I love this photo, but probably not for the reason you would think. It’s from the 1986 NBA playoffs where Michael Jordan made history by scoring a record breaking 63 points for the Chicago Bulls playing against the Boston Celtics.
In awe, a Celtics player said “I think he’s God disguised as Michael Jordan. He is the most awesome player in the NBA.”
But the Bulls lost.
It turns out you can have the best player in history playing one of the best games of their career and still lose. Because at the end of the game it doesn’t matter how many points any one individual scores. Basketball is a team sport and the Celtics as a team simply scored more points than the Bulls did as a team.
So that’s why I love this photo. Because it reminds me that a hard working and talented team can always beat individual heroics.
It’s why I think about this story every time I see a team that’s struggling but has one person being a hero. Of course having a hero on the team is great, but wouldn’t it be even better if they could help lift everyone else’s performance. Maybe if they could trade a little bit of their individual performance to spend time helping build a team of talented people working hard together.
