Trevor Ariza saw a lot during his career in the NBA, but that’s typically what happens when you play for ten different teams over an 18-year career. Along the way, Ariza was fortunate enough to win a title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009.
Winning the NBA Finals is precisely what every player in the league sets out to do, and while Ariza only won one ring during his career, he played on several championship contenders. As a result, he knows what it takes to play basketball in May and June.
Ariza highlights two key aspects of championship-contending teams
There isn’t a tried and true formula for winning championships in the NBA, but things can be done to increase your odds. Having a talented roster is obviously a great first step, but that alone isn’t enough.
Having played on several talented teams that came up just short, Ariza knows this far too well. In order to get over that hump, the longtime forward believes that championship teams need to have a strong leader and a physical presence every time they take the court.
“What I believe a team needs is a really mentally strong leader, and they also need a physical, tough presence on the court,” Trevor Ariza said on Forgotten Seasons . “If you have those things, you’ll be able to muster through anything. Having 82 games in a season, you gonna be beat up, you gonna be bruised, all teams are gonna go through injury.”
“But when you have that leader that’s gonna continue to push you, and then you have that physical, tough presence, that just gives the players or the superstars that freedom to go out and be whoever they are, especially if they know they have a guy who’s a tough guy on their team that’s gonna be there and protect any type of bulls*** that might happen in the game. When you have those two things and you have talent, that helps boost your team’s morale,” Ariza added.
Do teams actually need Trevor Ariza’s two championship ingredients?
Everyone believes in what teams need to win it all, and you can clearly see where Ariza got these two ideas. His 2009 Lakers squad had a de facto leader in Kobe Bryant and a skilled interior presence in Pau Gasol.
Those two things certainly help, but are they truly necessary in the modern NBA? With three-point shooting taking over the league, interior big men primarily responsible for providing this toughness aspect aren’t exactly as vital as they once were.
Having strong leaders is a given on a championship team, but Ariza’s second point may be a bit outdated. Just look at the reigning champion Boston Celtics, as they were without their top big man, Kristaps Porzingis, for pretty much the entire postseason.
Both these things certainly help, but being a physically tough team may not be as necessary as it once was. There’s no doubt why Ariza feels that way, but times have changed in the NBA, and that is certainly worth noting when having this discussion.
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