Victory cake has many ingredients
And a confusing recipe
BY HENRY ABBOTT
These days David Thorpe is busier than ever coaching some incredible NBA players.
When he has time, he tells me about it. The phrase he uses most is “make winning plays.” I like this. It’s very different from scoring points, making highlights, or earning money. Skying to block a shot into the seats is great; tipping the ball to a teammate is a winning play.
On a deeper level, a player might want to take a teammate out to dinner or travel to join his team for offseason workouts. Some players win by adding weight, others by losing it. There can be real performance benefits from sorting out life off the court. Marriage, diet, schedule—–all these things matter. The point is, players want to do all the things that cause wins.
But what are those things? Here’s a starter pack of how to think about it:
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