Hero Ball

I watched the Warriors blow a 20 point lead to the Rockets yesterday. What stuck out to me was the shot selection in the last 70 seconds. With a 6 point lead, KD pulls up for a contested three with 15 seconds left on the shot clock.

Then, with a 3 point lead, Steph pull up for a three with 14 seconds left on the shot clock.

Both miss, allowing the Rockets to come back. Questioned about the shot selection, Steph says “Could’ve waited. But if I make that, it’s game over. I was going for the dagger. Live and die by it. … If I make it, it’s a different conversation.” It’s really bad basketball fundamentals — the obvious plays would have been to milk the clock and try to get a high percentage two point field goal to make it a three possession game. The Athletic also put this as their first key observation in their recap (link).

There are parallels to VC investing. Younger VCs, especially at larger funds, have every incentive to source and make more deals, in the hopes that one will turn into the next unicorn. The benefits of finding a unicorn far outweigh the penalty of five investments going to zero. After all, no one writes on their LinkedIn “Investor in..” a company that went away. In other words, the game is all about the highlights and with a lot of stars out there, I wonder if some are gunning for the highlight reel without enough heed to the consequences of missing that hero shot.