A Lesson in Dynasties:
How San Antonio and New England Synergized Perfectly
The sandy streets of San Antonio sit quiet in the stillness of a sizzling heat wave.
The normally bustling cobblestone streets of Boston sit heavy under the weight of a snowstorm.
The differences end about there.
The New England Patriots and San Antonio Spurs were the sports dynasties of the 21st century.
Both have a lineage of dominance comparable to Tudor and Medici.
Yet instead of Henry VIII and Lorenzo Medici we have Bill Belichick and Gregg Popovich.
Two curmudgeonly coaches with strong military ties, who for the better part of two decades dominated their respective sports.
Popovich served in the Airforce for five years, playing on its Basketball team and winning the Amateur Athletic Union Championship in 1972.
Belichick’s father Steve, who served in the Navy during WWII, raised Bill in Annapolis, Maryland where he was an assistant football coach at the United States Naval Academy.
Both were able to create winning cultures that emulated the values of the Armed Forces: Loyalty to your teammates, Respect for your opponents and Accountability to the organization.
Other teams were flashier, Kobe and Shaq’s Lakers, the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom, The “Big Three” in Miami.
But none could sustain their dominance like the fundamental, tough, and intelligent teams of Belichick and Popovich. They preached a selfless, defensively sound style of play which resulted in fewer penalties and fouls, forcing their opponents to not only beat them, but not beat themselves.
Defensive Tactical geniuses would be apt to describe both coaches.
Popovich’s Spurs being Top 10 in defensive ratings 20 times in 21 seasons.
Belichick’s Patriots reinventing defense with versatile positionless personnel.
High flying offenses like St. Louis’ Greatest Show on Turf and Miami’s Big Three lost in 2001 and 2014 respectively, due to the physicality, depth of roster and unique defensive strategies employed by Belichick and Popovich.
Sustained championship expectations year in and year out are a by-product of culture.
That is the heart of a Dynasty, and it’s something that every General Manager and Head Coach dream to build.
It starts at the top and both Belichick and Popovich have a keen understanding of how to build a winning roster, as they have each held the position of General Manager, Belichick since 2000 and Popovich from 1994-2002.
The question inevitably is: How did they do it?
Buy-in. The players, especially the team leaders need to believe in the culture.
This can only happen when they adopt the tenets of the coach.
Becomes the manifestation of the organizations creed and leads by example on and off the floor.
A true leader who garners universal respect and rallies teammates when things are darkest.
Sounds like Tom Brady & Tim Duncan to me.
A coach could create the greatest culture known to sports-kind, but if there’s nobody behind the wheel, it’ll go nowhere fast.
That’s why you need Culture Drivers.
Both Brady and Duncan drove their respective cultures the longest, took it the farthest and were credited with most of its success; but they didn’t start it.
When Brady entered the league in 2000, he learned from established defensive veterans like Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel and Willie McGinest, the importance of the Patriot Way.
Things like: How to talk to the media, having accountability to teammates and ignoring the outside noise. Brady saw these veterans as mentors, guys who fully embraced the culture.
They didn’t just talk about how things were done, they lived it.
After being drafted 1st overall in 1999, Tim Duncan joined with “The Admiral” David Robinson a perennial all-star and future hall of famer. Robinson, like Popovich, was a military man having played basketball at the Naval Academy, before serving two years of active duty as a Civil Engineer. Unlike the rigid, strict guidance of the Patriot Way, Robinson took a softer approach with Duncan. David would show Tim his favourite video games, playing them long into the night. They would talk about their lives, their likes, and dislikes and before long the Twin Towers would be best friends on and off the court.
The Patriots and Spurs demanded similar things from their leaders’ but how they went about it was up to them, emblematic of their distinct personalities.
Eventually for both the Patriots and the Spurs there was a changing of the guard.
For the Patriots, it happened after Brady’s mentors retired after the 2008 season.
For the Spurs, it was after Robinson retired following the 2003 season.
Both franchises were officially Brady’s and Duncan’s.
To me, what separates a star from a superstar is consistency.
Everybody has talent at the highest level of sports, but can you overcome the mental hurdles of the game and produce results consistent to what is expected of you every night?
That is a question Brady and Duncan have answered emphatically.
Brady has played 23 seasons in the NFL with a 74.9% winning percentage; highest in league history.
Duncan has played 19 seasons in the NBA with a 71.9% winning percentage: higher than Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, and Shaq.
Since Brady become the starter in 2001, he’s averaged 29.5 TD to 9.6 INT over a 22-year period.
Tim Duncan averaged 19.0 points with a .506 field goal percentage over a 19-year period.
Sustained excellence is a product of discipline.
That’s why anybody can get hot for a stretch; look at Linsanity.
Or another could have a magical season; see Tim Tebow’s 2011 Broncos.
Momentary success is the antithesis of Brady and Duncan’s personalities.
Brady, with his intense killer like mentality, prowling the sidelines looking for any weakness in the defense to exploit.
Duncan, mysterious and quiet, hyper focused and always cool under pressure; nobody could get inside his head.
Brady and Duncan weren’t the underdogs, they weren’t overlooked or undervalued.
They were consistently in the crosshairs as the team to beat.
That’s what twenty years of consistent winning does; it forces opponents to look at their schedules and circle the Patriots’ and Spurs’ games.
Every game Brady and Duncan got the best from each opponent they played.
There were no easy days.
Sometimes, they had no help and would have to carry the team on their back.
At no point did they complain, blame, or give up on their team.
They fought through adversity and were the reasons their teams won.
True leaders whose reliability and leadership shone through the darkest moments.
Two players who are the Greatest of All Time at their respective positions, synchronous with the two Greatest Coaches of all time.
There’s no one way to win a championship but, the Patriots and Spurs way has won them multiple.
