Trust Within Teams

For me, the single most important element of a consistent, high achieving team is trust. I’ve coached some elite teams where you could literally see the way they trusted one another when watching them play. There are a lot of elements that go into great teams, and a high level of trust won’t automatically make your team great. But I’m convinced you won’t be great without it.

Trust is one of those intangible factors that is hard to evaluate and measure. Chemistry, sacrifice, competitive edge - there are a lot of these “soft” factors that we don’t always define for our players, yet we consider them essential for great teams. I think we often look at these factors through the wrong lens. We feel like they are important elements of a great team, and they are what helps make a team great. We assign these factors to our teams as a reason why the basketball works.

I think it’s the other way around. The basketball is what leads to these factors and helps create elite, sustainable success. Joe Torre used to say that “winning creates chemistry, chemistry doesn’t create winning.” We think that teams that trust each other (and have great chemistry) play basketball the right way. I think teams that play the game the right way develop trust and chemistry.

You can’t just take your guys to dinner together or let them all go to a movie together to create trust, chemistry or any other intangible factor you’d like to see in your team. That stuff is created on the basketball court, with the level your players are willing to compete for one another. When guys play hard every day, sacrifice for one another, and communicate at a high level when things are hard - all of the things that go on in practice every day - that leads to trust. And trust can help create chemistry.

The way your kids play for one another every day - that is where trust comes from. They don’t have to all like each other. But if they are willing to lay it on the line for their teammates every day, trust will develop.

Trust comes from the way you compete every day, not the other way around. You don’t compete for one another because you trust each other. You trust each other because of the way you compete for one another.