In Redbelt, author David Mamet summed up distractions, "A man distracted is a man defeated."
Every team faces distractions, which appear in limitless forms. Maintaining focus is a central task for coaches and team leaders. The best teams stay engaged and 'on the same page.'
Human nature makes it hard for us to find contentment. In the magnificent opus Sapiens, Yuval Harari writes, "When the mind experiences something distasteful it craves to be rid of the irritation. When the mind experiences something pleasant, it craves that the pleasure will remain and will intensify. Therefore, the mind is always dissatisfied and restless. This is very clear when we experience unpleasant things, such as pain. As long as the pain continues, we are dissatisfied and do all we can to avoid it. Yet even when we experience pleasant things we are never content. We either fear that the pleasure might disappear, or we hope that it will intensify."
Call our need for more distractions.
Pride. Pride manifests as overconfidence, taking an opponent too lightly, the "trap game." The opposite of pride is humility. You've all heard the adage, "stay humble, stay hungry." Benjamin Franklin wrote, “There is perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive. Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility."
Humility was a core Don Meyer value, along with passion, unity, servant leadership and thankfulness. Basketball teaches humility - hard losses, injury, uneven performance - even great players have bad games.
Pride and humility relate to managing ego. Bill Russell had a mature approach, "my ego demands - for myself - the success of my team."
Envy. Envy relates to minutes, role, and compensation (including recognition). Madeleine Blois's outstanding book, In These Girls Hope Is a Muscle, reveals the rivalry between two star players that had to be bridged for success.
Envy occurs at every level of sport, from within and sometimes outside teams. You remember the extreme case of the Texas Cheerleader Murder plot. You've seen parents jockey for influence to elevate their child's role. Envy is as old as Cain and Abel.
Wrath. Anger is a 'pure' emotion. Where I grew up five decades ago, a disgruntled parent sought to have the coach replaced after his son was cut. In a town that had sent a championship football team to Bermuda three years earlier, suddenly for some it was about participation, not winning.
Sometimes another deadly sin (e.g. envy) morphs into wrath. Creating a straw man argument is one way wrath appears. Rather than attack a coach's competence an opponent may focus on a small part of the coach's approach to undermine them.
Wrath may get directed outside the team, such as at officials. But it lives within as bullying, sexism, racism, and other conflicts.
Sloth. Sloth is one of the deadly S's - selfishness, softness, and sloth (laziness). Sometimes sloth appears as complacency after success. Nobody misses the lazy employee who quits. "Don't cheat the drill." In ideal circumstances, the best players are the hardest workers and thrive with coaching.