Culture is one of the most important aspects of any business. Having an enjoyable place to work in can lead to greater production and ultimately greater earnings. This is no different in professional sports for teams like the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics have often been seen as the face of success in the National Basketball Association (NBA), but recently haven’t seen the same success the storied franchise was built upon. The team boasts seventeen championships but has been unsuccessful in winning another one for over a decade. Because the team has never been devoid of talent, many are starting to look at the culture of the team. There is a growing suspicion of poor team culture, which many believe is leading to the teams constant underachieving.
The Celtics have had success in the playoffs, reaching the conference finals in three of the past for years. Led by talented players like Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown, the team is always believed to be contenders. This season, however, the team took a drastic step backwards and were barely able to squeeze into the playoffs, where they would quickly be disposed of by the Brooklyn Nets. Danny Ainge, former General Manager of the Celtics, announced he would be stepping down from his position of general manager. This allowed for Brad Stevens, head coach of the team for the past few seasons, to fill the vacancy. Stevens, however, can be directly tied to the team’s weak culture.
It was public knowledge that Stevens was not the most popular figure in the locker room and had little respect from Tatum, despite being quite successful in his short tenure as head coach. Despite his solid record, his players did not really want to play for them, which led to some lackluster efforts in many games throughout the season. This lack of effort and poor attitude led the team to extremely underachieve and develop one of the worst cultures in the league.
This culture issue needs to be resolved quickly or the championship slump the Celtics are in will not end. With a weak culture, it is very hard to attract superstars. Players may be put off by Tatum and Brown’s poor attitudes, which can deter the team’s front office from attracting big name players in the free agent market. And without the ability to sign stars, despite playing in a major basketball market, the Celtics may see themselves in a poor position for years to come.