Some Business Lessons from the Cleveland Cavaliers' Remarkable Championship Victory

Last night, history was made in the National Basketball League. For the first time in the long history of the league, a team came back from being down 3 games to 1 in the Championship Final to win the series. This is a remarkable achievement in view of the fact that their opponent, the Golden State Warriors, had the best regular season record of all time, having won 73 games and lost only 9 times. The Warriors had an excellent team with two of the best “pure” shooters that the league has ever seen. Moreover, they had only lost 3 games on their home court in the entire season. On top of that, one of their players, Stephen Curry, was the league’s most valuable player.

The Cavaliers managed to win two games in Oakland during the series.  How did they do it? What are some business lessons that one can take away from this astonishing victory? Here is my take.

Change your game plan when it is not working

The Cleveland Cavaliers were soundly beaten in three of the first four games of the series, including a loss on their home court. Clearly, something wasn’t working. Sticking with the current plan would have almost certainly meant defeat. It is clear that the coaching staff changed their game plan for games 5, 6 and 7. The Cavaliers elevated their level of play. There was a much greater attention to detail. The team changed the personnel assignments to make sure the top shooters from the Warriors made more contested shots and had fewer “open looks” at the basket. The revised plan worked.

The Cavaliers shortened their bench

The coaching staff identified their top producers against the Warriors and gave them most or in game 7, all of the playing time. Certain players that had much more court time against lesser opponents did not play. The team counted on the players that were most successful against the Warriors, that had the “hot hand” to “carry the mail” and they delivered.

The coaching staff challenged their players to raise their level of play

Specific players were motivated to play better. Kevin Lowe, one of the team’s centers, who is not known as a great defender or rebounder, raised his game. His defensive and rebounding skills, not seen in prior games, were raised to an extraordinary level in game 7. Tristan Thompson, another large and agile forward, defended against the Warrior guards and did an exceptional job. It was clear that the Cavaliers were not going to fade or be denied, despite playing in a hostile environment in 2 or the last 3 games. They gave it their all.

Their leaders led the charge

Lebron James, who may not have been the league’s MVP the last two years, is the best basketball player on the planet. He signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers to win a championship, to bring a championship to northeast Ohio, an area that has not won a trophy in any major sports league in 52 years. He is the team’s leader and he demonstrated extraordinary leadership skills throughout the series. He willed his team to victory. To achieve a “triple double” in the most important game of the season - - - have points, rebounds and assists in double digits, not to mention some blocked shots at certain key points in the game, while playing 44 minutes in a 48 minute game - - - is nothing short of extraordinary. He was very deserving of the MVP award in the finals.

The other leaders on the team, Kyrie Irving, an extremely gifted guard and Tristan Thompson, a very athletic forward, also stepped up and carried their team throughout the series. The people who the Cavaliers looked to for leadership led their team to victory. As the leaders led, the other members of the team fulfilled their roles. They did what they had to do to allow the Cavaliers to be successful. It was a team victory in a team game.

Game 7 of the NBA finals may go down is history as the best championship game ever played, maybe the best basketball game ever played. Congratulations to the owners, coaching staff, players and fans of the Cavaliers for a great and surprising victory.

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