How did Eddie Mabo Day bring the Spurs closer together?
Effective coaching improves the unity and performance of the group. Communication, collaboration, and respect of the individual matters in achieving those imperatives.
Eddie Mabo Day (June 3rd) in Australia celebrates the recognition and granting of land rights to indigenous peoples. At one time, indigenous Australians were legally dispossessed of those rights.
In the midst of preparing to meet the Miami Heat in the NBA playoffs, Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich asked his team to help Patty Mills, an Indigenous Australian, celebrate Eddie Mabo Day. Popovich paid respect to Mills' customs and beliefs, sharing this important Australian holiday with his teammates.
In addition to teaching techniques and developing tactics, we choose how to shape the lives of those around us. Whether we recognize it or not, we promote camaraderie and culture of those around us.
The Spurs culture, which has a profoundly international flavor, relies on the primacy of the team and mutual respect. Coach Popovich, with his background as a college educator and Air Force intelligence officer, believes that players should understand more than what transpires between the lines.
Team building takes a high priority for the Spurs. "That way of sharing the ball carries on."
Even in this simple Spurs' drill, players must work together to score most efficiently. We have four groups competing simultaneously at three baskets to 15 makes. We usually play four rounds as a 'set'. The losers get one suicide, not for punishment, but to recognize that winning matters.