Team Culture

A couple of my ten readers may know that I'm a fan of basketball.  I played basketball in high school and in college (on an intramural team - Go, Sewer Boys!).  And I've been a fan of the San Antonio Spurs since George Gervin was playing.

So, if you're even aware that the NBA finals are happening right now, you might guess that I'm spending some time watching the series between the Spurs and the Miami Heat. 

It's fun for me to watch the games, but I'm more interested in writing about something I've noticed about these two teams.  I'm obviously a Spurs fan, so what I'm writing may be biased, so please read what I write with a grain of salt.

As I watch the post-game interviews, I notice a difference between the Spurs players and many players from other teams. 

What I noticed the other day, after game two (when the Heat destroyed the Spurs), Heat star Lebron James was talking continually about himself.  He talked about his own performance in the game - and even when he talked about his teammates, he referred to them as his players, and as his guys.

In contrast, whenever I listen to Spurs players, they talk very little about themselves and a great deal about the contributions their teammates made.  And they compliment the play of their opponents.  I don't hear that from most other professional athletes, especially basketball players. 

It's a relief, in our culture that's so wrapped up in self-centeredness, to hear rich and famous people humbly focusing on others.

It seems that there's a different kind of culture in the Spurs organization - a culture where individuals support one another for the sake of the team.

I wonder what church would be like if we were more focused on our neighbor more than on ourselves.  Wait ... didn't someone with the initials J.C. mention something about that?

$0.02