Pablo Laso's anatomy of success: A case study of a professional serial winning coach

Top level professional sport is subject to enhanced levels of scrutiny due to its significant social and financial impact. Understanding the factors and interrelationships that lead to success, and especially the role sport coaches play, has become a priority in research and practice. This case study builds on research into Serial Winning Coaches 1,9,10 to describe the practice of Pablo Laso, a European professional serial winning basketball coach. Using primary and secondary data, the study aimed to identify those factors that appeared to be necessary for success, and how Coach Laso navigated the tensions between agency and structure, and the relative contributions of resources, context, and execution. We have identified those factors that appear, in this example, to be necessary for success, but we are still only able to speculate about the combination of conditions that are ‘jointly sufficient’ to bring about success. The conclusion might be that there is a complex and elaborate mix of conviction, expertise, serendipity, purposeful endeavour, and resources that enables rather than determines success. Nonetheless, Coach Laso's anatomy of success may serve as a catalyst for other coaches’ reflection and development and to guide further research.