Professional teams at the top of their game have often used unique methods to facilitate team bonding. A few years ago, the Arsenal soccer team manager had pickpockets steal players’ wallets to teach them about staying alert, building focus, and whatnot. And while LA Lakers head coach JJ Redick isn’t doing anything quite so incriminating, he is using PechaKucha, a Japanese form of storytelling, to unite his squad.
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Back in the day, players would bond through social activities like drinking, playing video games, or simply talking during long flights. But evidently, that seems to have gone out of fashion. So, PechaKucha it is!
But what is this activity, and how does it help bring the team together?
The name PechaKucha directly translates to ‘chit-chat.’ There’s usually a presenter who shows 20 slides, each for a few seconds, with the intent of telling a story about a particular subject.
The Lakers are doing a 5-slide version of this, with players sharing personal stories from their lives. They can talk about their favorite basketball memory, a person who has had an impact on them, an event that left a mark on their lives, or something unrelated to basketball that makes them happy.
The final slide is a bit of a wild card, where the presenter can share something completely random and unique to them.
It’s certainly a bit unconventional and very Ted Lasso-ish, but Redick claims it’s been working so far. “It’s the way the prompts have been set up [that] encourages a little bit of vulnerability, which has been really, really good from our guys to see from their teammates and see from their coaching staff,” he said after Friday’s practice.
A couple of presentations usually happen each day, with one player and one coach leading the session, after which they nominate another pair to take over the next day.
It might sound very unconventional, but given that the Lakers are currently 7-3 in the West, and primarily without the services of Luka Doncic and LeBron James, it can be argued that the PehcaKucha is working.
Besides, it only seems out of the ordinary now. Who knows, it might become the norm in the next few years. After all, Phil Jackson once introduced meditation and mindfulness sessions to the Chicago Bulls, and soon after, everyone wanted to follow his mantra.
Jackson’s Native American philosophy in the Locker Room
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who played under Jackson, recently talked about just how deeply those teachings influenced the team environment.
“We would watch films, every day was adorned with Native American art and history. He referred to us as his tribe. We’d all be shooting around pre-practice. He’d come out onto the balcony and bang his drum, and that was our signal to come up and watch tape,” Kerr said, adding that Jackson was just ahead of his time.
Right now, there are some reports suggesting that some Lakers stars, like Doncic, aren’t a fan of the Pechakucha, but such was also the case with the Bulls squad when Jackson introduced meditation into the mix.
Hopefully, Redick finds the same taste of success that Jackson had back in the day. Whether or not the Pechakucha gets any credit for it will probably depend on if one of the current Lakers stars has a podcast ten years from now.
