1. The National Basketball Association

2. 2
Industry Overview
The National Basketball Association is the world’s premier
professional basketball league. Located in the United States, The NBA is
comprised of 30 franchises located in 22 states all of which compete towards
a similar goal, competing for and winning a championship. The 30 franchises
are divided into Eastern and Western Conferences where each conference is
segmented into three divisions with five teams in each division. The
determinant of which conference and divisiona team is placed in is solely
based off of its respective location. Each team’s roster is made up of a
maximum of fifteen players on varying contracts with five starting players
and up to ten supplementary players. Teams accumulate revenue in a number
of ways including television contracts, ticket & merchandise sales,and
advertising. The sharing of revenue between franchises and players is
outlined within the league’s collective bargaining agreement. Franchises seek
to attract players who have the most talent and compete with each other in
order to sign these players by offering lucrative contracts based on that
team’s cap availability. Players from all over the world seek to test their
abilities in the NBA and secure a contract for themselves in order to ensure
their longevity in the competitive sports league. The NBA is a league on the
rise and its presence among the four professional sports leagues in North
America only continues to grow.

3. 3
Conference Composition
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics
Brooklyn Nets
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers
Toronto Raptors
Central Division
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
Southeast Division
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Hornets
Miami Heat
Orlando Magic
Washington Wizards
Western Conference
Southwest Division
Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
Memphis Grizzlies
New Orleans Pelicans
San Antonio Spurs
Northwest Division
Denver Nuggets
Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder
Portland Trail Blazers
Utah Jazz
Pacific Division
Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings

4. 4
Strategic Groups & Dimensions
Within the structure of the National Basketball Association three
strategic groups were identified: Title Contenders, Playoff Teams, & Lottery
Teams. It is important to note that not every team within the association falls
within these three strategic groups; a team can both be outside of the lottery,
as well as the playoff race. Within these three strategic groups there are three
Title Contenders: the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, and Golden
State Warriors. The four Playoff Teams include: the Toronto Raptors, Los
Angeles Clippers,Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder. The
remaining Lottery Teams include: the Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings,
Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns.
The placement of these teams within their respective strategic groups
was based off of five strategic dimensions through which every team
competes on: Talent Level, Playoff Experience, Brand Recognition, Player
Development, and Coaching. The factors considered in order to measure each
strategic dimension, as well as how each team scored in regards to each
dimension can be found within the Industry Data Table located in Appendix
A.1.
The Strategy Canvas Analysis located in Appendix A.2 illustrates how
the Golden State Warriors are marginally better than the rest of the teams
analyzed. This margin however is very small, where the only wide difference
between the Warriors and its direct competitors: Title Contenders, is in
coaching. This average for the Title Contenders is skewed in the coaching
dimension due to the Cavaliers having a litany of coaching issues, which
translated to a score of 5. The Spurs, the other Title Contender besides the
Warriors and Cavaliers, have a coach in Gregg Popovich that gives them an
overall 10 rating in the coaching dimension while Steve Kerr, the coach of
the Warriors is only a 9.5.i Comparing the Warriors to the other two
categories of teams, the Playoff & Lottery Teams, reveals a much wider
margin in every area. It seems that coaching is the place in which the
majority of teams analyzed compete the closest, as the Title Contenders and
Playoff Teams had extremely close ratings.ii The closest category by margin
is Brand Recognition as illustrated in Appendix A.2. While a team’s Brand
Recognition doesn't necessarily factor into how well a team plays, it does
matter in terms of measuring that teams overall attractiveness to free agents,

5. 5
brand affiliation, and location. A team with high brand recognition such as
the Los Angeles Lakers allows that team to have a huge draw to newer fans
because they can easilyidentify them.iii This is very similar to how people
who have never had a smartphone before would be more inclined to purchase
one from a big name company such as Apple. All three teams scored the
closest in this category of Brand Recognition with the total separation
between the highest scoring (9.1) Title Contenders and lowest scoring (6.2)
Lottery Teams being just (2.9).
Many conclusions were drawn from the Strategic Mapping Analysis of
teams within the NBA. The mapping analysis skewed teams with the best
point totals to the right and those with the lowest to the left and after the
analysis was complete it was easy to identify and group teams based on their
strategic dimensions. When Playoff Experience and Talent level were the
dimensions being analyzed (visualized in Appendix A.4), the Cavaliers,
Warriors and Spurs were all located within a narrow spread in the upper right
corner indicating that all three teams are highly competitive in regards to
these two dimensions. Three teams that fell much lower on the map but were
also plotted very closely together included the Kings, Suns and
Timberwolves. These three team’s location on the lower spectrum of the
chart indicated that all three of them had lower Talent Level and less Playoff
Experience and thus were not highly competitive in regards to these
dimensions. The most competitive firm to the focal Golden State Warriors in
the NBA would have to be the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have better
Player Development and Coaching and there is a very small area of
difference in each of the remaining strategic dimensions with the highest
point differential between the two being just .5 as seen in Appendix A.1.
Transcendent upon all dimensions, the Spurs and the Warriors both were
located in the upper right corner of each strategic map (visible in Appendices
A.4, A.5, & A.6) indicating that both teams were highly competitive in each
strategic dimension that was measured.

6. 6
Competition
The NBA is a league built on rivalry. Teams within the same division
play each other four times a year and rivalries are fostered as players duel
against each other night after night. Teams that meet in the playoffs and
finals over consecutive years develop rivalries that their players hold on to
over multiple seasons. Teams however must cooperate with each other in
order to accomplish trades where players, draft picks, and cash considerations
are swapped between teams.iv On any given night that a team plays it has one
goal, to beat its opponent, fostering a large degree of competition every
single game. Any time that a team is on a win-streak it gives their opposition
even more incentive to try to put up more points than them. When the Miami
Heat went on their historic 27-game win streak, every opponent they faced
had one goal, to end it.v Rivalries draw fan interest to games where two rivals
face off, in cases such as games between the Cavaliers and the Warriors more
money can be generated because the demand to see the game increases.
The NBA is a fiercely competitive industry where consecutive poor
seasonal performances can sink a franchise. There is extra incentive to secure
the best possible value in every business transaction within the industry of the
NBA because it directly impacts the overall value and performance of the
franchise. A team such as the Lakers that is in the midst of mediocrity and is
making it through this year financially through the rivalries that Kobe Bryant
has fostered throughout his storied career.vi Fans will pay top dollar to come
and watch Kobe no matter where he is playing because it is their final chance
to watch a legend face off against his rivals, considering his imminent
retirement. Without Kobe the Lakers would lose much of their revenue
during this particular season because of how poorly they have been
performing comparatively to seasons past. The Lakers recognize that there is
no substitute for Kobe Bryant and they are doing whatever they can to make
as much money off of his likeness during his last season in the association.

7. 7
Competitive Advantages
Differentiation is the competitive advantage that most teams utilize in
order to gain an edge within the National Basketball Association. Teams have
to capture the imaginations and attentions of fans and if all teams played the
same way, signed the same type of players, and marketed the same ways
there wouldn't be much, if any competition within the league. In recent years
almost half the league has adopted or introduced a Development League team,
a minor league version of the NBA, much like how many MLB teams have a
farm system, where young prospects are given the opportunity to develop
their skills in a professional environment. Teams that invest in player
development are afforded advantages because they are able to develop their
players into superstars who then draw an unbelievable amount of interest
toward the team. Everyone likes to hear about success stories and when a
player graduates from the ranks of the Development League and becomes a
starter on an NBA team it draws fan interest. Not all teams however have a
Development League team, but for those that do it has paid off in big ways in
the case of players such as Hassan Whiteside and Brandon Jennings.
Whiteside was a players fighting for a career in the development league when
the Miami Heat calledhim up last year. He has since left his mark on the
league and with his free agency approaching at the end of the current season;
he is due for a huge contract that justifies his recent level of play.vii Similarly,
Brandon Jennings is a star in the league that injured his Achilles tendon and
opted to play in the development league for a part of the current season as a
part of his rehabilitation program.viii
Players akin to Hassan Whiteside who come up from the Development
League are typically given 10-day contracts in which teams assess the
prospect's skill level over the course of 10 days. It's a low risk high reward
procedure that allows a team to test out how a player fits into their system
over a short period of time for little expense on their own part. If they deem
the player worthy they can either offer a second 10-day contract, after which
they can sign him for the rest of the season or simply sign him outright after
the first contract expires. These development league players operate on low-
cost contracts where the benefit of their play typically far surpasses the price
the team pays for their contact. Teams that have not invested towards their
Development League team or simply have not implemented one will not have
the same benefits available to them. Having a Development League team

8. 8
offers teams the availabilityto sign low-cost players who can provide big-
time benefits with their play and serves as another competitive advantage
over those who do not. Paying such a low price for a player doesn't always
work out for teams, but every once in a while a player like Whiteside will
emerge and the benefits they provide their team will far surpassed the value
of their contract.ix
Innovation is another area where teams pursue a competitive advantage
within the framework of the National Basketball Association. Stephen Curry,
the transcendent star who plays for the Golden State warriors is taking more
three-point shots, from farther away from the basket than has ever been done
before, and he's making them.x The head coach of the Warriors, as well as the
upper management is allowing their star player to consistently attempt shots
from places where players have never been given the green light to shoot
from. In doing so they have effectively expanded their teams shooting range
and completely flipped the script on the traditional style of play within the
entire association. Having a player on your team such as Stephen Curry who
brings an incredible style of play on a nightly basis draws an absurd amount
of attention to the organization. Considering the fact that he is making his
shots, despite their distance, on a consistent basis it is affording them the
opportunity to capitalize on this style of play before teams begin to catch on
and apply it to themselves. Stephen Curry is changing the way the game is
being played and bringing innovation, along with championships to the
organization. The Golden State Warriors are currently the best team in the
league by a large margin and on pace to finish with the best record in NBA
history. These incredible benefits far surpass the cost of Curry’s minimalist
contract and with his presence they have set multiple fan attendance records
bringing further benefits to a team that is coming off of their first
championship in 40 years.xi
A company’s Experience in an industry often times allows them the
ability to lower their prices while staying competitive. The Golden State
Warriors, in a fruitful attempt to win a championship, signed coach Steve
Kerr before the start of the 2014-2015 NBA season to bring some
championship experience to this hungry squad. Fast-forward to the beginning
of this NBA season, the experienced Warriors, with their even more
experienced head coach, were able to maximize their B-C framework by

9. 9
drawing cheap free agents who were hungry for a championship to their
organization. Players who have never won a ring will often sign for less in
hopes that they will win a championship with an organization. Another
example of this would be the San Antonio Spurs signing Lamarcus Aldridge
to a contract that would be valued at less than what he would have made had
he signed elsewhere. He agreed to a lower contract because the Spurs
convinced him that by bringing his talents to their squad, they would have a
significantly higher chance of winning an NBA championship.xii
Industry Evolution Analysis
An Industry Evolution Analysis involves the examination of key
players within an industry during the formation, maturity, and reconfiguration
phases of development. For the NBA, a slightly different variation of these
phases of development can be analyzed. The length of an NBA season can be
segmented into three periods: Pre-Trade Deadline, Trade Deadline, and Post-
Trade Deadline. Trades may only occur during the first two periods while the
last period is designated for the fine-tuning of rosters and preparation for the
playoffs. The last two periods are the most competitive as teams look to make
the key acquisitions that will thrust them deeper into the playoffs. Teams not
in the playoff hunt look to unload players with expensive contracts in order to
make room for potential free agents who will become available during the
offseason.

10. 10
The three phases of the NBA season, Pre-Trade Deadline, Trade
Deadline, and Post-Trade Deadline are focal points during the NBA season
where separate activities occur as teams look to do whatever is necessary to
remain competitive. The Pre-Trade Deadline involves a ton of roster
imbalance as players are shifted in the rotation and minutes are staggered
between players. The day of the Trade Deadline, in the case of the current
NBA season, involved more than half the teams in the league making some
sort of acquisition or salary dump in order to prepare themselves for the
playoff hunt or the offseason based on where a given team sits in the
standings. The final phase, the Post-Trade Deadline portion of the season is
typically where the highest level of competition occurs. A single game can
decide the difference between a team making the playoffs and one whose
season is given an abrupt ending.
Additional sources utilized for Industry Evolution Analysis xiii,xiv

11. 11
Alliance Evolution Analysis
An Alliance Evolution Analysis seeks to determine how and why
alliances spread within an industry. It seems that alliances are formed in order
to gain different advantages and for monetary benefits but in the case of the
NBA alliances are formed in order to facilitate basketball related activities
such as trades. These activities are centered on the number of capable trade
partners available, the teams’ relative playoff position, the available free
agents who remain unsigned after the trade deadline, and the relative
dominance of title contenders. Each of these facets has a separate effect not
just on the alliances that are made during the association to make the trades,
but also where teams will ultimately stand come playoff time.
The Alliance Evolution Analysis for the NBA provided a wealth of
information regarding the activities that occur within the association, as well
as the relative playoff position of the teams involved. One of the determining
factors of a team’s participation in trades during the course of a season is the
number of capable trade partners available. If one team wants to facilitate a
trade with another team both have to have something that the other wants

12. 12
such as a player or draft pick. If a team has neither picks nor desirable assets
they are not considered to be a capable trade partner. Another aspect that
affects a team’s activity is its relative position in the playoff race. Teams not
competing for a playoff spot may look to unload cap space by waiving or
trading players for draft picks in order to make room for potential free agents.
Teams in the playoff hunt may acquire unsigned free agents who have
playoff experience in order to bolster their rotation for the playoffs. The pool
of available free agents after the trade deadline passes effects those teams
fighting for a playoff spot because it allows them to address a need that must
be met in order to remain competitive. How dominant the title contenders are
in a given season will play a part in which teams have the highest chance of
signing free agents from this pool. Players will be more inclined to sign with
a team that is more likely to win a ring than one that is fighting for a six-seed
in the playoffs.
Sources utilized for Alliance Evolution Analysis xv,xvi,xvii,xviii
Value Chain
A value chain is all of the supporting and primary activities conducted
by a company for the purpose of creating added value and increasing profit
margin. Falling under the category of supporting activities lay: organization
infrastructure, human resources, technology development, and the
procurement of resources. Primary activities may include inbound logistics,
operations, marketing & sales, and service. It is important to note that a value
chain’s supporting and primary activities is subject to change based on the
specific competitive advantage they wish to gain. A company seeking cost
leadership would seek to lower costs while improving customer service to
engineer brand affiliation. A company seeking to gain a differentiation
advantage may opt to focus on research & development as well as quality to
distinguish them from the competition. Each activity a company performs
within a value chain should be engineered to add some facet of value whether
it’s engineering improvements, upgrading quality, or lowering price they all
bring a positive effect to a firms overall value.

13. 13
The value chain for the National Basketball Association slightly differs
from that of a typical firm in a non-sports related industry. The supporting
and primary activities will typically fall under the same category; however
what they are comprised of is significantly different. An NBA franchise’s
infrastructure consists of team owners (comparable to shareholders), a
president, a general manager as well as employees who ensure the franchise
remains a fully functional organization. Human resources are centered on
player development and the coaches, who are hired to facilitate the progress
of the team as well as its individual players. Technology development is
crucial to adding value to the organization because it allows for a team to
track the progress of its players through measuring their output through the
course of a season using advanced statistics. For example: if a player’s three-
point percentage is decreasing through the course of the year, the coaching
staff can spot this trend through using its player tracking & statistics and
either reduce that player’s three point attempts, or focus on improving that
player’s ability to shoot threes in practices. The key primary activities of an
organization would have to be marketing & sales and service.While
outbound logistics, operations, and inbound logistics do serve important
purposes, an organization cannot stay profitable if they do not win games and
fill their arenas with entertained fans.xix

14. 14
Value Net
The value net for a business encompasses that business, its customers
& suppliers, and those organizations that both detract and add value to that
business. Businesses within the same industry compete for suppliers and
customers; therefore a business’ competitors take away both potential
suppliers and customers from that business. A company must separate itself
through a competitive advantage in order to gain customers and suppliers be
it through differentiation, cost leadership, innovation, and diversification. On
the other end of the spectrum sits complementors. These are businesses that
provide a service that makes it easier for a company to gain customers and
suppliers. Companies such as this add some form of value to the product or
service that a firm offers. The customers are the ones who pay for the product
and their willingness to purchase increases or decreases based on how much
value they derive from the product or service offered by the company.
Suppliers are those who provide the goods and services to a company for the
purpose of creating a final product. Suppliers will choose to partner with the
company who offers them the most to create their product or service,which
makes this facet of any industry highly competitive.

15. 15
Teams within the NBA have a tremendous number of options when it
comes to the format of their value net. The most significant value adding
activities would include the addition of experienced personnel, the
winning of a championship, and the sustaining of a winning culture.
Adding experiencedpersonnel to a team is what brings that team one step
closer to winning a championship. When a team assembles a qualified and
experienced roster that can play cohesively, it becomes that much closer to
winning a championship because of the elevated level of play. The winning of
a championship brings an incredible number of benefits to the team and that
could arguably replace profit margin atop the value net from purely a
competitive perspective. With the winning of a championship comes the
support of more and more fans who are willing to invest in products that
allow them to identify the with the team. Sustaininga winning culture,
meaning having consecutive seasons with more wins than losses, fulfills the
appetites of the fans who choose to purchase tickets to the games and who
will potentially become repeat purchasers because of their positive
experience. The more games a team wins (specificallyhome games), the
more fans will show up to the games, it’s that simple and it happened with
the Atlanta Hawks last year. The Atlanta Hawks attendance numbers

16. 16
skyrocketed during the 2014 – 2015 NBA season due largely in part to the
relative success of the team. The Hawks improved their win total by a large
margin, secured the number one seed in the Eastern Conference and as a
result, experienced a 16.4 percent increase in fan attendance.xx
Co-Opetitive Forces Analysis
In a league driven by competition, it is not a surprise that the degree of
rivalrywithin the NBA is high. As seen in Appendix B.1 & B.3, Supplier
Power and Threat of New Entrants were the only forces that effectively
loweredthe degree of rivalrybetween teams. Complementor Power, Threat
of Substitutes, Buyer/Customer power, and the leagues overall Rivalry was
all very high. While the degree of Rivalry between teams is high, it is worth
noting that teams must work together in order to complete certain business
transactions. During the recent trade deadline numerous teams were required
to facilitate deals during the waning hours of the deadline. Every minute is
precious and teams that are uncooperative or can't facilitate a deal lose out on
the potential gains that are made through trading players. xxi
The most important Co-Opetitive Forces in regards to the National
Basketball Association are Complementor Power, Customer Power, and
Rivalry (Visible in Appendix B.4, B.5, B.6 & B.7). Complementor Power in
the NBA is incredible useful. Having a team that is willing to make a trade
with you before the trade deadline due to a previous alliance can be key to
making the right changes that could allow your team to make a playoff run.
Teams that burn bridges and don’t have many alliances have a harder time
finding trade targets that are willingto do business with them. The customers
of the NBA, the fans, have a large amount of power within the NBA. Fan
interest is used to determine the television schedule every year when it comes
time to plan which matchups will be broadcasted nationally. Fans vote the
majority of the All-Stars into the All Star Game and many players have
clauses in their contracts that grant incentives for making this annual game.
Fans are also the ones who purchase the tickets to see games and when a
team is unable to sell tickets to their games due to a lack of fan interest, it
directly impacts their ability to do business. Lastly Rivalry is incredibly
important within the NBA because it fosters interest in matchups between
teams. Rivalry games are often broadcasted nationally in order to create
viewership that might not have been there had another matchup been chosen.

17. 17
Sources utilized for Co-Opetitive Forces Analysisxxii,xxiii,xxiv,xxv
Trend Analyses: Critical Success Factors
The National Basketball Association is a league undergoing constant
evolution. The technology around the league gets better every year, it has
asserted its presence on social media, the way the game is played has evolved,
and there is more of an international presence than ever before. A franchise
can be active on social media, play in an innovative style, and have a roster
chocked full of foreign players, but none of this matters if it doesn’t translate
to winning games and more importantly, a championship.
The Rise of Social Media: The NBA is an incredibly unique league in
comparison to other sports. While baseball’s popularity dwindles and the
NFL experiences scandal after scandal, the National Basketball Association
has taken the time to fine tune the experience it offers and reach an audience
of over 130 million, and that is just through Facebook.xxvi The league and its
commissioner understand the growing value of the Internet as a tool, not only
to promote the league, but as a method to further the reach of a league hungry
for new fans. Each team has social media presence on multiple platforms that
is used by both adults and youth alike.xxvii The Los Angeles Laker’s Facebook
page experienced an exponential growth in the past five years gaining 15.4
million new followers since 2011.xxviii
Facebook is not the only medium that through which the NBA
experienced an exponential surge in growth. The association dominated all
other sports on the video sharing service Vine, reaching over 1 billionvideo
loops, 230 million more than second place Major League Baseball.xxix The
NBA’s Twitter account accumulated 4.1 million new followers, up 42% from
the prior year and its Instagram page amassed 3.5 million new followers, up
151% from the following season. We are currently living in the age of the
highlight and social media exploded at exactly the right time to accommodate
this. Highlights can be viewed the moment they happen across multiple
platforms due to the sheer number of fans who utilize these platforms.
The Evolution of the League: The NBA is currently in a transitional phase.
The sport has undergone a massive overhaul in both the way it is played and
how it is perceived since the turn of the century. 2005 saw the entrance of a
league-wide dress code that changed the image of the league forever. No

18. 18
longer were players allowedto show up to games in cut-off tee shirts and
shorts. Those players not participating in the game are now required to wear
sports jackets while sitting on the sideline or be subject to a fine.xxx The
previous NBA Commissioner, David Stern, whose protégé Adam Silver has
since taken Stern’s position, orchestrated all of this. Since taking the position
of commissioner, Silver has been incredibly well received by the fans, the
players, and the owners, as demonstrated by his handling of the infamous
Donald Sterling case.
Adam Silver, the current league commissioner understands the
evolving trends of society and has taken a serious approach to technology and
amplifying the overall experience of attending an NBA game.xxxi He believes
in innovation and in his short tenure has taken incredible strides to implement
upgrades and changes to the collection& display of player data & analytics,
the online streaming of NBA games, NBA applications, and the arenas in
which games are played. Advanced analytics have gotten to the point where
an accurate measure of the number of steps an individual player takes during
the length of a 48-minute game can be tracked as well as that player’s heart
rate, distance traveled, and a compilation of his basketball-related
statistics.xxxii Silver also facilitated the creation of a mobile application, the
NBA Gametime App, which allows subscribers to stream games live on their
mobile devices and has received over 7.4 million downloads in a single
season. This application, along with its web-basedcounterpart, has amassed
over 16.7 billionpage views since its implementation.
An International Presence: The NBA is a league filled with diversity.
Players from all over the worldcan be found on each team, as international
competition has become a major force in the world of basketball. As of 2015
there are 100 players from 37 countries outside of the United States currently
playing for NBA teams.xxxiii Lativian born rookie, Kristaps Porzingis’ jersey
sales reached fourth in the entire association, an unprecedented number for an
international player in his first year in the league. Players such as Emmanuel
Mudiay forgo their collegiate experience and head overseas in order to cover
the one-year gap period required after high school in order for a player to
enter the draft.xxxiv The NBA is perhaps the only true American sport with an
international following. Its presence alone in China generates over $5.5
billionin revenue each year and approximately 150 million comes from this
international following. Each year the NBA has select teams play games in

19. 19
countries outside the U.S. such as Brazil, London, and Turkey to promote the
league and further its international following. xxxv
This international factor however is a double-edged sword. The
Chinese Basketball Association has been drawing countless players from the
NBA, offering lucrative contracts to aging stars such as Nate Robinson and
J.R. Smith in attempt to lure them away from the NBA. The National
Basketball Association however, is well known to be the league with the
highest level of competition. Players seeking to test their abilities against
opponents at the highest level come the NBA in order to do so. This is the
offering that this association possesses over its international competition. It is
an incredibly stable organization with a decorated history that has only gotten
better with age. Basketball leagues overseas are well known to have financial
problems resulting in players receiving late salary payments and in some
cases, no payment at all. When money is the main draw of a league, as is the
case with the Chinese Basketball Association, it hurts that league’s image
when the teams within it are not able to come through on payments.xxxvi
Winning A Championship: The short-term pinnacle for every NBA
franchise. Every single team would love to “win now” but the fact that only
one team can win a championship per year limits the aspirations of the 29
other teams within the organization. Only about three teams per year are
labeled as legitimate Title Contenders while the other teams attempt to build
up their rosters in order to bring an NBA championship to their respective
franchises. Some of the most important activities that teams must capitalize
on in order to win a championship include a team’s ability to sustain
excellence, their coaching and their player development.
A team’s ability to consistently win games over the course of multiple
years allows that team to develop for itself what is called a winning culture.
Having a team that is able to consistently win games, such as the San Antonio
Spurs, draws fan attendance wherever they go. It also makes that franchise a
more lucrative destination for free agents seeking to gain championship
experience as well as a ring. The Boston Celtics currently have the most
championships with 17, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers with 16, and the
Chicago Bulls in third with 6.xxxvii Due to these franchise’s previous success
the automatically become a more desireddestination for free agents due to
their storied history. Player development is a facet of an organization that
requires a ton of investment in order for a team to acclimate and develop its

20. 20
talent in order to insert players into its lineup. Without player development a
team’s talent levels would stagnate over time rather than improve because the
players would foster no new skills. Factored into this player development is
coaching. Coaches renowned for the player development such as Gregg
Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs not only facilitate the growth of All-Stars
and Hall of Famers such as David Robinson & Tim Duncan, but they also
bring championship experience and an expectation of excellence to an
organization.
Trend Analyses: Competitive & External Factors
Framework
The completion of an external analysis requires the use of two tools. To
conduct an external analysis a company must complete both an External
Factors Framework and Competitive Factors Framework. Competitive
Factors Framework involves the critical success factors for a company and
how they apply to the firm’s player analysis and trend analysis. Weights are
assigned to each of the firm’s critical success factors based on their relative
important to the company. Less important factors are given lower weights
while more important ones are weighted higher. Completing the External
Factors Framework allows a firm to analyze the findings of the Competitive
Factors Framework by giving them average ratings for each of the critical
success factors.
As seen in Appendices C.1 & C.2 both a Competitive Factors
Framework as well as An External Factors Framework has been completed
for the National Basketball Association using a five-point scale where 1 is the
lowest grade and 5 is the highest. The key opportunities analyzed for the
NBA, in order of weight, include Strength of Roster, Cohesiveness of Roster,
Coaching, Management, and Fan Attendance. The key issues, challenges, &
threats identified, in order of weight, include Strength of Schedule, Strength
of Division, Player Accountability, Available Cap Space, and Quality of
Organization. Each one of these trends factor into a franchise’s ability to win
a championship.
The Strength of a Team’s Roster is the most important, and most
heavily weighted factor at 25%. Without a well-balanced roster a team’s

21. 21
ability to succeed in the post season, let alone make the playoffs, dwindles.
The Warriors and Spurs scored a 5 and a 4.5 respectivelydue to their current
win percentage and the overall talent on their roster. Each team analyzed has
a strong roster, the lowest being the Toronto Raptors with a 3.9, and is
projected to make and go far into the post season.
The next highest factor is the Cohesiveness of Roster weighted at 20%.
Team chemistry is incredibly important and the number of assists each team
averages per game factored into the scoring of this metric. The warriors again
scored a 5, as they are the team with the highest number of assists per game
in the league at 30. The Spurs again come in second at 4.5 due to the
longevity of their roster as they have experienced success with the same three
core players for almost a decade in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, & Manu
Ginobli.
The next factor, Coaching, is weighted at 15% and is strong
determinant of how successful a team will be. The Spurs came in first with
this metric at 4.5 followed by the Warriors and Raptors both tied at 4. The
coach’s overall win percentage as well as his teams’ current record was
factored into deciding a team’s score. Greg Popovic of the Spurs has the
second all time win percentage of coaches who have coached over 1500
games played. His team however is in second place in the Western
Conference, which contributed to him not receiving a perfect score of 5.
Steve Kerr of the Warriors and Dwane Casey of the Raptors both scored 4s,
Kerr because of the relatively few number of games coached and Casey
because of his lack of success in the playoffs and the Raptors currently being
in second place in the Eastern Conference.
Management was the fourth weightiest factor at 10% and is measured
by how well a team drafts, facilitates trades, and manages its players. The
Spurs narrowly edge out the Warriors at 4.7 and 4.5 respectively in this
category. The Warriors drafting of Klay Thompson, Steph Curry, and
Draymond Green, all of which are All-Stars occurred within a 5-year period
and contributed to their high score. The Spurs on the other hand secured
Lamarcus Aldridge, David West, and signed Kawhi Leonard to contracts that
were all considered below market value. Their engineering of this was genius
and they somehow convinced each of these players to sign for less simply
due to the strength of the San Antonio Spurs franchise.

22. 22
Fan Attendance is the opportunities factor with the lowest weight at
just 5%. The Warriors scored highest in this category due to their home
record where they have only lost one game this entire season, as well as their
ability to sell out Oracle Arena. The Cavaliers scored second because of their
fan attendance, which is largely due to the popularity of Lebron James, and
their ability to sell out Quicken Loans Arena.
Now onto the issues, trends, and threats that factor into a team winning
a championship. Strength of Schedule and Strength of Division are both
weighted at 10% due to their relation to one another. Teams within the same
divisionplay each other four times per year and as a result, divisions with the
most competitive teams typically have the strongest schedules. Teams who
were scheduled to endure long road trips in the opposite conference where
they faced two or more top 3 seeded teams were given a higher rating. The
Spurs sit in a relatively weak conference, which contributed to their strong
win-loss record this season and thus they were assigned the lowest rating of 1.
The Raptors were given a three due to them having strongest schedule despite
their weak conference as they had multiple road trips where they faced top
ranked Western Conference teams on consecutive days in a row.
Player Accountability is another important challenge that all teams
face, but it was only given a weight of 2% due to NBA players being
generally well behaved and for the most part healthy. To determine a score
for a team its roster was analyzed from top to bottom and those with players
who have had issues in the past contributed to lower score. The health of a
given teams’ players was also taken into account because a player cannot
help his team if he is benched with a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament or if he
is in jail.The Raptor’s DeMarre Carroll is one such player with health
concerns who has seen limited action this year and due to his relative
importance, he brought his team down to a 3. The next lowest is the
Cleveland Cavaliers at 3.5 who have had two of their All-Stars in Kevin Love
and Kyrie Iriving sustain recent injuries and their shooting guard J.R. Smith
who has had one or more run-ins with the law.
The Available Cap Space that an organization has to spend on players
is another challenge that every team must face and was given a weight of 2%.
Teams with more cap-space to sign free agents and serve as potential trade
destination were given a higher rating via this metric and those with less were

23. 23
given a lower one. The Cavaliers and the Spurs are both right on the edge of
paying the luxury tax, which is a penalty of going over the allotted, cap
availabilityand thus both teams receiveda 1. The Raptors were the team with
the highest amount of cap flexibility and were given a 3 because while they
do have the most amount of available cap space, it is not enough to make a
significant roster change.
The Quality of the Organization is the factor with the lowest overall
weight at just 1%. Determining an organizations score involved analyzing
how successful they have been as well as how they are perceived around the
league. The Spurs have had the most success in recent years and were
awarded a score of 5 due to their winning culture and their 5 championships
in 15 years. The Warriors came in second receiving a 4 due to them having
won the most recent championship and their overall success over the past two
seasons.
Through analyzing the Competitive Factors Framework and the
resulting External Factors Framework, the Warriors were the team with the
highest average among those included in this study as seen in Appendices
C.1 & C.2. Their average of 4.2 was .2 higher than the second place Spurs
and the Warriors scored higher than the average score in every category
besides Available Cap Space & Strength of Division. This Golden State
Warriors team has had a historic year and is on pace to finish the regular
season with the best record in NBA history. Their ability to win at such an
unprecedented rate negates the need to use cap space because they do not
need any addition players and the Strength of their Pacific Division is
essentially irrelevant due to them having a 15-1 record against those teams
within it. They are the frontrunner to win the NBA Championship this season
for the second time in a row and whoever opposes them in the playoffs will
have their work cut out for them.

24. 24
Appendix
Appendix A.
A.1
A.2

25. 25
A.3
A.4

26. 26
A.5
A.6

27. 27
Appendix B.
B.1
B.2
B.3

28. 28
B.4
B.5

29. 29
B.6

30. 30
B.7

31. 31
Appendix C.
C.1
C.2

32. 32
Appendix D.
D.1

33. 33
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