karl malone
Well-Known Member
Having the most talent or the ball in your hands for the majority of the time does not make somebody a leader. To me, being a leader is about putting the team & your teammates ahead of yourself, doing whatever it takes to help your team win, supporting your teammates at all times & any cost, helping put them in a position to succeed, making them better (not only with your play, but with your presence/guidance), leading by example, knowing what needs to be said & saying it in a constructive manner, etc. While Hayward clearly has a lot of those qualities, imo Gobert best exemplifies what it means to be a leader out of the players on this roster. Hayward has undoubtedly been the unquestioned leader of this team since Jefferson & Millsap left via FA, but (again imo) Gobert took over that role at the end of the season.
In the end tho, I honestly don't believe that any of the players on this roster are thinking in those terms. The rest of the roster may have looked up to/followed the lead of Hayward, Favors, Gobert, Ingles, & Booker (to varying degrees), but imo one of the biggest factors in the chemistry/cohesion that the team displayed last season was largely due to the fact that the team (as a whole) views themselves as a collective unit rather than a collection of individuals following a specific leader. A team doesn't need one undisputed leader, it can follow the leads of different players in different situations. Imo, this is the main reason that the FO has targeted high-character players & it appears to be paying off.
In the end tho, I honestly don't believe that any of the players on this roster are thinking in those terms. The rest of the roster may have looked up to/followed the lead of Hayward, Favors, Gobert, Ingles, & Booker (to varying degrees), but imo one of the biggest factors in the chemistry/cohesion that the team displayed last season was largely due to the fact that the team (as a whole) views themselves as a collective unit rather than a collection of individuals following a specific leader. A team doesn't need one undisputed leader, it can follow the leads of different players in different situations. Imo, this is the main reason that the FO has targeted high-character players & it appears to be paying off.