“I just like to have everything in front of me,” Gortat said.

The process of selecting seats is organic, evolving over weeks, months and even seasons. Wall, for example, has had the same seat (at the table) since his first year in the league. He knew what he wanted, he said, so he went for it, and none of the older players stopped him. Beal, on the other hand, had to slowly migrate to the front.

“I was more toward the back my rookie year,” he said.

On the wrong team, seats can create minor crises. The well-traveled Gooden said he had seen former teammates nearly come to “fisticuffs” when one player, newly acquired by the team, tried to commandeer another player’s seat, which is a no-no in the N.B.A.

Porter, now in his second year with the Wizards, recalled one of his first trips with the team last season. He felt as if he were the new kid in school and had no idea where to sit in the lunchroom. Finally, Nene invited Porter to plop down next to him. They have sat next to each other since.

“We relax back there,” Porter said. “I’m mostly just talking to Nene.”

Webster, who has yet to play this season as he recovers from back surgery, is the only player who sits in the coaches’ section, in the bulkhead next to David Adkins, the assistant coach for player development. Adkins often spends time reviewing game footage, and Webster likes to watch and pick up tidbits.

“You get to see the game from a whole different perspective,” Webster said.

Coach Randy Wittman said he was a firm believer in the concept of chemistry — “You’re asking me what creates air that we’re breathing,” he said — and added that good chemistry sometimes meant that teammates were willing to be critical of one another and were able to “coexist” through the bad times.

“Sometimes, I think that’s the hardest thing,” Wittman said. “People are kind of scared to say, ‘You know what? I need to step up,’ or, ‘You need to step up.’ Maybe having a mixture of that on your team, as well as having an understanding that we’re all in this together, is where you develop good chemistry.”