It takes time to build a winning culture and team in the NBA, and that is commonly not an overnight process. The Los Angeles Lakers of the early 2000's are a great example of the building-to-win model.
The Lakers were one of the most dominant teams during the decade, winning three straight NBA finals before losing in the fourth, but the winning didn't exactly start right away.
Shaquille O'Neal, one of the most important players to those championship years, recalls how long it took to make it to the top, and how it took continuity to make it happen.
O'Neal believes playing with his former teammates, including Kobe Bryant, for nearly half a decade helped set the stage and prepare them when the time came.
The Big Aristotle has his eyes on the Washington Wizards and believes that they are doing the right thing by keeping their core players of John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter together.
According to O'Neal, via the Wizards Tipoff Podcast, that is an important cog in winning a title
“That's how you develop a championship mentality. I don't know a lot of championship teams that kept changing it around.”
“Me and Kobe lost six or seven years in a row. Me, Kobe, [Derek Fisher], [Rick Fox] and [Brian Shaw]; that core group lost six or seven years in a row and then when Phil [Jackson] came in, we finally got it together. I know you're going to trade a couple of pieces every now and then, but if you can keep your core five or six together for a long period of time and they can win together, fail together and grow together, then you have a better chance of winning a championship.”
Ultimately the Lakers tasted their first championship in 2000, but their core began banding together in 1996. They lost before they could win and it all served as a piece to the prize.
The Wizards have their own obstacles to conquer, but O'Neal feels they are close, and merely one piece away.
You can listen to the podcast below.
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