Throughout the history of the NBA and ABA, there has been a simple equation to winning a championship. It starts with coaching — a coach must be able to learn on the fly, motivate his players and know his team’s strengths and deficiencies. There are also the great players. Sometimes they score the points, other times they are simply the leader, coach, rebounding champion, pioneer type (looking at you, Bill Russell). Other than having a great coach or scoring tons of points, there are plenty of other roles needed to win a championship.
Today you’ll be reading the outline of what makes a championship team — outside of great coaching and star players; the roles, the archetypes, and of course, the mettle.