The Brooklyn Nets have gotten out to a 7-15 start to their season, winning six of their last seven games. But Lionel Hollins didn’t credit leadership, saying “too much” is made of having vocal players and that talent trumps all in an extended response.
“Too much is made of leadership,” Hollins said, when asked about Jarrett Jack’s leadership ability. “Everybody should be a leader on the court. Leadership comes by you going out there and doing your job to the best of your ability as hard as you can consistently. You do that, people are going to follow you. Then the great players lead by their ability to score the ball, and people follow them because they know that they can help them win.”
Hollins added that players should communicate within the system, but that players who talk too much outside of the system are “annoying.”
“I think too much is made of vocal leadership,” he continued. “Everybody should be vocal, communicate what’s going on, where to be, what to do, because that’s part of playing. Defense, you have to be able to communicate. On the offensive end, you have to be able to communicate. I think … the worst kind of leadership is that ‘rah-rah, come on, everybody!’ To me, that’s just annoying people.”
He instead likened leadership to leading by example and picking up teammates, rather than vocalizing during practices or games.
“I think leadership is like, ‘okay, somebody’s missed two or three, don’t worry about it, I got you, I’m going to come back to you again.’ It’s like a quarterback throwing the ball to a wide receiver that’s missed a couple of passes or giving a handoff to a running back that’s fumbled. That’s leadership. Just showing confidence and helping guys be better. The great players have always made their teammates better, and that’s the maximum leadership, because you have the ability to go out and shoot any time every time and get a good shot, but you choose to share it with your teammates and help them be better and help them get off.”
