On June 13, 2019, The Toronto Raptors stunned the basketball world by winning their first National Basketball Association championship title. This victory, over a two-time defending championship team, came as no surprise to keen NBA fans and specifically those who love team basketball.
The championship run which started many months ago – before and during the regular season – had lots of twists and turns coupled with tough, risky decision making. Some of the twists include: hiring a first-time professional basketball coach to lead the team; mid-season acquisitions and trades and an injury to the lead player taking him off the court for over 20 games.
Their playoff stretch was not easy – they trailed in every Eastern Conference round; lost game 1 of the first round to Orlando Magic. Down 2-1 to Philadelphia 76ers in the second round. And down 2-0 to Milwaukee Bucks in the final.
Despite the internal dynamics and external noise, the team kept getting better and better with each game and with their minds locked into the goal, they pushed on. What makes this victory special? With an entire nation standing behind, rooting for and cheering their team on, this first victory was not only a validation of the Canadian team, but also for the nation.
A special narrative was aired at the conclusion of the final game of the season highlighting the team, staff and sport. Some of the words used the describe the team are below. For the purpose of this piece, I included the opposite of the descriptive words to further highlight what championship teams are made of.
When you read the words that describe a championship team, you would not be surprised that they won. You expect a team described as such to win. However, winning a championship and functioning as a championship team does not happen overnight. Structure must be in place. A vision must be present. Alignment must be in the DNA. That’s a team that is not winging it!
Those words and attributes were used to describe the NBA Champions, can they be used to describe your team?
If you need help developing a championship team and environment, let’s talk: info@thecommissioninternational.com
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