Golden State Warriors Analo

I feel like talking about Basketball. Don't worry, I will make it motivational and connect it to a job analogy so it fits on LinkedIn. :) Let's compare the Warriors to Lakers.

The Warriors weren't great last year. This year they were expected to be a mediocre team until two starters returned (Wiseman and Thompson) where they would hope to squeeze into the playoffs. The Warriors had a few veterans and some young, raw rookies. There was pressure for General Manager Bob Myers to trade one of their young prospects to get another star to give the Warriors a chance. He resisted at the risk of looking complacent.

The Lakers were expected to have a chance to win everything just like they did a couple of years ago. Let's go through their roster as we compare and I'll discuss which player most people would say is more desirable to have on your team before the season started. The Lakers player is on the left with the Warriors on the right.

PF Anthony Davis vs Draymond Green

Anthony Davis was the number one pick in 2012 and is in his prime. He's athletic, can shoot and at 6'10 towers over Draymond Green at 6'6. I would say that people would prefer Davis. Green's claim to fame is being aggressive, emotional and hard working. That has made him considered to be the best. Davis gets the nod.

Lebron James vs Andrew Wiggins

King James is one of the best of all time while Andrew Wiggins was drafted as a first pick but is widely considered a mediocre player. While Lebron is older he is very smart and through good training and probably human growth hormone (yeah I said it.) is still considered one of the best if not the best player in the league. Lebron is favored.

Deandre Jordan vs Kevon Looney

Deandre is a rebounding legend averaging 10.5 in his career while Looney has 4.2 and has barely been a starter. He's only a placeholder until 7 foot prospect Wiseman comes back. Deandre gets the Nod.

Russel Westbrook vs Steph Curry

While Russel Westbrook is a relentless and intense worker and has set triple-double records. Steph has a very different approach, working hard but seeming like a kid enjoying himself during games. He is recognized as the best shooter ever and the only REAL star on the Warriors. He gets the nod.

A Bradley vs Jordan Poole

Steph was actually upset that the Warriors let Avery Bradley go as he was with them for the pre-season. He's a solid defensive player while Poole before this year was pretty much an unknown. Bradley gets the nod due to Poole's inexperience.

On the bench, Lakers have future Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard along with experienced Rajon Rondo who I could see starting. The Warriors have the experienced sixth man Andre Iguadala and two unproven players Damion Lee and Gary Payton II. Lakers get the nod.

So that's the Lakers 5 to 1 if I compare starting positions and one vote for the bench. What are their records? Lakers have a mediocre record of 9 and 9 while the Warriors are in first place, dominating the league with a 15 and 2 record. They have the best offense AND the best defense in the league statistically. Though they are one of the smaller teams they are 3rd in rebounds.

So what's going on? The Lakers lookout sync. While they have stars, they also have stars that aren't known to be selfless players (Rondo, Westbrook and Anthony.) I'm not in the locker room but I'm sure the Warriors locker room has less ego and more comradery.

The Warriors are bringing the best out of their players. Wiggins is finally showing his potential. Poole and Payton are developing into stars for the first time. Draymond, the emotional and sometimes combative leader is vocal in training and offering the rookies constructive criticism. And everyone simply works great as a team, have a very pass-first offense and no egos. On swarming defense, they simply try harder than other teams. The coach emphasizes teamwork, passing, defense and being aggressive if one sees a good shot. Myers is looking like a genius as his fringe players and young guys are learning from the vets and playing aggressively. The biggest move Myers ever made was in luring superstar Kevin Durant to the Bay for the 2016 season. And while the Warriors won the championship the next year, what's interesting to me is that they had a better regular-season record (the best ever) the year before in 2015 as they gelled better and weren't worried about keeping Durant content. This year the team is being compared to 2015 Warriors. If the season ended today the Warriors would the highest point differential ever (13.1) and they are on pace to get an amazing 72 wins, one less than their record.

In today's age of free agency, it's easy to forget the importance of a smart system and keeping your core together so that they have time to learn the system well and figure out the best way to play with each other. Think of this as the importance of employees gaining experience at a company and building a report with coworkers that they genuinely like and want to help while keeping the goals of the company in mind. But as you might imagine when an NBA team does well, every player has better stats and there are offers luring those players to go to other teams. And in order to keep a player from making more as a free agent or an employee from going to a higher paying job, management need to build the culture and work on the intangibles. Its okay for there to be disagreements as passionate people might have different thoughts about how to help the company but the team need to respect each other and the journey needs to be enjoyable one. The team needs to trust the boss but the boss needs to let the players feel that they have ownership and can make a difference.

How's that for a cheesy LinkedIn ending? :) In the next few weeks the sharpshooter and defensive star Klay Thompson will be returning along with the 7 foot, 20-year-old athletic James Wiseman who I think will be an MVP in a few years. I expect them to become NBA champions again.