In his book “Winners: And How They Succeed,” Alastair Campbell reports that the winningest winning mindsets are in sports.
The Golden State Warriors, who have set a record for the best start to an NBA season, underscore Campbell’s finding.
Guard Stephen Curry and his teammates will look to go 18 and 0 on Saturday when they host Sacramento.
The Warriors’ start sent me to stories about the team and the values instilled by Coach Steve Kerr: joy, mindfulness, compassion and competition.
Joy means “he wants us having fun,” interim coach Luke Walton told reporters on Tuesday. (Kerr is on leave to recover from a spinal fluid leak.)
Mindfulness, said Walton, means “thinking the game. It’s not just trying [to] out-talent people; it’s not trying to go for your individual stats. It’s being mindful of the right way to do things.”
“There’s compassion—for each other and for the game of basketball,” he added. “And then there’s competition.”
On Friday, Curry scored 41 points on Friday against Phoenix despite not playing in the fourth quarter. Equally amazing: He hit nine of 16 3-pointers to edge past LeBron James in all-time 3-pointers made. Curry now has 1,278 threes for his career, which spans 433 games. James, by comparison, has 1,276 threes in 927 games.
On offense, it can seem as if Curry and his teammates operate continually beyond the three-point line. After hitting a shot, Curry spins and, without a trace of celebration, heads down the court to play defense.