Thursday, February 12, 2026

Basketball - Championship Progression

“Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.”

― Francis Bacon 

Hope never replaces work. On the 1969 World Champion Baltimore Orioles, Mark Belanger hit a robust .283. For his 18 year career, he hit .228. Outliers help fuel championships. 

Teams often follow progressions.

  • Beat bad teams at home. 
  • Beat bad teams on the road. 
  • Beat good teams at home. 
  • Beat good teams on the road. 
Common sense informs that results parallel improvement in talent, competitiveness, and toughness. 

Among the top ten NBA teams, nine have winning records on the road. 
No NBA team in the bottom ten has a road winning percentage above .360.

According to Brave search AI, only six teams have winning records against teams with over .500 records 
One of the best NBA teams in my lifetime was the 1986 Celtics with Bird, McHale, Parish, Dennis Johnson, Ainge, and Bill Walton. The 1985–86 Boston Celtics, who won the NBA championship, had the following home and road splits during the regular season:

  • Home Record: 40–1 at Boston Garden, the best home record in NBA history at the time. 

  • Road Record: 27–14 away from home.

Including the playoffs, the Celtics went 50–1 at home, losing only once in the NBA Finals to the Houston Rockets.

 For the 2024–25 NBA season, the Oklahoma City Thunder had the following home and road splits during the regular season:

  • Home Record: 36–6 at Paycom Center

  • Road Record: 32–8

Including the playoffs, OKC was 44-8 at home. 

What's the message? If our vision is competing for championships, then we need the talent and 'competitive character' to win against good teams. "Anywhere, anytime."

Lagniappe. Championship attitude is a big ask. 

Lagniappe 2. "Control what you can control" is a cornerstone of Stoicism. 

 

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