How Tite Used LeBron James' Example For Brazil's Success Under Him

Brazil head coach Tite claims he used Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James as a blueprint for his side's success ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Tite replaced Dunga as manager of Brazil following the nation's disappointing showing in their group-stage exit at the Copa America Centenario in 2016, where the likes of Thiago Silva and Marcelo were notably sidelined.

It followed a previous poor two years for Brazil who were infamously knocked out in the semifinals of the World Cup on home soil by Germany in a massive 7-1 defeat in 2014 and would lose to Paraguay in the quarterfinals of the Copa America in 2015.

However, Tite has steered the ship since his arrival with a 3-0 win World Cup qualifying match over Ecuador in his first match in charge. He would then lead the Selecao to seven consecutive victories in qualifying in a campaign that saw Brazil win 15 of their 19 matches and become the first team to qualify for the World Cup other than the hosts Russia.

Calling back Silva and Marcelo in the process, Tite says he used video of James from the 2016 NBA Finals where his Cleveland side upset the Golden State Warriors to win a first-ever championship. The reason was to bring his side together as the 33-year-old embodied the team environment Tite desired.

"When we all convened before the Ecuador match, one of the first things we did was show the players a video from a basketball game, if you can believe that!" Tite said in an interview, as quoted on FourFourTwo.

"It was from the NBA Finals when Cleveland played Golden State [Warriors]. And this one play was so beautiful to me, because LeBron James passes the ball to Kyrie Irving, and Kyrie takes a tough shot and misses it. But what does LeBron do? He is the superstar. You might expect him to be clapping his hands, saying, 'Why did you take that shot?' Instead, LeBron was super focused. He fought to get the rebound, and then what did he do? Did he take it and shoot it himself? No, he passed the ball right back to Kyrie, and Kyrie scored. I told my players, 'This is the kind of atmosphere we need here to be successful. Everyone fighting for one another, even the stars,'" he said.

Tite then recalled how after the win over Ecuador, the players started to pray to God but he would tell the staff and security guards who were leaving to join in.

"After the match [a 3-0 win], we were all in the changing room, and the players came close together and we started to pray to God," Tite added. "And I noticed that some of the staff and even the security guards were leaving the room, and I said, 'No, this is for everyone. Let us all pray.'"

"Everyone came together to pray, even the security guards. That was an incredible moment of emotion for all of us," he said.

The World Cup takes place in Russia from June 14 to July 15. Brazil are in Group E along with Switzerland, Serbia and Costa Rica.