What the Knicks can teach us about building a great team
- mayadolgin
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
(June 3, 2026 Newsletter)
The same roster, a completely different culture — and a trip to the NBA Finals. Here's what business leaders can learn about teamwork from the 2026 New York Knicks.
Topics: team culture, leadership, teamwork, executive coaching, organizational development
One of the most common traps leaders fall into is assuming that better results require better people. But the Knicks' run to the 2026 NBA Finals tells a different story – and it's one every leader should pay attention to.
I grew up a Knicks fan. I have distinct memories of watching the '94 and '99 Finals series, with all the hope, the drama, and the heartbreak.
So watching this year's playoffs has been a particular kind of pleasure. Not just because they've been crushing it, but because I can see – as an adult, and as an executive coach – how strong of a team they have.
This isn't a team of superstars dominating by sheer talent. It's a team that has deliberately rebuilt its culture and is reaping the rewards of that investment.
Why it matters
A talent upgrade won't fix a culture problem.
There's a tempting assumption in leadership that results come from hiring the best individual performers. Get the smartest people in the room, and the rest will sort itself out.
But teams don't work that way. And the 2026 New York Knicks are a live case study in why.
Here are five teamwork and leadership lessons from their run that your team could apply too.
5 teamwork lessons from the 2026 New York Knicks
Here are five evidence-based leadership principles playing out in real time on the biggest stage in basketball:
Culture is set by what leaders do, not what they say. Jalen Brunson is the Knicks' captain and their best player, but his greatest asset isn't his scoring average. It's his work ethic. He's the first one on the court in the morning, setting a standard that no memo or mission statement ever could. Karl-Anthony Towns commented: "He believes in that, and he showcases it every single day to all of us. It drives us to be better." If you want your team to change behaviors, the first question to ask yourself is: am I modeling what I expect of them?
Sacrifice only works when everyone buys in. One of the things I hear constantly from leaders is frustration that team members protect their turf — hoarding credit, competing internally, optimizing for personal visibility. By contrast, the Knicks have made sacrifice a team norm, not an exception. Josh Hart said it directly: "We don't really care who gets the shine, the shots, the minutes. We're focused on winning. Everyone is willing to sacrifice their own personal agendas for the betterment of the team." The question isn't whether your people are capable of this. It's whether you've built an environment where it's safe – and celebrated – to do it.
The best leaders collaborate, not command. Mike Brown was brought in specifically to change the culture from the previous regime (more on that next week). His approach: give everyone – players, front office, support staff – a real voice. Brunson noted that Brown "always wanted open dialogue since Day One." Brown himself is explicit that his leadership culture is built on three pillars: selfless, connected, accountable. Compliance gets you lip service. Collective ownership gets you to the Finals.
Hire for character first. The Knicks front office has been deliberate about what they call "good character guys." This wasn't an accident. It was a hiring criterion. The willingness to put team above self doesn't develop overnight; it requires recruiting people who are already oriented that way. Think about your last few hires. How much emphasis did you put on assessing skills? And how much time did you spend assessing character, values, and how that person operates under pressure? Both matter, but only one will determine whether your team coheres.
Your bench is your competitive advantage. Last year, the Knicks' bench never once outscored an opponent's second unit during the playoffs. Last week, their bench outscored the Cavaliers' 58-24. The difference? Brown trusted and developed his depth – and players like Miles McBride, Mitchell Robinson, and Jordan Clarkson stepped up when it counted. In most organizations, the "bench" – newer hires, quieter contributors, people not yet in senior roles, overlooked veterans – is underdeveloped and underutilized. Investing in your bench isn't a nice-to-have. It's what determines whether your team can sustain high performance when the stakes are highest.
Final thought: The most powerful thing about this Knicks run isn't the wins. It's the reminder that the same people, under different leadership and a different culture, can produce completely different results. Before assuming you have a talent problem, it's worth asking whether you have a culture one.
Coaching Technique: Reinforcing Team-First Behavior
Catch it and call it out
This week, make it your mission to catch one team member putting the team above themselves – sharing credit, stepping up quietly, helping out a colleague – and name it out loud, specifically, in front of others.
Not "great teamwork" but: "I noticed you handed that project off to Jamie even though you'd done most of the groundwork. That kind of generosity is what makes this team work."
Do it once this week. See what it does to your team’s dynamic.
Recommendations
Multipliers by Liz Wiseman — After listening to many interviews and reading articles about it, I finally picked up the actual book. I normally wait until I'm done reading to make a recommendation, but I'm getting enough out of it already to suggest you get it today. Wiseman distinguishes between leaders who amplify the intelligence and capability around them, and those who diminish it, even accidentally. The contrast between this year's Knicks and last year's is a masterclass in the difference. (Stay tuned for next week's newsletter.)
Surprising Ways to Reduce Turnover in High-Pressure, High-Skill Jobs: This analysis of nurse burnout and turnover has lessons for many leaders looking to increase retention on their teams.
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