Sunday, November 16, 2025

Basketball- Cognitive Dissonance - Clarifying Value and Role Conflicts

Cognitive dissonance is the tension of holding two opposing ideas in our heads at the same time. Every team feels it. Players feel it. Coaches feel it. The best coaches manage it; the best teams grow through it.

Gregg Popovich said it bluntly:

“Get over yourself.”

Bobby Knight put it differently with the same intent:

“Just because I want you on the floor doesn’t mean I want you to shoot.”

Those two lines summarize the conflict every team faces: players want more, coaches want better.

The Player Perspective: The Golden Triad

Most players (and, often, their supporters - family, friends, fans) want the Golden Triad:

  1. More minutes

  2. A bigger role — more touches, more shots

  3. Recognition — praise, stats, headlines (now NIL)

It’s human. Players work hard, sacrifice, and want something to show for it.

This shapes conflict. One player getting more usually means someone else gets less.

That’s where the dissonance begins.

The Coach’s Perspective: Impact Over Image

Coaches see the game differently. They value players who:

  1. Impact winning

  2. Make teammates better

  3. Embrace their roles while working to grow them

A player can move the scoreboard without dominating the scorebook.
Winning plays often go unnoticed by outsiders:

  • Rotations that erase open threes

  • Box-outs that let someone else grab the rebound

  • Screening angles that free scorers

  • "One more" and “hockey” passes that lead to assists

  • Charges, deflections, floor burns

  • Communication that organizes the defense

Coaches see these. Film captures these. Teammates appreciate these. But the public and the media don’t always understand these. That gap can create frustration and conflict.

Star vs. Starring in Your Role

Every athlete confronts a private tug-of-war:

  • “I want to be the star.”

  • “But the team needs me to star in my role.”

Some players live inside that tension for years. Great teams build harmony there. Weak teams languish there.

The truth is simple:

Roles are earned, not imagined. And roles evolve when players dominate the one they already have.

How Great Coaches Resolve the Conflict

1. They Celebrate the Invisible

Dean Smith made a habit of praising players who didn’t fill the stat sheet but filled the win column. He turned gratitude into culture.

2. They “Wear the Credit Cap”

Coaches take time - quietly, intentionally - to acknowledge the glue players: the screeners, defenders, communicators, rebounders, energy bringers.

Those conversations matter. They keep players connected to meaning, not just minutes.

3. They Use Transparency, Not Guesswork

When coaches clearly explain why a player’s minutes are what they are, dissonance decreases.

4. They Enlist Mental Skills Experts When Needed

Sports psychologists help players:

  • manage ego

  • separate identity from role

  • understand team ecology

  • build resilience

  • embrace contribution, not comparison

For some athletes, hearing the message through a different voice is transformative.

Summary: 

Cognitive dissonance isn’t a flaw - it’s the cost of caring. Players care about their future. Coaches care about people, process, and results. 

Teams succeed when they reconcile "psychological imbalances" through honesty, clarity, and shared purpose.

Lagniappe. Work on athleticism. 


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