Building High Performance Teams - TRUST

The Spurs had double-digit leads in each of the 5 games of the 2026 NBA Finals and yet lost the series 4-1. Most notably, they blew the largest lead in NBA Finals history (29) in Game 4, on the road in front of an outrageous MSG crowd. Obviously, there are many factors that contributed to these consistent fourth-quarter comebacks. The pundits can decide whether to blame the Spurs or give credit to the Knicks. I am here to talk about a unique aspect of high-performance teams that is the bedrock of accomplishment against high-level competition: the ability of teammates to trust each other when it matters most.

Simon Sinek is a thought leader on leadership who has done many TED Talks, written many books, and spoken on the topic at many high-level conferences. When discussing leadership, he talks about an instinctive social "contract" we have with the, for lack of a better term, "alpha" leader of the group. On a basketball team, the player who is the most experienced and the best is a natural choice to be the team leader. Teammates expect this person, for example, to take on most of the responsibility of scoring when it matters most. In business, the CEO is the de facto leader of a company. He makes the most money, has the most perks, etc. But when something goes wrong, he is the one who gets blamed. SEC college football is a prime example of this: when expectations are not met, the head coach is the first to go. The people following the leader do not mind that the CEO or head coach makes a ton of money or gets special perks; however, they do expect the social contract criteria to be met, whether that means winning games on a basketball court or keeping health insurance premiums low for employees of a tech company.

I will not pretend to know everything about who Jalen Brunson is or his story; however, we can see that his choices show he is a leader who understands this dynamic completely. Therefore, his teammates trust him with their whole being. And that empowers them to play their role as best they can. In July 2024, Jalen had an opportunity to wait one more year and sign a deal close to $269 million over 5 years. Instead, he decided to go ahead and sign a team-friendly deal worth $156 million over 4 years. This allowed the Knicks the cap space to sign Karl-Anthony Towns and other pieces around him to build a real championship contender.

Jalen Brunson went on to win NBA Finals MVP after scoring 45 of the Knicks' 96 points in the close-out game of the 2026 NBA Finals. A lot of athletes talk about leadership and sacrifice, but Jalen Brunson has been living it out. When building a true high-performance team, each member will have to make sacrifices for sure, but these sacrifices must start at the top. When Coach Mike Brown asked KAT to play differently throughout the playoffs, sacrificing his shot attempts, KAT was ready to make that sacrifice because Brunson had been living it every day. I am not saying they are a perfect team, but this was a special run by a special team. Leaders must know it starts with them.

In closing, you don't need to be the best player or a CEO to make sacrifices to lead. That can be done now, in whatever role you have. Building high-performance teams takes everyone.

Will Graham, CSCS