In “The Book of Basketball” by writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, many pearls about the history of the NBA are described in-depth and with good humor! At 697 pages (almost the American basketball bible) the passionate reader has the opportunity to discover behind-the-scenes details and unbelievable facts that occurred to many of the major figures in league history.

One of the great stories that Bill Simmons’s book brings is the “secret of basketball”, an idea that legendary Detroit Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas see in the winning teams:

“The secret of basketball is that it’s not about basketball.”

But what does Isiah Thomas, a two-time NBA champion and a member of the basketball Hall of Fame, wants to say with this enigmatic phrase?

In team sports, especially basketball, an individual skill cannot overcome collective effort and good teamwork. Players who have better stats can’t always create a better team. We have examples of athletes concerned with salaries, gaining more media, making more points than spending energy defending the basket. This kind of individual will, for example, requires minutes on the court and a certain level of selfishness that is detrimental to the whole. For Isiah Thomas, building a champion team requires a common sacrifice and an appreciation of victory above anything else.

“Fans overlook The Secret completely. Nobody writes about The Secret because of a general lack of sophistication about basketball; even the latest ‘revolution’ of basketball statistics centers more around evaluating players against one another over capturing their effect on a team. Numbers help, but only to a certain degree. You still have to watch the games. The fans don’t get it. Actually, it goes deeper than that—I’m not sure who gets it. We measure players by numbers, only the playoffs roll around and teams that play together, kill themselves defensively, sacrifice personal success and ignore statistics invariably win the title. We have trouble processing the ‘teamwork over talent’ thing.

The human factor is a troublesome element for analysts who like to consider statistics to make predictions, and perhaps NBA legend Bill Russell has the ideal clue for anyone who wants to understand a player’s potential:

“I always thought that the most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I made my teammates play.”

This thought of the NBA legend can easily apply to former players like Steve Nash, for example, admittedly one of the best point guards in NBA history for his court view and passing ability. Or one of the most underrated former players like Shane Battier. An athlete who had a great collective spirit on the court, without any concern for statistics, and who was wanted behind the scenes by almost all NBA rosters.

Knowing the “basketball secret” curiously was not enough for Isiah Thomas to be able to assemble winning teams as a coach. But despite not applying what he knows, Thomas’s secret tells a lot about what sets a team with a potential for the playoffs and titles to a mere mess of athletes who are playing for individual achievement: more money, more fame, or more. minutes on the court…