SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - OCTOBER 02: Kris Dunn #11 of the Utah Jazz speaks during the Utah Jazz Media Day at Zions Bank Basketball Campus on October 02, 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
Kris Dunn cracks a very simple code for how the Utah Jazz can win
The Utah Jazz’s Kris Dunn cracks the code for success.
Kris Dunn may be on to something here. The point guard for the Utah Jazz spoke to the media this week and talked about a variety of things, but the most noteworthy (so far anyway) was his take on what a successful basketball team is. It turns out, that it may just be playing team basketball.
Citing the teams in the FIBA World Cup, Dunn spoke about how the best teams played ego-free basketball and did everything they could to support one another. Or as Dunn told the media, “Teams that play together, they win games”.
Dunn goes on to say (via Desert.com)
If you look at the FIBA games, the teams that play together, they win games. So I think if we play together and play hard, anything’s possible. We just got to have that mentality.
And while the wording has been a bit flippant, he’s not wrong. And he’s so far from being wrong, that it has to be pointed out how right he is; as so many people think that superstars win you championships. They don’t. Good teams win you championships.
So Dunn’s mentality of playing together and playing hard is exactly the type of thing that leads you to victories in the NBA. If you look at the recent trend of NBA champions, they’re all defined by teams that played together. The elite, super-teams of the NBA don’t make the Finals anymore, with the lone exception being the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 but that was a flukey year, and the Lakers weren’t even really a superteam.
Teams that are built around a central idea, and then cater to that idea with specific players who do specific things are the teams that do the most winning. The Jazz could be that, especially with Dunn in the lineup.
His defense will help the Jazz avoid some of their issues from last season and will give the team their best, well-rounded lineup in some time.
This team may not have a lot of superstars at the top of their roster, but they’re deep, and that depth, plus the ability to play united, will make the Jazz a threat all season.
