Rich Paul: But I say all that to say—it’s not on the players. Those guys can go out and score 30 and 40 and 50—they can do all that. But it’s going to—it’s a race of the front offices, right? Who’s going to make the proper moves to put the proper talent around for each one of those guys to be successful? You can say what you want about anybody. When it was the Detroit Pistons and they were winning back when Isaiah was playing—they drafted Dumars. They went and got Aguirre. They had got Rodman and Rick Mahorn. You know, like when it was the Lakers—they got Worthy and Magic and Kareem, you know, and winning Michael Cooper and Byron Scott. It’s—as much as you want to lean on how great an individual was and/or is—you also have to factor in the decision makers to help place the proper pieces around them that allows them to be great in those moments as well
. And we get confused. Take Tim Duncan—attempt. No offense to any franchise—but he was drafted to the Spurs. David Robinson was already there. When they took Tony Parker, people didn’t know who Tony Parker was. When they took Manu in the second round, people looking around like, ‘What’s…?’ But again, Tim Duncan wasn’t making those picks or those decisions at all.
by Hoops Hype