Back in 1993, long after he’d finished coaching the iconic Showtime Lakers, the great Pat Riley came up with one of the best sports theories ever — “The Disease of Me”, sometimes known as “The Disease of More”.
The Hall of Fame basketball coach theorized that when sports teams win big, the players on that team will turn their attention to basically looking out for themselves. Inherently, that isn’t a bad instinct, but on a sports team that requires the sacrifice of self for the greater good of the team, it can lead to widespread stat-chasing and attention-seeking, the dual death knells to teams’ championship hopes.