Los Angeles Lakers: Will championship level chemistry be found

Los Angeles Lakers fans are talking NBA Championships now that LeBron James has solidified the next three years in Hollywood, but none of this can happen without team chemistry.

The Los Angeles Lakers faithful are hopeful LeBron James can bring the team back to prominence, but there is still work to be done. No NBA Championship team won without chemistry, maybe there were a few, but not many.

When LeBron James fulfilled a dream for the city of Cleveland and beat the Warriors in seven games to bring the trophy home, I had assumed the team had no chemistry.

But I found out, through Richard Jefferson’s SnapChat and Instagram posts that there was a deep chemistry on the team. Mostly because of Jefferson and his former Arizona Wildcat teammate Channing Frye, who just returned to Cleveland even though he wanted to stay with the Lakers because they were the veterans who kept things light on the team.

Team chemistry is a science apparently, or at least it can be studied and optimized.

Deloitte Consulting performs team chemistry surveys for their employees. They have identified four personality styles which give teams a common language for explaining how people tick.

They found that “diverse teams fail to thrive” and they put together teams accordingly. Here are the four styles according to Deloitte:

Pioneers value possibilities, and they spark energy and imagination on their teams (like to wing it and feel their way to a goal).
Guardians value stability, and they bring order and rigor (like to follow steps to a goal).
Drivers value challenge and generate momentum (they love to debate and push the envelope).
Integrators value connection and draw teams together (don’t like conflict, these are glue guys).

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Most great leaders are Pioneers and Drivers and most Integrators and Guardians are the most stressed out according to Deloitte. You can imagine that Pioneers and Guardians will have conflict and Drives and Integrators will have conflict, so at Deloitte, they want to make sure everyone understands how the team can come together given the individuals differences.

I highly doubt that the Lakers front office gave team style surveys to each player before they made them an offer.

Michael Beasley and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are possibly great Integrators. Lance Stephenson was a pest when playing against LeBron, Rajon Rondo has already proven he is Guardian in that he has already started performing the steps to making the most out of this year on the Lakers by reviewing his new teammate’s tapes. JaVale McGee and we are just guessing here, is probably a Driver. LeBron would be a Driver and possibly a Guardian.

Whatever the case, they are going to have to put their egos at the door and let Luke Walton and his coaching staff coach the team. Yes, Miles Simon may only be developing the returning players from last season, but the coaches will have to adapt as well.

Bron Bron may give it a month, and if he doesn’t feel the coaching is working or hasn’t bought in, he will feel the need to right the ship. If LeBron agrees to be the coach on the court, pushing the narrative Walton sets forth because he understands how the Warriors win games, then this 2018-2019 experiment just might work.

I spend my Monday evenings talking sports on The Sports Collective, a live sports talk show in Los Angeles broadcasted from somewhere on Crenshaw Blvd, and I am the dissenting voice on deck (Lakers team chemistry discussion starts around the 14:44 mark).

ESPN’s First Take show took on this topic bringing in Lakers play-by-play announcer John Ireland who feels that any team that LeBron is playing for has a chance to go the Finals and win the Championship.

Next. Grading the “Suicide Squad” deals that followed LeBron James. dark

Ireland believes that the Lakers young core will make for a solid team with a solid chance for the NBA Championship. I think it’s going to take three years. What do you think?

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