Growth mindset driving the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals

This championship run didn’t start in May. It didn’t start last fall. It didn’t even start two years ago when the Celtics were last in the NBA Finals. In truth, there’s really no moment you can point to unless you count the Celtics drafting Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (or perhaps trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce for those Nets picks).

What we are witnessing has been building, day after day, month after month, year after year, to reach this moment in history. Specifically, Tatum and Brown have grown up under the brightest of lights. Lights that have mercilessly exposed every flaw, every misstep, every weakness in their developing games. Lesser players would have melted under those lights. Countless players have in the past.

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What seems to have set the Jays apart and allowed them to overcome those shortcomings is the growth mindset that Brad Stevens has been preaching to them since they entered the league.

“In a growth mindset, you are focused every day by your growth, not deterred by challenges and not overwhelmed by accomplishments—you’re just moving on to the next day.” -Brad Stevens

Failure is part of sports. There’s a winner and a loser. Everyone loses at some point. The best winners take those losses and learn from them. Talent alone can’t do it. In fact, talent can be a trap.

For review, here’s how the Harvard Business Review defines growth mindset.

Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts). This is because they worry less about looking smart and they put more energy into learning. When entire companies embrace a growth mindset, their employees report feeling far more empowered and committed; they also receive far greater organizational support for collaboration and innovation.

Jayson and Jaylen achieved great success early in their careers. They are insanely talented and that was enough to get them very far. But they had their flaws that limited them.

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Both were sometimes too focused on getting their points. Both needed to work on their playmaking. Jaylen famously needed to work on his dribbling. Jayson needed to work on finishing through contact. Both needed to use their talents to focus more on defense. Both needed to understand the balance between carrying their team and sacrificing for the good of the team.

They learned harsh early lessons at the hands of LeBron James, but that taught them how hard it is to win at the highest levels. They learned how easy it is for egos and selfishness to poison entire seasons. They learned that being up 2-1 in the NBA Finals doesn’t mean that the job is done. They witnessed how a battle tested champion finishes the job through focus and sheer determination. They learned painful lessons about missed opportunities and the razor thin margin of error.

Each lesson was seared into their memories but it did not define them. Every flaw that has been dissected, amplified, and ridiculed by the rest of the world, was another chapter in their textbook to learn from. Instead of believing the lie of “I tried my best and I’m just not good enough,” they focused their energy on getting better.

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Give Brad Stevens credit for teaching them the growth mindset (or at least defining it for them). Give some credit to Joe Mazzulla for continuing that same message. But most of the credit belongs to Jayson and Jaylen for learning the lessons and following through on the hard work.

By the way, those are some of the same painful lessons that Luka Doncic is currently learning. He’s an amazing player. Perhaps a generational talent. He didn’t get to this point by relying on his talent alone. So the guess here is that he’ll learn from this and grow from it as well. If he’s fortunate enough to have the right teammates around him in the future, he’s got a great chance to get back to this level and maybe even finish it off. But that’s his own growth story that needs to play out over time.

Right now, the Celtics are one win away from an NBA title and one of the main reasons why is because Tatum and Brown refused to let their past failures define them. One more win and a very different term can be used to define them. Champions.