I'm tending to the camp that says with the right man management, team mates and motivation players can do what they are paid for - produce high quality performance - despite apparent personality flaws. I know of sporting teams who have won their top honours even though the players hated each other and didn't mix outside of training and game day.
I can't recall the NFL player (think he might have played for the cowboys) who never spoke to any of his team mates but won a super bowl with them.
There are undoubtedly exceptions where ultra talented players disrupt harmony too much. They are paid to perform, not be friends or drinking buddies though and if team and player are producing I don't care if they leave work not all mates. Obviously harmony is preferable but pro sport is about winning, not happy families.
That said, under CBS and DA I think the whole family idea is valued and they want players who contribute to that.
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Very well said, and people should remember that basketball is a profession for these guys, not a social gathering.
Every job I go to, I usually end up being one of the more social people in the team - I like having friendly relationships with the people I work with, at least while I'm at work. Sometimes I make friends with people and remain in contact with them even after I move on - the majority of people I just get along with while I'm at work, then never speak to them again once I move on.
But there are some people who go see work as purely a professional thing. They go to work to achieve their professional goals (make money, further their career, whatever it may be) and don't really have any interest in making friends or getting to know their colleagues on a personal level. I think that's fair, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. You're paid to do your job, and as long as you do it well you're earning your coin. Some of the more social employees don't like people like that though, and start drawing unfair conclusions about them - things like "he/she things he/she is better than everybody else", etc.
I've known people who are perfectly nice people, but just aren't very social...and they have had entire workplaces turn against them and make their life at work a living hell purely because they aren't social butterflies that want to go out for drinks with everybody else, share their life stories, etc.
I'm sure the NBA is like that too. In fact I could see somebody like Ray Allen potentially falling in to that latter category as a guy who just want to put in his work, get his pay cheque, and go home - rather than go out drinking with teammates, etc.
BUT there are also those employees who nobody can work with. The ones who refuse to handle their work load (not because they lack there ability, just because they are lazy or thing it's below them), leaving everybody else in the team having to work twice as hard to cover for them. The ones who won't be willing to swap with you on that day when you realllly need to take a earlier lunch - with their only reason being "not my problem". The ones who will outright refuse to ever work a back even one minute, or sacrifice even 30 seconds of their lunch break, no matter the circumstances. The ones who just are selfish team players, and who will throw anybody under the bus if they feel it will protect them from getting in trouble, or help them further their career. Those are the guys who I would call 'toxic'.
I feel like Dwight Howard in the Magic days fits that criteria - not so much now. I think MJ, for sure - he's KNOWN for throwing anybody under the bus for his own personal agenda. Lebron, I could see being a bit like that behind closed doors. I could see Kevin Love being a little bit like that too maybe - though that might not be the case.