Greg Skaljac

very few people truly understand the secret of basketball. as a star, it's not as simple as "making the right play" or hitting the open guy when you draw two. it's deeper than that. it's keeping your teammates engaged by getting them touches early. it's constantly moving, cutting and screening. it's giving them confidence and actually trusting them, because eventually you're going to need them. that's not the same as passing to whoever's open. it's hard to explain, but the all-time offensive greats mastered it: jokic, curry, magic, bird, lebron. jordan and kobe learned it in the second halves of their careers. it's playing a real TEAM game and getting everyone involved intentionally and proactively, not randomly and reactively. as a star, you want your teammates to have fun playing with you. you want them to feel like they're contributing, because they are. and when they feel that, they play harder on defense too. that's why the best teams ever ran offenses built on movement, screening, cutting, and stars working out of the high post. golden state's split cuts with steph and draymond. phil's triangle with jordan and kobe. jokic's nuggets. it all comes from the same concepts. it's not heliocentric ball where one guy drives, draws two, and kicks. that's randomness, not intentionality. and it's hard to fully explain unless you've actually played it.