Back to Blog
HOW HARD IS IT TO WIN?
By Bevo•
The truth about winning programs, head coaches, and the culture of impatience
By Rob “Bevo” Beveridge • Bevo Sports
Recently I read an article about the Duke University men’s basketball program. The message was simple and, to me, uncomfortable: win a championship — or else. I don’t agree with that way of thinking. After 35 years as a professional coach, I can tell you winning is never that simple, and a program cannot be judged only by one trophy at the end of the season.
There is only ever ONE winner. Does that mean every other team is a failure? Of course not. But this “championship or bust” mindset is spreading, and it is hurting coaches, players, and the game itself. So let’s talk honestly about how hard it really is to win — and what a real winning program actually looks like.
THE REALITY OF WINNING
Every year, dozens of teams enter a competition. Only one lifts the trophy. The mathematics alone tell us that winning a championship is rare — and rare things are, by definition, difficult.
In my experience, the Head Coach carries the most pressure in any program. When things go well, players and management celebrate. When things go badly, the coach is usually the scapegoat. Owners, management, media, fans — everyone has expectations, and those expectations are not always realistic.
A Hard Truth
A team can play brilliant basketball all season, develop its players, build its culture,
and still lose in the finals.
That is not failure.
That is sport.
WHAT A WINNING PROGRAM LOOKS LIKE
I have been lucky to work with teams that win championships, and teams that fall just short. What separates them is almost never one player or one coach. It is the PROGRAM.
The best programs share six clear pillars.
1 Culture and Identity
Know who you are. Culture changes players, not the other way around.
2 Talent and Fit
Balanced roster beats a collection of stars. Fit matters more than raw talent.
3 Staff and Alignment
Everyone pulling in the same direction. Misalignment kills programs.
4 Player Development
Every player improves every year. Loyalty follows improvement.
5 Clear Roles and Communication
Known roles + constant communication = trust and performance.
6 Time and Patience
No program is built in one season. Stability is a strategy.
Take away any one of these pillars and the program gets weak. Take away two, and winning is almost impossible. And remember — sometimes you still need LUCK on top of all this. Luck is not a pillar, because you cannot control it. But you need it.
HIRE AND FIRE DESTROYS PROGRAMS
The teams that constantly change coaches and players are the teams that rarely win. Why? Because a program needs TIME to grow. A coach needs time to build culture, teach systems, and develop trust with players.
When management fires coaches after every bad season, they are not “fixing” the team — they are starting from zero, again and again. Every new coach brings a new system, new staff, new ideas. The players are confused, the identity is lost, and the program never matures.
Bevo’s Experience
Teams where the coach is supported by management — and given time to build — are almost always more successful than teams that hire and fire at will.
Stability is not a luxury.
It is a strategy.
THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE
This isn’t just my opinion. In 2025 alone, at least 14 professional basketball head coaches across the NBA, WNBA, and EuroLeague were fired or parted ways with their clubs — and that doesn’t include the 62 men’s and 25+ women’s head coaching changes at US college level. Basketball, at every professional level, is in a coaching crisis.
NBA — Even Champions Get Fired
The 2024-25 NBA season saw five head coaches dismissed, and the 2025-26 season started with more of the same. The list includes:
• Tom Thibodeau (New York Knicks) — took the team to their first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years. Fired.
• Taylor Jenkins (Memphis Grizzlies) — the winningest coach in franchise history. Fired.
• Mike Budenholzer (Phoenix Suns) — the Suns’ third coach in three years. Fired.
• Willie Green (New Orleans Pelicans) — fired November 2025.
• Mike Brown (Sacramento Kings) — 2023 NBA Coach of the Year. Fired.
The Michael Malone example
Michael Malone won the 2023 NBA Championship with the Denver Nuggets. Two years later — with only THREE games left in the regular season — he was fired. A coach who delivered the franchise’s first-ever title, gone. If that can happen to a championship-winning coach, what chance does anyone else have?
WNBA — Three Fired After the 2025 Season
The WNBA followed the same pattern. After the 2025 season, three head coaches were moved on:
• Sandy Brondello (New York Liberty) — one of the most experienced coaches in the women’s game.
• Noelle Quinn (Seattle Storm).
• Latricia Trammell (Dallas Wings).
EuroLeague — A Record-Breaking Carousel
The 2025-26 EuroLeague season saw SIX head coaches dismissed or resign before the end of the calendar year — a record-breaking “coaching carousel” for European basketball. The names on this list are world-class.
Željko Obradović
Partizan (Serbia)
Ettore Messina
EA7 Olimpia Milan (Italy)
Gordon Herbert
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Igor Kokoskov
Anadolu Efes (Turkey)
Joan Peñarroya
FC Barcelona (Spain)
Ioannis Sfairopoulos
Crvena Zvezda (Serbia)
Think about this
Željko Obradović is the most decorated coach in European basketball history — NINE EuroLeague titles.
Ettore Messina has won four EuroLeague championships and coached at the highest level for over 30 years. If those two legends can be pushed out, NO coach is safe.
As Italian national team coach Luca Banchi said of the EuroLeague schedule after the Messina and Obradović resignations: the system is killing coaches.
Add in the 62 men’s and 25+ women’s college basketball coaching changes in 2025, and the picture is clear: basketball is eating its own coaches. The problem is not the coaches. The problem is the expectations, the pressure, and the impatience of the people who hire and fire them.
WHAT WINNING REALLY MEANS
Let’s change the question. Instead of asking “Did you win the championship?” ask these better questions:
• Did our players improve this season?
• Did our program develop its culture and identity?
• Did we compete with pride in every game?
• Are we in a stronger position than last year?
• Are our young players ready for the next level?
If the answer is YES to most of these, you are running a winning program — even if you didn’t lift the trophy. Championships are the reward. Development, culture, and stability are the foundation.
A MESSAGE TO COACHES AND MANAGEMENT
To coaches: don’t let outside pressure define your worth. Do your job with integrity, develop your players, and build something that lasts beyond one season.
To owners and management: give your coach time. Support them publicly. Let them build. The trophies will come more often to programs that believe in their people — not to programs that panic.
The Final Word
Winning a championship is VERY difficult, and sometimes you need luck. But building a winning PROGRAM — that is something you can control. Talent, staff, management, patience.
Get those right, and the championships will follow.
For more articles visit www.bevo-sports.com
— Bevo