What does leadership mean to a basketball team? It can be hard to quantify. As with most nebulously defined qualities, however, we know it when we see it. We’ve spent the last few weeks watching the 90s’ Bulls, with their seemingly unflappable coach Phil Jackson, win title after title. And we’ve watched our world’s current political leaders become undone in the face of a global pandemic. These two examples are not the same, but they do offer insight into what leadership looks like when it is good — and when it is bad.
The Raptors have had leadership vacuums before.