Photo by TJ Dragotta on Unsplash
Heylo, this is my first post about sports so far. I know this has mainly been a Substack about philosophy thus far, and will continue to be so. But ultimately, I just want to post my writing. No matter the topic. I will continue to post about philosophy and ask questions of life and the universe, but this newsletter is an extension of myself, so it wouldn’t be complete without some sports talk. Also, the human condition can frequently be encapsulated by the world of sports and how so many different people from different backgrounds interact together. My fascination with sports from a physical standpoint has eventually been trumped by my fascination of the mental aspect. And as I get wiser, how those two things are intimately intertwined when it comes to human performance. Not to mention the economic and societal impact of the huge amount of capital invested in them.
Trae Young - brilliant offensive player, whatever is the opposite of brilliant on defense. His passing genius might be underrated by those not in the know. He can handle, shoot, and pass with the best of them. My desire for Trae, other than him to stop being so awful at defending, is to realize, sometimes you have to pass the ball and it not lead to an assist. As a point guard, he has to empower his teammates. Be the coach on the floor, maximizing his teammates potential by putting them in position to succeed, which won’t always result in an assist.
An unwillingness to give the ball up or to work after you give the ball up, do not endear you to your teammates. It doesn’t matter how talented you are. With Trae’s lack of defensive acumen, he needs the other four players on the court to love him so much, they are willing to bust their ass to cover for his “defense.'' The players around him have to protect him. If they're disappointed because they don’t feel involved on offense, guess who’s not going to give a damn about covering for a ball hog on defense.
These are NBA players. Their whole lives have been in and around basketball. They notice when someone doesn’t cut, when someone doesn’t try to make their job easier on offense. They notice when someone doesn’t play team oriented basketball. What message do you think this sends? As a team’s leading player, you put a ceiling on your team’s growth by not playing the game the right way.
Everyone’s played pick up with the guy who takes multiple shots without passing the ball at all. Or giving it up once, but them giving it up twice on the same possession might cause a rip in the space time continuum. As soon as they shoot, a feeling of disgust enters your body and suddenly you just don’t feel like defending anymore because “This fucking guy.”
I would love to see Trae find a better balance between scoring guard and point guard. Just because you got an assist doesn’t mean you did a great job facilitating the offense. Context matters within the game. The box score will not, can not, and never will be able to tell the whole story of basketball. There’s nuances to the game that can’t be reduced to stats. The details matter greatly and typically are what separate teams from each other when it’s nut crunching time.
Sometimes you have to take a short term hit to set the proper foundation that can be built on in the future. For me, this means Trae, knowing he can get his own numbers, starts doing his best to get other guys their numbers. The greater respect his teammates garner, the easier things will be for him. Tough buckets are cool, but over time, over 100 possessions, those tough buckets might be fewer than you might realize. Trae could make the game easier on himself by empowering his teammates with true point guard play and playing effectively off ball to further allow them to make plays, score, and gain confidence, all necessary components of a successful playoff team.
Trae needs to score for this team to win. I’m not saying he should stop scoring, I’m saying he should pick his spots better. He needs to take the next step forward in leading a basketball team, which is thinking more deeply about helping his teammates establish a rhythm. Great players can typically establish a rhythm or get buckets at any point of the game. What truly separates players are those who can lift the overall level of their teammates as well. Just because you can score every time, doesn’t mean you should. As someone who is trusted with the ball, don’t you have a responsibility to help your teammates be comfortable on the court? I believe this pays off in the long run, establishing a culture of trust amongst the team. You’re still known as the best player on the team, but the extra effort to move the ball will result in a greater team spirit. And all the other corny shit that leads to winning. You know, good vibes and all that jazz. An underrated aspect of playing winning basketball.
It’s very important that if you're a player who’s teammates have to cover for you on defense, that they enjoy playing with you. I don’t know if that’s the case for Trae. It seems like people respect his offensive genius, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll go to war for you. And if the head coach is unable to convince them to fight, and they are unwilling to convince themselves, then the leader on the floor must do so. Can Trae be more Steve Nash, less James Harden?
Maybe Trae isn’t a point guard but a shooting guard with great passing ability and he needs to play beside a large facilitator to unlock his true calling as an NBA player. Can Trae be the best player on a championship team? Who knows. Championships are won by complete teams, not individuals, no matter how good someone is. He might be the best scorer, but that’s not synonymous with best player , no matter what casual observers might think. Scoring is important, but so is passing, defending, and building a sense of unity amongst the squad.
Trae is young, so maybe his prodigious talent has outpaced his leadership skills in his development. Older people tend to be haters, let’s be honest. Maybe Trae wasn’t empowered in the locker room the way he’s been on the court. But he’s still developing. Maybe it would have been easier to lead in the locker room if Trae showed more leading by example on the court, by which I mean sacrificing numbers and touches to spread confidence amongst his teammates, using his play style to build camaraderie in a way he might not be able to do off the court due to age.
Maybe Trae is just having a hard time breaking out of his old habits. The Hawks teams he cut his teeth on were pretty trash. Playing on bad teams might have instilled the idea that the best thing for the team is him being the #1, 2, and 3 options. But his teammates have gotten better and his game needs to adjust to better accommodate them.
I don’t want to come off too harshly on Trae, because sacrificing numbers when you’ve had success and might have led the team to a Finals run if not for a fluke ankle injury (Giannis was hurt as well, let’s not forget) but let’s remember, that run was predicated on people forcing the ball out of his hands more often. He still made a lot of plays, but Miami’s defense on him in last year’s playoffs will be the blueprint on how he’ll continue to be played. I can’t lie, last year there was no true number 2, although I believe that John Collins has more in his bag than he’s been allowed to show the last couple of years. Would the team be better if Trae made it a point to try and make someone else the leading scorer on the squad? And raised his efficiency in the process?
Maybe its the fault of the roster construction and the best option has been Trae putting up shots. The squad has been through a lot of injuries and hellish COVID issues last season. I commend him for playing as many games as he has. He and the team might not have had the proper time to build the chemistry necessary last year before they reached the playoffs due to the chaotic vibe of the last season. Maybe I’m just a basketball purist who doesn't understand the way that the league is trending. But I think that if Trae could use his gravity to open up the court more for his teammates, the Hawks playoff ceiling would rise.
Not to compare Trae to Jordan, but Jordan had the same problem at one point - he was an excellent scorer, but he didn’t do everything else that mattered. When he began passing, leading and ultimately making his teammates better, he (and the Bulls) turned into an unstoppable force.
I think the Steve Nash aspiration is a good one. If he can learn to control the tempo, he has something special.