Teamwork and winning

A victory shared is a victory doubled.

If a problem shared is a problem halved, then surely a victory shared is a victory doubled, no? You get to delight in your part of the winning as well as that of your teammates, perhaps even experience more joy watching others win than yourself. This is my main takeaway – aside from Chinese – from seeing the Boston Celtics close out the Dallas Mavericks at home enroute to their 18th overall NBA championship and a lot of firsts for many of the players (I’m fairly certain everyone other than Jrue Holiday won their first “ring”).

In a great team display the Celtics won in five games, and shed some demons/monkeys in the process. Jaylen Brown won MVP and couldn’t wait to thank his teammates, in particular Jayson Tatum, his all-star running mate, and Tatum was equally happy for him. Coach Mazzulla showered his team in praise for the way they competed and had faith in staying the course. The entire organisation seemed the most elated for 17-year veteran Al Horford finally reaching the pinnacle of NBA glory, and thus proving my earlier point.

Naturally, in any winning team, you have your better performers, but everyone plays a crucial role…and I mean everyone, right down to the Payton Pritchard’s of the world who may seem like a nobody to most people. It’s this acceptance to put the team success ahead of personal accolades that generally is a hallmark of championship teams and winning organisations.

I always look back on Kobe Bryant’s response to the aged old cliché of “there’s no ‘I’ in team!”, in which he goes “yeah, but there is in win!”, and I think to myself you’re probably one of two players that could get away with saying that – the other being Michael Jordan. Their idea of teamwork was more along the lines of “follow me” which isn’t really teamwork in the traditional sense, but they succeeded due to how great they were and how much they demanded from their teammates and from themselves (a lot more). Personal responsibility and fulfilling your role (or hopefully going above and beyond) is still a hallmark of being a part of a winning team.

The ongoing dance between the individual and the collective can be difficult to time right and strike a harmonious rhythm. As a general rule, you need the help of others to get where you want to go in life, this is just a fact, a reality that needs to be accepted – much to the disappointment of all those “self-made” people out there. No matter how good you are, you can’t do it all by yourself. Tatum and Brown couldn’t do it without Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, and White and Holiday couldn’t do it without Horford and (Kristaps) Porzingis.

This is not to say, however, that there isn’t large amounts we can do and achieve as individuals, but every successful individual was assisted along the way and sometimes be multiple teams of people in various fields. Some people will want to ride the coattails of others to winning, and some will claim the work of others as their own success – do not be these people, they aren’t teammates and they’re not on your side.

Great individuals can only do so much without teamwork, but not all teammates are built equal. Some won’t want to share in your success, and some will happily use you to get theirs. On the other hand, you have teammates who’ll propel you to new heights, who’ll be more excited at giving you your flowers than receiving their own, who’ll pick you up at your lowest moments when you are doubting yourself and your abilities, when you’re having an off night, and prop you up or carry you, even, because they know you’ll repay the favour. The ones who sacrifice for the greater good, the ones who park their ego at the door, the ones who don’t stop until the task is done, the ones who’ll go through the blood, sweat and chipped teeth to secure victory. These are the teammates you want – and who you want to be, it’s reciprocal. This is the manifestation of teamwork I saw celebrating on the floor the other night at TD Garden with the Larry O’Brien Trophy.