Basketball has evolved tremendously to become the product that it is today. However, in the NBA, most, if not all teams play the same old game. There isn’t much experimentation throughout the league. Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, who has been in the NBA for 22 years, believes he knows why this is the case.
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If you look throughout NBA history, there is typically a consensus play style. There will be a few anomalies, such as the ‘Grit and Grind’ Memphis Grizzlies of the 2010s or the ‘7 Seconds or Less Phoenix Suns’ of the mid-2000s. Aside from those teams, the majority of the league adopts a relatively similar play style.
That trend has continued even into the 2025-26 NBA season. On the recent Mind the Game podcast, Steve Nash asked James why he thinks such few teams are willing to experiment. The four-time NBA champion’s response was quite simple.
“Our league is a copycat league,” James said. Before continuing his assessment, LeBron offered a unique analogy to illustrate exactly what he meant.
“I treat our league exactly like at the dinner table with all your friends and family. In order for everybody to leave and go home, it’s always got to be one person that stands up first. That’s how our league is,” James added.
James’ co-host Nash let out a slight chuckle but couldn’t refute the 21-time All-Star’s claim. Nash began to list a few key examples to support James’ statement.
“It’s usually a really good time tries something. It works because they’re a really good team. I remember back in the day, late 90s, everyone was trying the triangle. Well, [the Chicago Bulls] had MJ, Pippen, Dennis, you know what I mean? The same with Shaq and Kobe. It’s not as easy to replicate,” Nash proclaimed.
The triangle offense is one of the most difficult offensive schematics to run in the NBA. It requires a specific skillset of players, which is why it only worked on a grand level with two teams. Nonetheless, many other teams saw the Bulls and the Lakers succeed and thought that was the meta for success.
We are now seeing something similar in today’s NBA. The Golden State Warriors ushered in a new playstyle centred around high three-point volume, which continues to remain prevalent in the league. However, one key difference maker between the Warriors and others is that they have the best shooter in NBA history on their team.
Although teams backed away from size in favor of spacing, that trend has since flipped. Now, the Oklahoma City Thunder have redefined the importance of size. Their double big lineup has proven to be quite successful. So, many teams are now opting to run lineups with two versatile big men.
The NBA will continue to be a copycat league for the rest of it’s existence. However, the teams which stand out are the ones that pave their own path.
