Many people said the Triangle Offense was outdated.
But in fact, many teams that had achieved great success in recent years had incorporated elements of the Triangle Offense into their attacks.
For example, the 2015–16 Warriors, and the Cavaliers of a few years ago.
The Triangle Offense needed a strong presence in the elbow area.
Like Jordan and Kobe.
They had outstanding, well-rounded face-up and post-up skills around the elbow. In one-on-one situations, they were absolute forces.
By using movement in the Triangle Offense to draw other defenders away, the team could leave that player in a one-on-one matchup.
There was another variation of the Triangle Offense: the original version.
It required an interior player who could attack from the elbow.
Gasol, for example, back when he played for the Lakers.
He was very capable of taking his man one-on-one from there.
Meanwhile, the team's absolute offensive force, Kobe, would move to the top of the three-point arc.
From there, he posed such a major offensive threat that he drew multiple defenders, giving Gasol a much easier chance to go one-on-one.
If the interior player couldn't score in isolation, the team's star could also cut to the basket for a shot at the rim or a three-pointer.
Or he could make a decoy cut to draw the defense away, creating an easy opportunity for a second cutter to lay the ball in.
Or, after receiving the ball, he could immediately pass it to a teammate on the other side.
That instantly shifted the strong side and weak side of the offense, leaving the opposing team no time to set up an effective defense.
In these ways, the team's offensive focal point needed to excel at four elite skills on offense:
Finisher;
Playmaker;
Decoy Attacker;
Distractor.
Jordan and Kobe had both