The association with this obstacle immediately takes me far into the past, into the cult film Cool Hand Luke (1967), in which Paul Newman shone. In the most iconic scene, he was a mere listener to the sadistic warden (Strother Martin), who knocked the prisoner to the ground and uttered the famous quote "What we've got here is failure to communicate."

A leap into the present, into the information age, where we spend a lot of time communicating online. In the digital world, I think of "communication problems" as the number 404. These three characters appear on our screens from time to time as we wait in vain for the content we want to be displayed. In this case, the web browser communicated with the web server, but was unable to find the requested page or was refused, when fulfilling the request.

And it is with these words that I would personally describe the most interesting moment in this NBA season. This has nothing to do with Dallas' turbulent season, Joel Embiid's first MVP title, or Miami's incredible roster, where half of the players on the team were undrafted. What I remember most from this season was Giannis Antetokounmpo's slightly angry monologue after Milwaukee's (too) early playoff exit.

Miami barely made it to the playoffs and then eliminated Milwaukee 4:1 in the opening round. It was only the fifth time in the history of the competition that the eighth seed eliminated the first. At the press conference, Eric Nehm from the Athletic asked the Greek if he considers the season a failure.

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"Oh my God," Antetokounmpo began in response, remembering that the same reporter had asked him the exact same question the year before, when the Bucks were eliminated in the conference semifinals as the defending champions.

"Fifty years from 1971 to 2021 that we didn’t win a championship were a failure? No, they were not. There are steps to it. Michael Jordan played 15 years. Won six championships. The other nine years were a failure? You know, there are good days, bad days, some days you can be successful, some days not. Some days it's your turn, some days it's not your turn. And that's what sports is about. You don't always win. Some other people are going to win. And this year, somebody else is going to win. Simple as that. We will return next season, try to be better, build good habits, play better, not have a stretch of 10 days playing bad basketball and hopefully we can win a championship," he explained, then apologized to the reporter for being too personal (first, he asked the reporter if his year would be unsuccessful if he hadn’t progressed at work).

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A significant portion of the public immediately praised Antetokounmpo, but a handful of people argued that he was wrong and that the ring is what counts in the end.

I actually saw a failure of communication myself in this case. You don’t expect a team that shone in the regular season, to be eliminated at the first step of the playoffs. First, the best starting point, then, immediate relegation? This was, without a shadow of a doubt, a huge disappointment for both the team and its fans (and probably the journalists who follow the Bucks). That's why this topic and this question were important, especially in this context. Even uncomfortable questions are necessary.

Antetokounmpo seems to have misunderstood the question. Or he didn't want to. His answer was long and emotional. Above all, full of (real) messages. Of course, he is right, there are 30 teams playing in the league, but there is only one spot at the top of the pyramid. All too often in sports we are judged and/or dazed by statistics and numbers. Who has won the championship title and how many times? How many other accolades do they have? Wins and losses. A game of numbers that blurs context. Is the runner-up really just first among losers.

Obsessing over numbers (without considering context) is too often the wrong way to go. The reason for Giannis' bad mood is clear, he did not win the title, and even more so - he did not meet his own expectations, internal motivation is usually much stronger and more important than external. But when the numbers and lists of champions are looked at in a few years, people will forget that Antetokounmpo was injured, that he couldn't play and help his teammates for most of the series. This is what probably hurts the player a lot more, but injuries and contingencies are only one part of the big picture.

Defeat and failure are automatically portrayed as the opposite of victory, which is too often defined only by first place. But victories are much more than just the top of the podium. They are inspiration, hope, fair-play, encouragement, motivation, building self-esteem, weaving human bonds. What good will ten titles do to you at the end of your career if you're a jerk and burn bridges along the way?

Victory is also awareness and recognition of one's own mistakes. Analyzing one step back so you can then take two steps forward. This is also why we need clear communication …