Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork In every team sport every player has to play together as a single unit. Games aren’t won by a single player but by the whole team working together for the common goal of a tally mark in the win column. A great team is not made up of great individuals. A great team is made up of players who are willing to put their heart into the game and play selflessly for the good of the team. A great team is made of passion and players who know that the man next to them is going to do their job and that the play called by the coach is going to work to perfection. A great team is made of great team players. A team player has three main characteristics: Integrity, dedication, and determination. When a player has integrity he gains trust from teammates, and also the coaching staff. If a football player is working his tail off to block the man across from him every play, it may go unnoticed by fans and coaches at first. However, the running back and quarter back who play behind him know that they’re safe and the defensive player isn’t going to make it to them. Playing hard with no intent in gaining any glory is a hard task to have the will to do. Great team players, though, know how to do the dirty work to win. John Stockton, a 6’-1” point guard for the Utah Jazz, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. However, if you asked someone who used to watch him as a child wouldn’t ramble on about all of his high scoring games. The truth is he was not a prolific scorer like most Hall-of-Famers. John Stockton was known for his incredible passing ability and for his All-Time NBA record for most assists in his career. He was the ultimate team player. His presence on the court made his teammates play better around him. His goal during games was to get his teammates open and give them the ball in a position to score. His selfless play led him to earn ten NBA All-Star selections, two All-NBA First Team selections, two Bausch and Lomb Court Vision awards, and many other accomplishments (NBA Encyclopedia- John Stockton). John Stockton wasn’t a man praised for being an unstoppable force on the court like many other greats, but by his will for the team to succeed and by doing the things that needed to be done to win, he became a legend. Dedication: Self-sacrificing devotion (Merriam-Webster). Being a team player means putting the team before you. Team players are willing to lay down their own goals, needs, and time for the good of the organization. In some cases, illness is even forgotten in important games and moments. For example, Game 5 of the NBA Finals on basketball’s biggest stage, Michael Jordan came down with the flu. His teammate, Scottie Pippen, after seeing Michael enter the Delta Center, said, “I’d never seen him like that. He looked bad – I mean really bad” (Weinberg). Jordan would go on to score 38 points, including the game-winning shot in the fourth quarter, and then collapse from exhaustion on the court. Michael Jordan gave everything he had to help his team win the game with no thought of the harm he could cause his body and the exhaustion and hurt that would follow. Sheer determination was the only thing that pushed him through that game. Although Jordan showed great determination, no other player has arguably been more determined than Spud Webb. Standing at 5 feet 7 inches, Webb was surrounded by giants on the court. In his playing days the average height of an NBA player was 6 feet 7 inches, an entire foot taller than Spud. The odds were always against him. What many people don’t is that Spud was born into poverty, living in a small two-bedroom home. At a young age he decided that basketball was what he wanted to do. In high school, Webb was always the shortest man on the floor, but he used his quickness and jumping ability that he had worked his whole life improving to make the opposing team look foolish.