Before everyone tried to copy the Golden State Warriors, they were all trying to be more like the San Antonio Spurs, and for good reason. From the ownership to the players, the Spurs are a model franchise. Gregg Popovich spent years fostering a synergistic culture that feeds on disagreement (the good kind), discussion and equality. It’s a culture that Warriors general manager Bob Myers has tried to emulate with his own team, and uses Popovich’s quote on the matter as a constant reminder and motivation. As Sam Amick of USA Today reports:
Myers, who made a seamless transition from NBA agent to executive after being hired as Golden State’s assistant general manager in April of 2011, keeps a poignant quote from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich saved on his cellphone as a reminder of how great sports organizations should be built.
[…]
“A synergy has to form between the owner, whoever his president is, whoever the GM is, whoever the coach is,” Popovich said in that quote from March of 2014 that Myers kept as a blueprint of sorts. “There’s got to be a synergy where there’s a trust. There (are) no walls. There is no territory. Everything is discussed. Everything is fair game. Criticism is welcome, and when you have that, then you have a hell of an organization. That free flow through all those people is what really makes it work. And that includes everything from draft to Os and Xs. Nothing should be left to one area – only to the president, only to the GM, only to the coach – or the culture just doesn’t form. At least that’s what’s worked for us.”
Adopting that ethos has been a crucial ingredient to the Warriors’ astounding success. Mark Jackson had an adversarial relationship with owner Joe Lacob, and created a culture of mistrust even between his own players. Steve Kerr, meanwhile, takes suggestions from everywhere, including his assistant, who famously suggested going small in the Finals to beat the Cavaliers.
The Warriors are not who they are only because of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the rest of their roster, just as the Spurs are not who they are simply because of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard. It’s the culture behind the players – everyone getting a say, the absence of territories or egos – that’s just as essential to their identity.
(Via USA Today)
