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      Victor Wembanyama Takes the Subway to Yankee Stadium to Throw First Pitch

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      It was a rather unremarkable Tuesday at Central Park West and Columbus Circle. Vendors sold hot dogs, coffee and overpriced bottled water nearby. A light breeze rustled the sycamore branches hanging over a bicycle rental kiosk filled with neat rows of mint green helmets. Then, at 4:41 p.m., a black Mercedes van crept through the jam of buses, police vehicles and flower-adorned bicycle cabs.Two teenagers watched as a lanky young man in dark sunglasses, black shorts and a white T-shirt unfolded himself out of the van and stood at more than seven feet tall.“Oh my god!” one of the teenagers said. “It’s Victor Wembanyama!”Wembanyama was in town for the N.B.A. draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday, when he will almost certainly be selected No. 1 overall by the San Antonio Spurs as one of the most anticipated prospects since LeBron James. He was on his way to Yankee Stadium to throw the ceremonial first pitch for Tuesday night’s game with Seattle. But before that, he wanted to try something he had never done: ride the New York City subway.Wembanyama greeted fans as he arrived at Columbus Circle.And as he entered the subway.“Watch your head!” a police officer bellowed as Wembanyama walked through the station and ducked beneath a cream-painted pipe on the ceiling.“I’m used to it,” said Wembanyama, who is at least 7-foot-4. In France, where he grew up and played professional basketball last season for Metropolitans 92, he has ridden the Paris metro plenty of times. By now, at 19 years old, he is generally accustomed to bobbing his head to keep it from hitting things.He had flown to the New York metropolitan area on Monday afternoon, when he was swarmed by fans at Newark Liberty International Airport. Now he had just visited the offices of the N.B.A. players’ union on Sixth Avenue, about a block from Bryant Park. He needed to catch a Bronx-bound D train at Columbus Circle. A teammate from France, Bilal Coulibaly, who is also expected to be drafted early on Thursday, Wembanyama’s agents and his communications manager had come along.Wembanyama’s family met him at the subway station — his parents, brother and sister — as did police officers, N.B.A. security personnel, in-house content producers for the N.B.A., and reporters and photographers from two French news media outlets and The New York Times. It was a formidably sized group for a Tuesday afternoon subway car.At over seven feet tall, Wembanyama had to bend his head to keep it from touching the ceiling of the subway car.Exiting the D train at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.Harry Cisse, 17, who was on the way to a friend’s graduation, sighed deeply as the group packed onto the train, leaving little space to move or breathe.“WELCOME TO NEW YORK!” a woman’s voice boomed in the distance as the train began to roll. She added, as Wembanyama stood in the middle of the car with his head bent: “HOW TALL IS HE?”Sebastian Cardona, 22, immediately texted and called some friends on FaceTime with his iPhone to let them know he was on the train with Wembanyama.“Rookie of the year!” Cardona yelled before trying to get Wembanyama to turn around for a photo. Cardona, too, was on his way to see the Yankees. He said he knew Wembanyama was going to throw out the first pitch, but he never expected to see him on the subway.A few feet away, a woman shouted in French for Wembanyama to turn. He obliged a couple of times and smiled for her photos. Aladji Sacko, 25, a Frenchman who now lives in New York, was standing next to the woman on his way home.“I’ve only seen him on TV,” Sacko said as he grinned. A few minutes later he wove through the crowded car to sneak closer for a photo.Wembanyama surrounded by police and his entourage, walking in the Bronx.Many eager fans awaited a Wembanyama signed baseball.After the first stop, at 125th Street, Wembanyama found a seat. Two seats away, a woman’s headphones flashed colored lights. She closed her eyes and ignored the commotion around her.Wembanyama smiled as he sat, then spent most of the ride like anyone might — checking his phone, chatting with his companions. He did a short interview with the N.B.A.’s entertainment group, telling them he wished he had a chance to visit more of the city. After Thursday night, Wembanyama is expected to be whisked off to San Antonio.It took four stops on the D train to go from Columbus Circle to Yankee Stadium. Wembanyama and his court left the train together, ascending a yellow-tiled stairwell into the Bronx. People driving and biking by Wembanyama yelled to get his attention. One person in a car shouted, “Go Spurs!” and Wembanyama smiled to acknowledge the cheer.Trying to see if the Yankees were a good fit.Wembanyama, left, spoke to Yankees catcher Jose Trevino inside the Yankees’ dugout.Fans waiting in line to enter Yankee Stadium grabbed their cellphones to record Wembanyama as he passed by, chattering excitedly about the N.B.A. draft.Inside the stadium, Wembanyama spent some time in the dugout with Yankees catcher Jose Trevino, perhaps getting some advice on his impending pitch. Wembanyama fiddled with a baseball that looked like a golf ball in his outsize hands. He left the dugout to sign autographs and pose for pictures with children.He still had more than an hour before his pitch.When it was finally time, he clapped as he approached the mound. The crowd, still filling in, cheered to welcome him. Wembanyama wound up and threw the pitch too far outside for Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt, stationed behind home plate, to catch it.Wembanyama shrugged, and then he laughed.Wembanyama threw a wild first pitch. More

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      NBA Draft Preview: 5 Players to Know

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      Wembanyama, the French star, is expected to be the top pick. But prospects like Anthony Black of Arkansas and Iowa’s Kris Murray can help teams, too.The only mystery surrounding the top pick in this year’s N.B.A. draft was resolved a month ago. On May 16, the San Antonio Spurs won the draft lottery, giving them the opportunity — or, perhaps more aptly, the obligation — to select Victor Wembanyama with the first overall pick.Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 French superstar, is perhaps the most-hyped N.B.A. prospect since LeBron James, and for good reason: He shoots the ball like a modern lead guard and blocks it like a classic paint-patrolling center. Within his eight-foot wingspan, Wembanyama has just about every skill N.B.A. teams seek in a franchise player.“There is no better environment for him than the Spurs,” said Jonathan Givony, a draft analyst for ESPN. He added: “Everyone around him is thrilled for him. I don’t see the Spurs messing this up.”But while Wembanyama, 19, is the draft’s ultimate prize, there are plenty of potentially franchise-altering prospects throughout the lottery — the celebrated top 14 picks — and even into the second round.“There are tiers to this draft,” Givony said. “Victor is in a tier of his own. Then it’s Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson after that. And from there, it really opens up.”Miller, a forward from Alabama, and Henderson, a guard from the N.B.A. G League’s Ignite, are expected to be drafted within the first few picks.Here are five other players to know in the 2023 N.B.A. draft.Basketball is Anthony Black’s first love, but his first scholarship offers came from football teams.Nelson Chenault/USA Today Sports, via ReutersAnthony Black6-6, 210 pounds, guard, ArkansasAnthony Black’s first college scholarship offers came from football teams. As a sophomore wide receiver for Coppell High School in Texas, Black hauled in 39 passes for 762 yards and eight touchdowns. His play got the attention of powerhouse programs like Arkansas, Baylor and Cincinnati. But basketball was his first love.“No doubt I would have made it to the N.F.L. if I would have focused on football,” Black, 19, said. “I was pretty raw with it. I didn’t get to reach my potential. Once I started getting basketball offers during my sophomore year, that became my focus.”Black was born into an athletic family: His mother was a scholarship athlete at Baylor in soccer; his father, in basketball. But they never pushed him to become a Bear, which is how he wound up at Arkansas, where he averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists in one season. He became a more confident and reliable shooter as the season wore on, but the reason he’s projected as a potential top-10 pick is his defense. He puts great pressure on the ball and can even defend big men because of his strength and size.“Defense is what I’ve always hung my hat on,” Black said. “I was always the best defender on the team, or in the league or in my area. I sometimes haven’t been aggressive enough on offense so that I could be more active on defense. To me, getting scored on is pretty embarrassing.”Jordan Hawkins helped guide the Huskies to their fifth basketball title.Soobum Im/Getty ImagesJordan Hawkins6-4, 186 pounds, guard, ConnecticutDuring the 2022 N.C.A.A. Division I men’s basketball tournament, Jordan Hawkins watched from the sideline as New Mexico State, a 12th seed, upset his fifth-seeded Connecticut Huskies in the round of 64. In the postgame locker room, Hawkins told Coach Dan Hurley, “This will not happen again next year.”He spent the summer getting basketball advice from UConn alumni and N.B.A. greats like Richard Hamilton and Ray Allen. He also prioritized his mental strength, beginning a daily meditation practice with the Calm app. All that work paid off. After posting one of his worst performances of the season — 5 points on 11 shots — in UConn’s second-round loss to Marquette in the Big East tournament, Hawkins pledged to play better during the N.C.A.A. tournament.“The best players show up in March,” Hawkins, 21, said. “I wanted to prove that I was one of the best players at my position — and of the best players, period, in the country.”In the N.C.A.A. tournament, Hawkins was named the most outstanding player in the West Regional after averaging 22 points per game and sinking nine total 3-pointers against Arkansas and Gonzaga. (He shot 38.8 percent from 3 for the season.)Before the team’s Final Four matchup against Miami, Hawkins contracted a stomach bug. He threw up more than a dozen times before the game and almost passed out during the first half. But he remembered the promise he had made to his coach. He helped guide the Huskies to their fifth basketball title.“That’s what I’m bringing with me to the N.B.A.,” he said. “I have the confidence that I’m a great defender, and I believe that I’m the best shooter in the draft. But more than that, I know how to buy into my role and work hard and win championships.”GG Jackson has a combination of size and skill that’s hard to find.L.G. Patterson/Associated PressGG Jackson6-8, 214 pounds, forward, South CarolinaIn a seven-month stretch last year, GG Jackson became the No. 1 player in the class of 2023, committed to North Carolina, decommitted from North Carolina, reclassified to the class of 2022 and committed to South Carolina. It was a tumultuous time for a player who had yet to turn 18, but by the start of the college basketball season, Jackson believed he had made the right decision.“The coaches told me I had the power to uplift a lot of people in my home state by staying in South Carolina,” he said. “Plus, staying so close to home made my mom happy.”Jackson posted a respectable 15.4 points per game this season, but he made just 38.4 percent of his shots. He also publicly criticized his coaches on Instagram Live after a loss to Arkansas in February. Jackson apologized, and he said he owned up to the outburst during meetings with N.B.A. teams. Although he’s not projected to be a top-10 pick, he has a combination of size and skill that is hard to find and that could persuade a team to select him in the first round.“I remember where I came from in basketball,” Jackson said. “I was a frail kid who had to wear goggles. I got to that No. 1 spot, but now I’m starting back over. I’m not the bad guy that people perceive me to be. I’m serious about the player and person I want to become.”Kris Murray averaged 20.2 points per game last season at Iowa.Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesKris Murray6-8, 213 pounds, forward, IowaWhile Keegan Murray matriculated to the N.B.A. last June, his twin brother, Kris, decided to stay at Iowa for another season. When the Hawkeyes came together for a workout a few weeks later, Kris came to a realization: This would be the first practice without his brother.“I knew I could be an N.B.A. player eventually, but going back to college gave me the chance to make a name for myself,” Murray, 22, said. “Basketball-wise, I got to be the focal point of our team. I got to lead our team, to be on top of the scouting reports for other teams, to be the guy everyone’s trying to stop. That was an invaluable experience for me.”It was also a successful experience. Murray doubled his points and his minutes over the previous season but maintained his field-goal percentage and improved as a passer and rebounder. His 20.2 points per game were slightly behind Keegan’s 23.5 the season prior.“He gives me crap, and I give him crap,” Kris said, referring to his brother. “But we really like to gang up on our dad.”Their father, Kenyon Murray, averaged a mere 9.9 points per game during his four-year run with the Hawkeyes in the mid-1990s.In April, Kris watched Keegan start for the Sacramento Kings in a first-round playoff game win over the Golden State Warriors. And in May, the brothers got to spend a week together training and preparing for the next N.B.A. season.“I feel like my player comparison in the draft is pretty obvious,” Kris said. “It might be a little bit lazy, but it’s pretty accurate.”Rayan Rupert’s (left) goal is to be one of the best players in the league.Emily Barker/Getty ImagesRayan Rupert6-6, 193 pounds, forward, FranceRayan Rupert, 19, was born into one of the best basketball families in France: His father, Thierry, was a former captain of the French national team; his sister, Iliana, won a W.N.B.A. championship last summer with the Las Vegas Aces. Thierry died when Rayan was 8, but he instilled in his children a love for the game that he had dedicated his life to.“For me and my sister, it’s important to represent the Rupert name,” Rayan said. “I’m very proud of my father. At the same time, I want to have my own career. I want people to know me not only as the son of Thierry, but also as Rayan.”After playing at the prestigious French academy INSEP for four years, Rupert signed with the New Zealand Breakers as part of the N.B.L.’s Next Stars development program. He was following in the footsteps of his best friend, Ousmane Dieng, who went from INSEP to the Breakers to the Oklahoma City Thunder as the 11th overall pick in last year’s N.B.A. draft.He’s part of a movement of French players who have turned into first-round N.B.A. draft prospects, and he has known Wembanyama since he was 12. But for now, he’s more concerned with making a name for himself.“I’m very happy for Victor and for all the French players in this class,” he said. “But my goal is to be one of the best players in this league. That’s my only focus.” More

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      Ja Morant Suspended 25 Games for Second Gun Video

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      Morant, the Memphis Grizzlies star, was suspended for 25 games for recklessly waving a gun in a video shared on social media in May. It was the second time he had done so.As the United States grapples with the very American problem of rampant gun violence, the issue of gun safety has touched the N.B.A. through one of its brightest young stars, Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies, who was suspended for 25 games on Friday after recklessly waving a gun around in a social media video for a second time.Morant, 23, is a small but electrifying point guard with one of the most popular jerseys in the N.B.A. and 12.5 million followers across Twitter and Instagram. But against a backdrop of frequent mass shootings, and as he plays in a city that has struggled with gun violence, Morant has used his growing sphere of influence to model behavior that even he has acknowledged was harmful.For years, the image-conscious N.B.A. has endeavored to be seen as progressive, particularly on the fraught topic of gun violence. Many coaches and stars, like LeBron James and Stephen Curry, have spoken out about gun safety. The Golden State Warriors, last season’s champions, met with officials at the White House for a panel on the issue in January. Though it does not appear that Morant broke any of the league’s firearms rules with his videos — he didn’t bring a gun into a locker room, as two players were suspended for doing in 2010 — his carelessness has threatened to undermine the league’s efforts.The Golden State Warriors, including guard Stephen Curry, center, and Coach Steve Kerr, right, spoke to White House officials about gun safety during a trip to Washington in January to celebrate their 2022 championship.Doug Mills/The New York Times“The potential for other young people to emulate Ja’s conduct is particularly concerning,” N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. He added that the length of the suspension — about a third of the season — was meant to show that “engaging in reckless and irresponsible behavior with guns will not be tolerated.”Tamika Tremaglio, the executive director of the N.B.A. players’ union, said in a statement Friday that Morant had shown remorse and that the punishment was “excessive and inappropriate.” She added that the union would “explore with Ja all options and next steps.” The N.B.A. said it had suspended Morant for conduct detrimental to the league.In early March, the N.B.A. suspended Morant for eight games after he live-streamed video on Instagram as he laughed and brandished a firearm in a nightclub near Denver after a game. Morant apologized and said he had checked into a health facility in Florida to better deal with stress. Then, on May 13, one of Morant’s friends streamed video of him waving a gun as he rode in a vehicle. The Grizzlies suspended him indefinitely, and Silver told ESPN he was “shocked.”Kris Brown, the president of Brady, a nonprofit that works to curb gun violence, said she found it “appropriate” that the N.B.A. had taken action to penalize Morant.“Firearms may be a tool in some instances, but they can also kill, maim and injure other people if not handled and stored properly,” Brown said. She added: “Public figures have a responsibility to be held accountable for how they engage on these kinds of life-and-death issues. It’s not a small thing. People could die if they handle firearms in such a cavalier way, and they do every day.”In 2015, the N.B.A. worked with Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that supports gun safety legislation, to create commercials with star players and shooting survivors discussing gun violence. The ads were timed to air during the league’s marquee Christmas Day slate of games.Last May, after 19 students and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, N.B.A. teams in the playoffs displayed messages at their arenas asking fans to urge their political representatives to pass “common sense” gun safety legislation.Twenty-one crosses stand in the town square in Uvalde, Texas, for the victims of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in May 2022.Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The New York TimesHundreds of people marched to San Antonio City Hall in June 2022 for the March for Our Lives rally, a nationwide protest demanding change to gun laws.Montinique Monroe for The New York TimesBut even as the N.B.A. has adopted an outwardly progressive stance on gun safety, its comments have not been in line with the actions of several of its team owners. Among others, the Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, the Knicks’ James Dolan and the DeVos family, which owns the Orlando Magic, have all donated to prominent Republican politicians who have opposed tighter gun restrictions.The N.B.A.’s collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union prohibits players from carrying firearms in any league- or team-operated facility, which includes team planes.The most significant gun-related suspension came in 2010, after Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, who played for the Washington Wizards, threatened each other with guns in the team’s locker room. (Arenas has said he was joking.) Arenas was suspended for 50 games, 12 games more than Crittenton, because he made light of the situation with gun gestures during a game while the incident was being investigated.“I think it affected — I don’t even want to say legacy — my name,” Arenas told The New York Times last month. “It affected it really bad. I said it back then, where the most disappointing part of it all is I did 100 things right. I did one wrong thing and that’s all everyone remembers. That’s what really hurts you the most.”Other gun-related incidents have earned much lighter penalties. Raymond Felton was suspended for four games in 2014 after he pleaded guilty to felony gun possession. In 2007, Stephen Jackson was suspended for seven games after he pleaded guilty to a felony count of criminal recklessness. Months before, he had fired a gun outside a strip club in Indianapolis.Tremaglio, the union’s executive director, said in her statement Friday that Morant’s punishment was “not fair and consistent with past discipline.” In addition to the 25-game suspension, Morant will have to meet certain unspecified conditions and, Silver said, “formulate and fulfill a program with the league that directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior.”The N.B.A. had been investigating the second video since the middle of May but had delayed releasing the findings until after the N.B.A. finals. The Denver Nuggets won their first championship on Monday by defeating the Miami Heat in five games. Morant’s Grizzlies had been eliminated from the playoffs at the end of April.Before Game 1 of the N.B.A. finals on June 1, Silver said it would be “unfair” to the Nuggets and the Heat to announce the Morant results while they were still competing.Commissioner Adam Silver delayed the announcement of Morant’s punishment until after the N.B.A. finals because he said distracting from the games would not be fair to the teams still competing.David Zalubowski/Associated PressThere was also a business reason to wait: The N.B.A. finals are as much an advertisement for the league as they are a clash of two conference champions.“You don’t want it to be the story that gets talked about during the finals,” said Lawrence Parnell, the director of the strategic public relations program at George Washington University. He added, “It’s all about shaping the narrative to be about the players and about the game and not about someone who’s not even there.”Contrast that with this week at the U.S. Open in golf, where much of the conversation has been about the pending, and heavily criticized, merger of the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf.But Morant is not easily forgotten, and neither is gun safety.Morant’s dynamic play made him a fixture on highlight shows, and he has led the Grizzlies to the playoffs three times. Morant will be entering his fifth season, having already made two All-Star teams. This spring, Nike released his first signature sneaker — typically a signifier of true N.B.A. stardom.For the moment, Nike appears to be standing by him, just as it did as he faced an avalanche of criticism after the first video.“We are pleased that Ja is taking accountability and prioritizing his well-being,” Nike said in a statement on Friday. “We will continue to support him on and off the court.”Morant seemed to be aware of his celebrity platform as he apologized in a statement Friday.“To the kids who look up to me, I’m sorry for failing you as a role model,” he said. “I promise I’m going to be better. To all of my sponsors, I’m going to be a better representation of our brands. And to all of my fans, I’m going to make it up to you, I promise.”Powerade, which had announced Morant as a new endorser in March, did not respond to a request for comment about his suspension.The Grizzlies said in a statement that they respected the N.B.A.’s decision to suspend Morant. “Our standards as a league and team are clear, and we expect that all team personnel will adhere to them,” the team said.Morant, in his apology, asked for a chance to prove that “I’m a better man than I’ve been showing you.” But it may be difficult.“I think there’s an opportunity to have a positive story come out of this for the league and for Ja Morant,” Parnell said. “But going to counseling and doing a mea culpa is not going to make any difference in his reputation.” More

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      Michael Jordan to Sell Majority Stake in Charlotte Hornets

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      Jordan, the former star of the Chicago Bulls, purchased the team in 2010.Michael Jordan, the owner of the Charlotte Hornets and one of the most storied athletes in sports history, has agreed to sell his majority share in the team to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, two private equity investors.The team was valued at $3 billion, according to a person familiar with the details of the agreement but not authorized to discuss them publicly. The team, in its announcement of the sale, did not disclose what percentage of his stake Jordan would sell, but said he would remain a minority investor. Jordan, a North Carolina native, first purchased the team in 2010 for $275 million, when the team was known as the Bobcats.The acquiring group also includes the country music star Eric Church and the rapper J. Cole, both of whom are from North Carolina.Jordan won six championships with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s and is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player ever. More

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      Miami Heat Prove Value of Patience, Even in NBA Finals Defeat

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      There was something novel and fun about the Heat as they pulled off upset after upset as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed.Jimmy Butler studied a box score. Max Strus pulled on a sweatshirt from Lewis University, the Division II school in Romeoville, Ill., that had offered him a scholarship when high-major programs passed on him. And as fireworks crackled outside, Udonis Haslem — a power forward and a staple of the Miami Heat for the past 20 seasons — reflected on the final game of his playing career.“Proud of these guys, proud of my team,” Haslem, 43, said. “I told the guys I have no complaints, no regrets. They gave me a final season that I’ll never forget, and that’s all I can ask for.”Inside the visiting locker room at Ball Arena on Monday night, there was sadness but also some joy. There was resignation mixed with no small amount of pride. But most of all, in the wake of the Heat’s 94-89 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of the N.B.A. finals, there was the sense that Miami had lost the series to a superior opponent and a worthy league champion, and sometimes it really is that simple.“We would have liked to be able to climb the mountaintop and get that final win,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But I think this is a team that a lot of people can relate to, if you ever felt that you were dismissed or were made to feel less than. We had a lot of people in our locker room that probably have had that, and there’s probably a lot of people out there that have felt that at some time or another.”The Heat couldn’t hold on to a slim lead in the fourth quarter of Game 5. They won one game in the series: Game 2 in Denver.Daniel Brenner for The New York TimesSome of the story lines that accompanied the Heat on their deep playoff run may be irritatingly familiar by now. How nine of the players on their roster were undrafted. How they seemed to thrive on adversity. How Spoelstra flummoxed arguably more talented opponents with his zone defense. And how Butler and Bam Adebayo, the team’s two best players, filled their more unsung teammates with self-assurance.But there was also something novel and fun about how the Heat, as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed, went about their business — pulling off upset after upset, surprise after surprise. They were just the second eighth seed to reach the N.B.A. finals.“I’m just grateful,” Butler said of being around his teammates. “I learned so much. They taught me so much. I wish I could have got it done for these guys because they definitely deserve it.”Most of all, perhaps, Miami’s playoff run was a testament to organizational stability, a concept that sounds about as bland as boiled potatoes. But the Heat — along with the Nuggets, who have stuck with their core and their coaching staff through a smorgasbord of ups and downs — have shown that being boring and exercising patience have value, that constant change is seldom the answer.Cheering the Heat in Game 3 of the N.B.A. finals in Miami.Rebecca Blackwell/Associated PressButler said he wished he could have won a championship for his teammates.Megan Briggs/Getty ImagesSpoelstra, who has been with the Heat since the mid-1990s, first as a video coordinator and later as an assistant, personifies that approach. He has been the team’s coach for 15 seasons, making him the second-longest-tenured coach behind San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich — no small feat when coaches in professional sports tend to be shuffled like playing cards. About a third of N.B.A. coaches were fired or quit in the 2022-23 season.And in an era in which some teams stockpile draft picks and strategize about the best way to land top-shelf prospects — this is less diplomatically known as “tanking” — the Heat have continued to prioritize developing their young players while striving to be competitive, even when it is hard and often unrewarding work.Spoelstra recalled training camp, which he described as hypercompetitive. At the time, the Heat were only a few months removed from a disappointing end to their 2021-22 season: a Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. The memory of that game seemed to fuel them.“We could barely get through those full-contact practices without everybody screaming at each other, yelling at the coaches that are officiating, arguing about the scores,” Spoelstra said.Erik Spoelstra has coached the Heat for 15 seasons.Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports Via Reuters ConAnd then something odd happened: Miami spent months wrestling with mediocrity. The N.B.A. is not an easy business. The Heat lost seven of their first 11 games. In late December, they had won only half. By April, they were bound for the play-in bracket, and with the No. 7 seed in the East on the line, they lost to the Atlanta Hawks. Needing to defeat the Chicago Bulls to secure the conference’s final playoff spot, Miami trailed by as many as 6 points in the fourth quarter — and then won by 11.The entire process, though, proved important. Despite their struggles, the Heat ignored the lure of quick fixes. They did not flip their roster at the trade deadline. Instead, they kept at the daily grind while banking on the belief that they would find their rhythm, that they would get it right when it mattered, that they were becoming more resilient.“Nobody let go of the rope,” Adebayo said.If the Heat slipped into the playoffs as an afterthought, they crashed the party once they arrived. They needed just five games to eliminate the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round (leading Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ star forward, to offer his viral discourse on the definition of “failure”), then beat the fifth-seeded Knicks in six games. Miami proceeded to reach the N.B.A. finals by exacting a measure of revenge on the Celtics, walloping them in Game 7 of the conference finals — in Boston, no less.Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry had 12 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists in Game 5.Daniel Brenner for The New York TimesAs for facing a 3-1 series deficit to the Nuggets ahead of Monday’s game, some members of the Heat expressed as much confidence as ever.“We’ve been through so much adversity this season,” Adebayo said. “Who else would be in this situation?”Some of it could have come off as public posturing, except that the Heat seemed truly determined to extend the series. The Nuggets went 5 of 28 from 3-point range in Game 5, an effort that was due in part to the Heat’s aggressive defense. Butler, meanwhile, emerged from hibernation to go on a late-game scoring binge, and his two free throws gave Miami an 89-88 lead with 1 minute 58 seconds remaining.But the Heat went scoreless the rest of the way as the Nuggets seized their first championship behind Nikola Jokic, their do-everything center.“The last three or four minutes felt like a scene out of a movie,” Spoelstra said. “Two teams in the center of the ring throwing haymaker after haymaker, and it’s not necessarily shotmaking. It’s the efforts. Guys were staggering around because both teams were playing and competing so hard.”Spoelstra added that it was probably his team’s “most active defensive game” of the season.“And it still fell short,” he said.Udonis Haslem said he would retire after this season, his 20th with the Miami Heat.Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesAfterward, Haslem said he was already thinking about next season and how the team’s returning players could build off their experience in the playoffs. He will not be among them.Haslem, who signed with the Heat in 2003 and won three championships with the team, is retiring. And while he played sparingly in recent seasons, he wielded outsize influence in the locker room. He also operated as a connective thread for the organization, as someone who understood pressure and hard work and the way things are done in Miami, from one season to the next — a phenomenon more commonly known as Heat Culture.Haslem pledged that he would still be around next season.“Somewhere close by,” he said. “Somewhere close by, I can promise you that.” More

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      The 1975-76 Denver Nuggets Almost Beat Dr. J to Win a Championship

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      Eight-year-old L.J. Jones thought his grandfather Ralph Simpson had been keeping a secret from him. So he demanded answers.“Grandpa, can I ask you something?” Simpson, 73, recalled his grandson saying, imitating the young boy’s serious tone.“Grandpa,” the boy said. “Somebody told me you was famous.”Simpson had to laugh. After all, he is not the most famous Ralph; that might be Ralph Lauren, or Ralph Waldo Emerson. Nor is he the most famous member of his family; that would be his daughter, the Grammy Award-winning soul singer India.Arie.“Grandpa’s not famous,” Simpson told his grandson. “I played for the Nuggets and played professional basketball.”Still, L.J. wanted to know, “Why you didn’t tell me?”Simpson started on the 1975-76 Denver Nuggets in the American Basketball Association. They were the only Nuggets group to make it to a championship round until this year’s team reached the N.B.A. finals. The 1975-76 squad lost the A.B.A. championship series in six games to Julius Erving’s New York Nets. The A.B.A. and N.B.A. merged before the 1976-77 season, and the Nuggets spent the next 47 years in basketball purgatory, with a few teams that inspired confidence but none that reached the finals.Ralph Simpson said his 1976 Denver Nuggets finals team was better than the Nets team, led by Erving, that won that year.Focus on Sport/Getty ImagesNow, the Nuggets are one win away from the first championship in franchise history. As they try to close the series at home Monday in Game 5 against the Miami Heat, they’ll be cheered on by some of the men who played for that A.B.A. title.“It has been so cool because the Nuggets currently making it to the finals has brought out a lot of memories for people that didn’t realize that Denver had an A.B.A. team that went to the finals,” said Gus Gerard, 69, a backup player on the 1976 finals team. He added, laughing: “The only frustrating thing for me is they’re showing all these highlights and it’s always the same ones of Julius Erving, the great Dr. J, dunking on us left and right.”Like today’s Nuggets, the 1976 team routinely demoralized opponents with its near unstoppable offense, but often felt like the underdog. The older Denver team also toiled in obscurity for much of the season.A Sports Illustrated article on May 29, 1976, lamented that “Denver games are not on national television,” and that “Denver box scores do not appear on most sports pages.” The article noted that some “large media outlets” still referred to the Nuggets as the “Denver Rockets,” which had been their name until 1974. The franchise changed its name because it planned to move to the N.B.A., where the name Rockets was already taken by Houston.The 1975-76 Nuggets had the best record in the A.B.A. They were led by three future Hall of Famers: Bobby Jones, Dan Issel and David Thompson. Nicknamed Skywalker, Thompson had been the top draft pick in 1975 in both the A.B.A., by the Virginia Squires, and the N.B.A., by the Atlanta Hawks. But he chose to sign with the Nuggets instead.“David Thompson, man, I used to get myself standing and watching him when I’m in the game,” said Byron Beck, 78, who played for Denver in all nine of its A.B.A. seasons and its first in the N.B.A. “You know, you catch yourself, ‘Oh!’ and he’s already gone doing something spectacular.”They were coached by Larry Brown, who won an A.B.A. championship as a player in 1969 with the Oakland Oaks, a men’s N.C.A.A. Division I basketball championship as a coach at Kansas in 1988 and an N.B.A. championship as a coach in 2004 with the Detroit Pistons.In 1975-76, the A.B.A. was contracting, having gone to seven teams from 10, and had only one division. The All-Star Game pitted the Nuggets against All-Stars from other teams.Claude Terry, then a Nuggets reserve guard, said he remembered going to the All-Star Game with his wife and their two children in a station wagon. He said he was “probably wearing old Levi’s and shoes that didn’t get messed up in the snow.”He added: “I don’t remember even being interviewed during the game.”Denver Nuggets Coach Larry Brown leaped off the bench at the buzzer after his team beat the A.B.A. All-Star team in Denver on Jan. 28, 1976.Sc/Associated PressThat season, the Nuggets packed their new McNichols Arena, which opened in 1975, with the pending N.B.A. merger in mind, and was demolished in 2000. Gerard remembered being swarmed for autographs and invited for free meals at restaurants, like the Colorado Mine Company.“They had, like, the best prime rib you ever tasted in your life,” Gerard said.Amid the excitement, there was also uncertainty. Preparation for the merger with the N.B.A. weighed on the players, who knew that only four of the seven A.B.A. teams would survive it. The Nuggets, Nets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs continued in the N.B.A.“Most of us didn’t have no-cut contracts,” Terry said, adding that players were “not nervous, but just trying to figure out what was next.”Terry said coming changes kept the players from appreciating what it to meant to play in the final A.B.A. season. Had there been social media at the time, Terry said they might have paid more attention to the significance.The Nuggets played the Kentucky Colonels in the first round of the playoffs and won in seven games. Then they faced the New York Nets, who had the best player in the series in Erving. Denver lost Game 1 at home. Facing elimination at home in Game 5, they won despite 37 points from Erving. Simpson and Issel led the team with 21 points each, and Gerard had 12 off the bench.If they could force a Game 7 in Denver, they were sure they could win it. But Erving led a furious fourth-quarter comeback in Game 6 to win the game and the championship.“We should have beat them,” Simpson said. “We had a better team. Even Julius Erving thought we did. But they got out on us.”Denver won Game 2 and Game 5 in the 1976 finals, but the Nets claimed the championship with a comeback win in Game 6.Richard Drew/Associated PressAs the years passed, though they stayed in touch with each other, some members of that Nuggets team became increasingly disconnected from the franchise. Most of them moved out of Denver, and went on to have careers outside of basketball.Thompson and Gerard went through well-publicized battles with drug addiction. Gerard later became a substance abuse counselor. He now works for the Fayette County government in Pennsylvania and still helps people recovering from addictions. Thompson participates in Nuggets fan events and attended Game 2 of the finals in Denver. He and Jones, who played for the Nuggets until 1978, started a religious nonprofit in North Carolina.Issel remained the most connected to the franchise. He played for the Nuggets until 1985, then returned as a broadcaster a few years later. Issel coached the Nuggets twice, the second time also serving as the team’s president. He apologized in 2001 after using a racial epithet toward Mexican people in response to a fan’s taunt, then resigned shortly afterward.This year, with his five grandchildren in tow, Issel went to Game 1 of the finals, which Denver won at home, 104-93.Simpson has been watching the games at home, and invites his grandchildren for a pizza party to watch with him. He didn’t get to play for Denver in its debut N.B.A. season because he was traded to Detroit, but the Pistons traded him back the next season. He stays in touch with A.B.A. and N.B.A. alumni by being active with the National Basketball Retired Players Association.Denver’s 47-year drought before returning to the finals is perplexing to him.“We’ve had some really good players,” said Simpson, who coached at a small school briefly and used to be a pastor in Denver. “I’m really surprised we haven’t won a title yet.”To win the franchise’s first, this year’s Nuggets have tried to focus narrowly on the task before them. Much like how the A.B.A. Nuggets weren’t thinking about history, these Nuggets aren’t using the franchise’s long drought as inspiration.“I don’t know much about it,” Denver’s Bruce Brown said. “Who was on that team?”He said he tries not to think about what a championship would mean for the franchise and for the city of Denver.“Then I’ll get too happy, too anxious,” Brown said. “I just try to stay in the moment.”The 1975-76 team’s try at making history has been obscured by the years, but Brown and his teammates are on the verge of completing the journey they began. More

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      NBA Finals 2023: Denver Nuggets Beat Miami Heat for First Championship

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      It took 56 years and 38 playoff appearances for the basketball team nestled in the high plains just east of the Rocky Mountains to finally reach the peak of its sport.It took an unheralded center from Serbia who turned into the most formidable player in the game and a Canadian point guard who found himself again after a long and arduous recovery from a career-threatening knee injury. It took patience, collaboration and a discipline born of trying, failing and learning how to keep climbing just a bit higher.The Denver Nuggets are finally champions.They clinched the first title in franchise history Monday night on their home court at Ball Arena, 5,280 feet above sea level — the highest altitude at which any N.B.A. championship has been won. They beat the Miami Heat, 94-89, in Game 5 to seal the victory. They were led by center Nikola Jokic, who stood quietly at the back of the stage holding his 1-year-old daughter as his team celebrated during the trophy presentation, and by point guard Jamal Murray, who cried as he looked up at the thousands of fans roaring for him. The rest of Denver’s indefatigable eight-man rotation bolstered the team’s two biggest stars until the end.“I got news for everybody out there,” Nuggets Coach Michael Malone shouted, as the crowd erupted and confetti swirled in the air around him. “We’re not satisfied with one! We want more! We want more!”Bruce Brown celebrating.Daniel Brenner for The New York TimesJokic was named the most valuable player of the finals, a nice complement to his two regular-season M.V.P. Awards. He finished Game 5 with 28 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists, becoming the first player in N.B.A. history to lead the playoffs in points, rebounds and assists.“If you want to be a success, you need a couple years,” Jokic said. “You need to be bad, then you need to be good. Then when you’re good you need to fail, and then when you fail, you’re going to figure it out.“I think experience is something that is not what happened to you. It’s what you’re going to do with what happened to you.”The clinching game was neither pretty nor easy. Through the first three quarters, the Nuggets struggled to make 3-point shots and convert free throws. They turned the ball over carelessly. Had they lost, they would have had to play Game 6 in Miami on Thursday. The pressure on Monday may have frayed their nerves.“You want to end it on your home court with all the fans there, your family there,” Murray said. “You want to end it on the home court so bad.”The Heat had a 7-point lead at halftime, and led by just 1 point at the end of the third quarter.Jamal Murray heading to the locker room after winning.Daniel Brenner for The New York TimesBut in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets found the resolve to take the title. With about 10 minutes 59 seconds remaining, Murray hit a 3-pointer — only the Nuggets’ third of the game — to give the Nuggets a 4-point lead. He pranced down the court as the Heat called a timeout. It was Denver’s largest lead since the first quarter.Later, Murray struck again. This time, Aaron Gordon blocked a jumper by Heat guard Kyle Lowry, leading to a transition basket for Murray to give the Nuggets a 5-point lead.And with less than 30 seconds remaining, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope stole a pass by Jimmy Butler and made both free throws after Lowry fouled him to give Denver a 3-point lead.“I’m grateful, man, that we made it here,” Butler said afterward. “Came up short, but I’m blessed. I’m fortunate.”With the win, the Nuggets departed a dubious club. There are now only 10 teams in the league that have never won an N.B.A. championship. Five have made it to the finals and lost, including the Phoenix Suns, who have come up short three times, most recently in 2021.But the Nuggets had never even gotten that far, at least not in the N.B.A. Not since 1976, when they lost to the New York Nets in the American Basketball Association finals, had they reached a championship series.Fans celebrating in downtown Denver.Max Paro/Getty ImagesThe long drought helps explain why the Nuggets were underestimated all season. Pundits and oddsmakers questioned their ability to win, even after they took hold of first place in the Western Conference in December and never let go.People wondered if Jokic, despite his superlative play, could lead a team this far — after all, he had never taken the Nuggets past the conference finals. Those questions may have cost him a third consecutive M.V.P. Award — an accomplishment that many said should be reserved for champions.Some wondered if Murray would ever return to the elite level he had been playing at in 2021, when a knee injury just before the playoffs set him and Denver on a two-year journey to fully reset.Along the way, some role players found their stride, even if they mostly went unnoticed.Caldwell-Pope, whom the Nuggets traded for last off-season, added defense, shooting and championship experience. For a few playoff games, he brought in the ring he had won in 2020 with the Lakers and let his teammates hold it. None of them have one.“They gave me an opportunity here, because of my championship, to be that leader — be vocal, let them know about my experience and how hard it is to get to this point we’re at now,” Caldwell-Pope said after Game 1. “I’m just trying to keep them motivated.”Jokic had never been past the conference finals until this season. Denver drafted him in the second round, 41st overall, in 2014.Daniel Brenner for The New York TimesGordon, whom the Nuggets traded for in March 2021, happily became a defensive stopper after being the offensive star of the Orlando Magic.“I’m not here for the credit,” Gordon said. “I’m here for the wins.”Bruce Brown provided offensive sparks; Jeff Green added veteran calm; Christian Braun, a rookie, offered a youthful fearlessness that would pay off in the finals.The Nuggets blasted through the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round and then beat the Suns in six games. They swept the Lakers in the conference finals and then sat around for a week waiting to find out whom they would meet in the finals.Like the Nuggets, the Heat had taken a 3-0 lead in their conference finals series. But they faltered as the Boston Celtics fought back in the East and won the next three games, forcing a decisive Game 7.“When Boston won Game 6, we’d been sitting so long it almost felt like we wasn’t in the playoffs anymore,” Green said. “Because the only thing we was doing was watching them.”Miami, propelled by its relentless star Butler, won Game 7 for the franchise’s seventh trip to the finals, this time as the No. 8 seed. A victory would have given Miami its first championship in a decade, one far more unexpected than the three it had won.If people overlooked Denver this season, they ignored Miami outright. The Heat barely made the playoffs and then gave even ardent believers reason to doubt when they wavered against Boston. They had an us-against-the-world mentality heading into the finals when, for once, Denver seemed to have the world on its side.And who could blame the Nuggets if that surge of confidence flowed to their heads?Caleb Martin of the Miami Heat, center, battling with Jokic.Pool photo by Kyle TeradaDenver took Game 1, and Jokic notched a triple-double. Afterward, the Nuggets began to celebrate as if they could feel their championship parade rumbling already. They lost focus and allowed Miami to steal Game 2, even as Jokic scored 41 points. Malone, Denver’s coach, scolded the Nuggets and questioned their effort. He wouldn’t have to do that again.Jokic and Murray each had triple-doubles in Game 3 in front of a raucous crowd in Miami. In Game 4, Brown scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, stoking Miami’s desperation.The Nuggets had some unusual visitors in their locker room after Game 4. The Nuggets owner E. Stanley Kroenke and his son, Josh Kroenke, the team president, grinned brightly, each holding a can of Coors. The Nuggets had just taken a 3-1 lead in the finals, and they could feel that the franchise was closing in on its first championship. Only one finals team — the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers — had ever been able to dig itself out of that deep a hole.But the Nuggets players and coaches refused to acknowledge how close they were. They remembered what had happened after Game 1.“We need to win one more,” Jokic said after Game 4. “I like that we didn’t relax. We didn’t get comfortable. We were still desperate. We still want it.”Murray offered a bit more confidence. “We’re just ready to win a championship,” he said. “We have the tools to do it. It’s been on our minds for a while.”Daniel Brenner for The New York TimesA fan with face paint or makeup in the style of the comic book character the Joker — Jokic’s nickname — at Game 5 in Denver.Daniel Brenner for The New York TimesWhen Murray stood on the stage after Game 5, having finally won, ESPN’s Lisa Salters asked him about his journey, about how he couldn’t even walk two years ago today because of his knee injury. As she spoke, the crowd’s cheers drowned out her voice. Murray paused and looked up at them. Tears filled his reddened eyes.“Everything was hitting at once,” Murray said later. “From the journey, to the celebration with the guys, to enjoying the moment, to looking back on the rehab, to looking back at myself as a kid.”Malone’s mind was already on the next championship.Pat Riley, the president of the Miami Heat, who has won nine N.B.A. championships as either a player, assistant coach, head coach or executive, once shared with Malone a message that Malone used to have displayed in his office.“It talked about the evolution in this game and how you go from a nobody to an upstart, and you go from an upstart to a winner and a winner to a contender and a contender to a champion,” Malone said. “And the last step is after a champion is to be a dynasty.”But his players weren’t ready to think about that yet. As he spoke, they were dousing the locker room and each other with champagne, drops of which sprinkled from the Nuggets logo on the ceiling. The players lit cigars, adding the heavy scent of cigar smoke to their celebration.Denver’s role players, such as Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr., played a key role in their playoff success.Daniel Brenner for The New York TimesJokic popped in and out of the locker room, sometimes spraying champagne on his teammates, sometimes pouring it right on their heads. He said many times during the playoffs that he was most proud of the success they’d had together.He had been the first player off the court after the trophy presentation, and had walked to the locker room by himself holding his finals M.V.P. trophy. He had been their best player throughout the season, but he wasn’t swept up in the ecstasy that had engulfed his teammates.“It’s good,” Jokic said, when asked about his emotions after winning the championship. “We did a job.”Another reporter tried again a few minutes later, this time asking if he was excited for the parade the city would have to celebrate the championship.“When is parade?” Jokic said, turning to a Nuggets staff member in the room.He was told it was Thursday.“No,” Jokic lamented. “I need to go home.”Then he finally relented just a little bit, and acknowledged that winning a championship felt “amazing.”“It’s a good feeling when you know that you did something that nobody believes, and it’s just us, it’s just the organization, Denver Nuggets believing in us, every player believing in each other,” Jokic said. “And I think that’s the most important thing.”Daniel Brenner for The New York Times More

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      Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jokic Led Their Teams to the NBA Finals in Very Different Ways

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      Experts in leadership say the differing styles of Miami’s Jimmy Butler and Denver’s Nikola Jokic show there’s no one right way to be a leader.A few weeks after Caleb Martin joined the Miami Heat, he didn’t yet have much social capital with his teammates. But he had been a backup player for most of his career who knew that it was important to get along with the stars — and Jimmy Butler, a six-time All-Star and the team’s leading scorer, was unquestionably Miami’s biggest.Martin had heard that Butler had an aggressive personality, that he was known to bark at teammates and coaches. But Martin wasn’t thinking about the potential consequences of upsetting Butler during a pickup game on one of those early days. He made a move just as Butler was passing to him, and the ball sailed out of bounds. Martin could tell Butler was frustrated. He marched up to Butler and said, “Anything you got a problem with, come say it to me.”For a split second, Martin wondered if his boldness would irritate Butler. He wasn’t even on a full-time N.B.A. contract yet. But it didn’t.“He didn’t view it as disrespectful or nothing like that,” Martin said. “As much accountability as he puts on other people and holds other people to, he holds himself to it. It’s a two-way street. He allows feedback.”Butler’s reputation for being brash and aggressive is not without merit, and he has called out Martin’s mistakes plenty of times. Butler doesn’t shy away from airing his grievances, yelling in team huddles, at opponents, or sometimes at nothing at all. He’s just as loud with his encouragement.The Heat’s opponent in the N.B.A. finals, the Denver Nuggets, have a different type of leader in Nikola Jokic, who is quieter. He doesn’t make speeches or chastise his teammates, and he rarely shows much emotion during games.Their contrasting styles illustrate ideas that leadership experts have highlighted for decades. The underlying ethos that both players follow seems to matter more than how their leadership manifests.“It’s such a great example of avoiding this sort of static concept of ‘what does it mean to be the best kind of leader?’” said Peter Bregman, an author and executive coach who works with leaders of major corporations. “Because here you have two completely different people who lead in very, very different ways, equally effectively. And so it sort of betrays this concept that there’s a best practice in how to do this.”“I don’t want him to ever apologize for who he is and how he approaches competition,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said about Butler.David Zalubowski/Associated PressProfessional basketball offers a helpful guide to understanding leadership. The best N.B.A. players make split-second decisions in front of thousands of people live and millions more who watch on television. Their actions off the court are scrutinized, and sometimes they are blamed for their teammates’ mistakes. But no matter the results of their decision-making, they must often return to lead the very same people the next day.When Nuggets players are asked about Jokic’s leadership style, they say he leads by example, more than with words.“He’s professional in every aspect of the game,” Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said. “Just seeing that, seeing it on the court, makes everybody want to play basketball with him and want to play better.”When Butler’s teammates are asked about his leadership, they allude to the edge in his personality, but that edge comes from a passion they can understand. They say he holds people accountable, but their collective goal — to be the best team in the N.B.A. — is clear in Butler’s critiques.He also embraces the responsibility that comes with being the team’s leader.“He’ll do anything for you,” Miami Heat center Cody Zeller said.Some scholars might explain those differences using leadership language focused on tasks versus relationships. Afsaneh Nahavandi, a professor of management at the University of San Diego, sees Butler as a more task-oriented leader and Jokic as a more relationship-oriented leader.“He’s professional in every aspect of the game,” Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said about Jokic.David Zalubowski/Associated Press“Every leader is getting something done, so everybody has a task in mind,” Nahavandi said. “But do you approach it through pushing the task and pushing people? Or do you approach it through let’s just kind of let people develop their own thing and focus to make sure that people are happy?”That leadership framework was examined in the 1960s by the psychologist Fred Fiedler, who studied leadership among high school basketball players. Basketball offered a well-controlled way to understand how a group of people who needed to achieve one task together responded to different leadership styles.Fiedler also found that leaders’ successes are heavily dependent on their environment.Butler’s style hasn’t worked everywhere. When he played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, his teammates didn’t respond well to his demanding nature, and Butler left the team after insisting on a trade.But in Miami, the so-called Heat culture demands excellence, commitment and a thick skin.“My style of leadership works here,” Butler said, making air quotes around “leadership.” He added: “It really is a match made in heaven. I love it here.”Sometimes Butler’s style leads to explosions, like in March 2022, when Butler and Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra screamed at each other during a game and had to be held back by other players. Today, Spoelstra speaks about Butler with reverence.“I don’t want him to ever apologize for who he is and how he approaches competition,” Spoelstra said. “It’s intense. It’s not for everybody, and we’re not for everybody. That’s why we think it’s like an incredible marriage. We never judge him on that. He doesn’t judge us for how crazy we get.”The Nuggets demand excellence, too, but the language they use about one another is often gentler. They like to talk about their collaborative nature.“We have guys that understand that being selfless is a huge part of being a Denver Nugget,” Coach Michael Malone said. He added: “You have to have guys that get along — on the court, off the court — and come together and share in a common goal.”“You have to have guys that get along,” Nuggets Coach Michael Malone said.Kyle Terada/Usa Today Sports Via Reuters ConIt hints at a culture where a less confrontational style, like the one Jokic adopts, could work.Jokic’s teammates seem to respond well to that quieter form of leadership, though some have tried to help him tap into a more commanding demeanor at times.DeAndre Jordan, a 15-year veteran, pulled Jokic aside during training camp to encourage him to be more vocal.“At first he was like: ‘Brother, I don’t do that. You have to do it,’” Jordan said.But Jordan and other veterans kept encouraging him. A few months into the season, they saw him start to assert himself more in huddles and offer feedback to his teammates. He doesn’t take it beyond the bounds of what makes him comfortable, though.“We don’t want him to be somebody who he’s not,” Jordan said. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to be that as well.”Though Jokic and Butler use very different styles, they have earned the trust of their teammates.Chris Adkins saw clues to how they developed that trust when he watched some of their interviews. Adkins, the academic director of leadership development at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, saw a manifestation of research that he said has shown that “ability, benevolence and integrity” are three essential components of fostering trust.“Their players seem to buy in, whether it’s a more vocal or more quiet approach, because they know deep down this person has high ability, they’re consistent with great integrity, they practice what they preach, they walk the walk,” Adkins said. “But they’re also committed to us, not just to their own ego.”Jokic is well known as an unselfish player; he averaged 9.8 assists per game this season. He has often said that his basketball ethos came from a coach in Serbia who told him that when you pass you make two people happy, but when you score only one person is happy. He eschews credit when he speaks to reporters and is quick to praise his teammates.Butler grew up outside of Houston and was kicked out of his home as a teenager. After high school, with little interest from major college programs, he spent a year at a junior college in Texas, before going to Marquette. Though Butler makes fewer assists than Jokic, he also plays in an unselfish style, and he instills confidence in his teammates.“My style of leadership works here,” Butler said of Miami.David Zalubowski/Associated PressButler has balked at other Heat players being called “role players,” saying he prefers to simply think of them as teammates. When asked if he was too passive in the Heat’s Game 1 loss, when he scored just 13 points, Butler said he wasn’t and that he planned to keep looking for his teammates throughout the series.It can take Heat newcomers some time to understand how Butler operates.Kyle Lowry joined the Heat in 2021, two years after Butler did. Lowry was a six-time All-Star guard coming from a leadership role in Toronto, which won a championship in 2019. He made clear he loved Butler’s thirst for winning and his devotion to his teammates, but also said his personality is “very different.”“He may say some things or he may do some things that you might be like: ‘Oh. Whoa.’ But it’s coming from the best part of his heart,” Lowry said.How does he know?“We’re around him every single day,” Lowry said, before throwing in a good-natured dig. “Unfortunately. But fortunately.” More