Sacramento Kings Proving Why the NBA Is Flush with Ball Hogs

The Sacramento Kings need to start playing like a real team.  

It's either that, or start playing even more selfishly and losing, which would raise their chances of getting a better draft pick.

The Decline of Team Play in American Basketball

T.E.A.M. (“Together Everyone Achieves More”) is a clever acronym used nationwide by parents, coaches, teachers and others in leadership positions. 

Based on the assumption that America’s pupils are thinking critically about what the true meaning of teamwork is, the average person would probably guess that we are a nation of team-building success stories. 

Michael Sokolove of the New York Times followed 12-year-old basketball sensation Allonzo Trier around the nation and discovered otherwise: 

"His shooting, while certainly excessive, was pretty much emblematic of how most of the young players approached their mission. They passed only as a last resort. They played indifferent defense, or none at all.

"To watch this up close was to gain an understanding of the roots of the decline of team play in American basketball."

(Note: I understand they're 12 years old and they can get anxious or nervous on a big stage, forgetting to play defense every once in a while. On the other hand, this reminds me of when people give me a hard time for ripping on Little League World Series players for making so many errors. I know they're 12 but they're still the best 12-year-olds in the world. Get your glove on the ground.) 

The Kings Have the Pieces

The Sacramento Kings are an incredibly dynamic, young and talented NBA team. Anyone who has watched them play will notice this almost instantly. 

Jimmer Fredette and Isaiah Thomas look like they’re in 8^th grade, which gives the team a youthful glimmer.  

Thomas, who went dead last in the 2011 draft, is proving everyone wrong with dominant performances (23-8-11 vs. Cleveland).   

Tyreke Evans is explosive every time he touches the ball. 

DeMarcus Cousins consistently beats physically superior talent at the heart, and finishes with authority. 

Marcus Thornton goes on psychotic scoring runs, where it seems like nobody in the league can stop him.    

The trouble is they’re not unique in this aspect, considering every 6^th grade prep star from LA to NYC possesses these exact same talents. 

Basketball is a team game and it requires everyone to share the ball. The Kings are plagued with too much individual talent and no chemistry. 

It seems like every night a new alpha dog appears on the scene and dominates the offensive side of the ball.  

As Daniel, a Kings superfan, pointed out to me, "This is unfortunate because it’s typically at the expense of his teammates’ (and ultimately, his team’s) production."  

The Roots of Selfish Play in the NBA

Why are the Kings like this? One possible explanation is the implementation of the draft rule that forces players to spend one year in between high school and the NBA. 

This has resulted in many of college basketball’s best players leaving after only one season at the collegiate level. 

Evans and Cousins are perfect examples of this, having both played one year at Memphis and Kentucky respectively. 

They were both completely dominant high school players who went to college for one year at great programs.

They weren’t given enough face-time with coaches to understand that basketball is a game for five people, not one. 

In David Halberstam’s revolutionary book, The Breaks of the Game, (click on 'Search inside this book' and skip to page 127 for direct quote), he describes Bill Walton’s passing ability:

“One reason that he had become so superb a passer was that while he loved to play the game and loved to win, he did not relish being the center of attention. By passing the ball to others, he helped his team to win and yet did not make himself the focus of the crowd."

'Ball hogging'

On playgrounds, the disease that the Kings suffer from is referred to as “ball hogging”. 

It is a ghastly affliction whose inception can be traced to the time that kids are told that they’re good enough to play at a high level. 

Allonzo Trier provides us with a perfect example of the American kid that is taught that the only way he’s going to make it in the game is if he dominates and becomes an individual.  

Stop and think about this for a second.

You’ll realize how utterly insane it is for us to be preaching this to kids when there is no more than 10 guys in the world that can be ultra superstars in the NBA. (LeBron, Wade, Kobe, Dirk, Durant, D-Rose, Melo, CP3, Griffin and Dwight...obviously debatable.) 

Despite these absurdly low numbers, every single kid with a decent jump shot and some quickness coming out of high school believes he'll be that guy.  While there is nothing wrong with believing in yourself or setting goals, it sets a bad precedent for high school prep stars nationwide.   

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) 

If the Kings and most of the rest of the NBA’s franchises suffer this fate, how do we halt this non-communicable disease known as ball hogging?  

The incidences of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)—like cancer and heart disease—are growing at a dramatic rate, and the only way to stop them from increasing is to figure out a way to play like a team to solve these global problems.  We need to pass more and shoot less:

"These issues cannot be addressed in isolation and collaboration is necessary for effective change. In the end, success requires long-term commitment and recognition of mutual benefit." 

The International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) has four specific underlying causes for the rising incidences of NCDs—tobacco use, alcohol misuse, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet. 

In the end, the idea is that if we take some time as a society to tackle these issues in particular, the incidences of NCDs will go down. These four diseases represent 63 percent of all adult deaths globally.  

Astounding evidence indeed that NCDs are a global issue.

The problem can essentially be solved by focusing on these spheres of influence accordingly: the workplace; the market place; the community; and the macro-economic environment. 

In other words, these changes start in the workplace and permeate to all levels of society.

Staying Humble and Completing the Puzzle 

The Kings’ workplace has experienced all different kinds of earthquake-level changes this season.

DeMarcus flipping his lid on Westphal—and basically getting him fired—actually turned out for the better. They could stand to do a few things to maximize team effort.  

The IBLF suggests embedding health and wellness in the company’s culture, demonstrating ways employees can help improve the health of staff and their families and promoting active leadership. 

Head coach Keith Smart could reach all of these goals by establishing evaluation and monitoring programs for the players themselves. 

The design of a buddy system where bench players are forced to watch and mentor starters (and vice versa) could go a long ways for team bonding. 

In practice, starters would have to work extra hard to evaluate their teammates. By giving them grades on how they’re doing, and evaluating whether they’re truly competing for a spot, would keep everyone accountable and create an environment that screams ‘pass first’.  

Just imagine Tyreke Evans pushing Francisco Garcia every single day to get better.  

I can't stand Garcia personally, but that's just because he's not trained to play like a team player. His role models are Tyreke, Marcus, and DeMarcus (who are slowly but surely withering away with 'ball hog.')

Wouldn't you be jaded if you were Garcia?    

Like any standard hangover or painful breakup, time is essentially the only thing that will heal a broken workplace. 

Unlike a hangover, the Kings must work hard to make some headway with their issues (rather than just sitting back and letting them wear off). 

The Kings must—simply put—work as a team and be patient. 

If they're not careful, they may end up with a front-row seat to the decline of the American marketplace.