We don't inquire often about the purpose of sport. Arguments about having a sound mind in a sound body darken in a world of concussions and a specialty devoted to injury (sports medicine).
Basketball teachers espouse accountability, commitment, discipline, effort, sacrifice, and teamwork. All translate well to personal and professional development.
Coaches come from various backgrounds and traditions with different identities and philosophies. Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr share far different zeitgeist than Bob Knight or Mike Krzyzewski. Fortunately, we have no political litmus test to determine the fitness of basketball coaches.
At the professional level, the Lombardi principles rules, "winning isn't everything; it is the only thing." In college, institutions make education a "priority", except when it isn't, when winning basketball games (one-and-done) or sacrificing institutional control (Baylor football) happen. How many college programs believe they have a legitimate (recruiting, talent, coaching, infrastructure, support) chance to win a national title?
What is the coach's job in high school? If "truth is everywhere the same", then everyone would acknowledge that winning matters or being competitive matters. Some might argue that growing culture and team building are priorities, or appeasing parents and players. Winning coaches resign or are forced out because Anson Dorrance's "competitive cauldron" either gets too hot or cooks a strange brew of dissatisfaction about minutes, roles, and credit.
At the developmental level, I favor a holistic approach. Teach players how to think. 'Styles of play' share common domains with military doctrine - infantry, cavalry, and artillery. The infantry pounds the action inside, cavalry reflects speed (transition), and artillery the perimeter attack, long-range bombing the contemporary analytic darling.
Priorities for young players should be family and academics first and extra-curricular activities next. Self-worth, the value of women, and adventure flow easily from the story of Annapurna and Arlene Blum. Overcoming adversity in sport recalls Lee's heroic victory against overwhelming force at Chancellorsville. Bowdoin professor Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain illustrates how education translates to service and victory at Gettysburg, en route to winning a Congressional Medal of Honor. The treatment of J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Manhattan Project, shows how perception changes despite epic performance. Hutchins' quote in the introduction sparks controversy in higher education to this day, eighty years later.
Do digressions into history and biography advance court education? Encouraging court awareness might not have changed Chris Webber's 1993 timeout. Knowing the battle does not always go to the strongest (and why) gets proven by 1996 Princeton. 4.8 seconds is a long time in 1995 and today.
Developing consensus presents challenges when so many believe they are "the smartest guy in the room." When we encourage our players to become not the best but their best, then we add value to their court education.
