Every guy you just mentioned, though, was part of a team trying to get better the normal way.
The Nets were starting Josh Boone and Travis Outlaw, while the Wolves started grand bust extraordinaire Darko Milicic and somehow they're being lauded as "trying to get better the normal way" as compared to the Sixers. el oh el
And I don't think you really want to throw the Nets or the T-Wolves up as examples that "losing cultures" don't matter. Did you SEE the Nets get humiliated in the playoffs two seasons ago?
You mean the Nets team that lost to the Bulls? The same Nets team that had a grand total of two players retained from that 12-70 team, one of whom was purely retained as future trade bait? The same Nets team that prominently featured two guys in Deron Williams - formerly coached by Jerry Sloan - and Joe Johnson, both of whom had made multiple playoff appearances, including a Western Conference Finals appearance by Williams?
... yeah, I saw that team lose in the playoffs. And I have not the slightest idea how this relates to anything I said about losing cultures since, you know, two-thirds of that team's core came from "winning" cultures.
And I believe the four players you just mentioned have a total of 5 winning seasons on their resume.
... and, save for Kevin Love, all of those winning seasons occurred just this past year, so... ?
Unless you're ignoring the fact that these guys have clearly improved over the years and that has translated to on-court success for their teams, I'm not sure why this matters. They're winning
now.
Piggybacking on Mike's point -- because apparently that's all I'm going to do in this thread -- there's a reason Wall's Wizards became successful once they got rid of Nick Young and JaVale McGee, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the front office purged the team of the players who were contributing to the losing culture. The Nets are a good example too, I don't think I've ever seen a professional team care less in the post season in any sport, ever.
On the other hand, I do think it's very easy to fall into that trap of blaming a losing culture when, in fact, the team is just losing.
That's my point, though - losing in itself does not a losing culture make; having a terrible developmental environment plays a significant role in that and that's where the front office has to make the proper moves to help their players cope with their situation and identify those who are toxic to the team's long-term success. Cleveland was actually fostering a losing culture before LeBron blessed them with his return; Washington was making great strides in cleaning up their locker room. Both teams lost, but it'd be absurd to suggest they were both harboring "losing cultures."
On the flip side, the Nets laid an egg in that 2013 playoffs despite having seasoned veterans. Their players' backgrounds of playing for multiple winning teams didn't matter in the slightest.