thought his departure from the city was tastelessly handled.  It wasn’t because I was lucky enough to be on the floor at yet another NBA Finals as consultant to the National Basketball Association.  Nope, it wasn’t any of these reasons.

The reason so many people, along with myself, were fixated by this series was they all wanted to see if Miami could "buy" (rather than build) a championship. Thankfully, the collective sigh of relief came as the Mavs beat up on the Heat in Game 6 — revealing the much anticipated answer. No, you cannot "buy" a championship.

As the underdog, Dallas acted like professionals. Even Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Mavs refrained from his usual pot shot remarks during the entire Playoff run.  Dirk Nowitzki, the star player on the team was sick with a 102 degree temperature in Game 4, but he never complained – he got out there and played his heart out. The team worked together, without fanfare I might add, to beat what many were calling the ultimate dream-team of the chosen-ones.

(Here’s a picture I took of LeBron while holding a piece of audio equipment during an interview after winning Game 3…you can see my upside down face at the top of the photo.)

On the other hand, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James were paid outrageous sums of money to be assembled in an effort to create a super-human team that on paper, simply could not be beat. They celebrated every small victory, every step of the way. They complained to the refs every time they thought they didn't get a certain call. They acted like school children who had never been in a playoff game before. All that and for what? Today, they are celebrating their accomplishment of being second-best.

Don’t get me wrong; Dwayne, Chris, and LeBron are great players.  They will win a championship some day, I am certain of that. However, we all have a reprieve from it happening the first year they were assembled in a "bought and paid for" fashion.  Look at it this way, even though LeBron scored a convened "triple double" (more than 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists) in Game 5, his team still lost. Some say LeBron is one of the best to play the game. However, to help keep it in perspective, LeBron doesn’t have a single championship ring.  Michael Jordan has 6!  

I’ve said it over and over again, I would much rather work with a team of very good players, like the Mavs, rather than a team of super stars, like the Heat.  There may be “I” in the middle of the word win, but “I” does not belong in the word team.  It’s the team as a whole, not the individual, who is responsible for winning.  Otherwise, LeBron would have several championship rings by now.

One last thing to take away from this series is while it is great to celebrate success, true professionals act as if they have been there before. They don’t make a big deal out of anything less than the championship. They don't talk trash. They WIN!

Remember, you can have great success in life if you constantly contribute your best to the team and act like you’ve been there before.