If you haven’t heard, DollarsAndSense will be hosting its next EveryDay Investor event on July 19, 2025. While the event focuses on investing, our theme this time is football.
Over the past two weeks, I have found myself reflecting more on the similarities between sports and investing. After all, excelling in either arena requires discipline, consistency and a long-term mindset. Just as elite athletes need to train regularly to perform at their peak, successful investors also need to develop good habits and adhere to a well-defined plan.
While football is our event theme, I’ve also been closely following the NBA. Earlier this week, the Oklahoma City Thunder won their first-ever NBA Championship, becoming the second-youngest title-winning team in league history, with an average age of just 25.6 years. Watching them lift the trophy, I couldn’t help but draw a few investing takeaways from their remarkable journey.
#1 Build A Team, Not Just Collect Stars
In sports, success rarely comes from simply assembling a group of superstars. It comes from building a team, one where each player contributes to a shared goal. The 2025 NBA Champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, are a perfect example of this.
While they boast this year’s MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, he is not yet a household name like LeBron James or Stephen Curry. But those who follow basketball know how far he’s come. Shai joined the Thunder in 2019 as a 20-year-old from the Los Angeles Clippers, part of a blockbuster trade that saw a star player move the other way. Since then, he’s grown steadily into one of the league’s top players, not through hype, but through hard work and consistency.
The rest of the Thunder’s core—Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren (both drafted in 2022), Luguentz Dort, a defensive stalwart, and Isaiah Hartenstein, their dependable big man—aren’t individually dominant. Together, they form a cohesive and balanced unit. Their combined efforts produced results that exceeded the sum of their parts.
The same principle applies to investing. You don’t build a winning portfolio by chasing only star performers or the latest hot stocks. Instead, you create a balanced team through the right investments in growth stocks, defensive asset classes like bonds, blue-chip dividend companies and even your CPF savings, to play different roles. A well-structured portfolio, like a well-coached team, gives you the best chance of long-term success.
#2 Be Patient, Because Great Results Take Time
When the Oklahoma City Thunder began rebuilding in 2019, few expected them to become NBA champions just six years later. At the time, they traded away their biggest star and began accumulating draft picks and young, unproven talent. It wasn’t a flashy strategy, and progress was anything but immediate. For a few years, they were one of the worst teams in the league.
But they trusted the process. They gave their young players time to grow, develop chemistry and mature as a team. Fast forward to 2025, and that patience has paid off, as they have won their first-ever NBA championship.
Investing works the same way. Long-term success doesn’t happen overnight. At the same time, many of us are tempted to look for quick wins, such as successfully timing the market, jumping on trends, or chasing the next big thing. But wealth is more often built through patience, discipline and consistency. We need to give our investment the time to mature and to compound its return for us.
Just like OKC didn’t win immediately, investors need to be comfortable with delayed gratification. Sometimes, the seeds you plant today may take years, even decades, to bear fruit. However, if you can establish a solid foundation and stay the course, the results can be well worth the wait.
#3 Make Adjustments When Things Don’t Go As Planned
In 2024, the Oklahoma City Thunder advanced to the Western Conference Finals, an impressive run, but ultimately fell short of their goal for a championship. Rather than overhaul the team or panic, they took stock of what was missing. That off-season, they made two key acquisitions: Isaiah Hartenstein, a solid big man to strengthen their interior presence as they were outrebounded badly in the playoffs, and Alex Caruso, a veteran guard known for his defence and leadership.
These weren’t superstar additions, but they were smart, strategic upgrades, the kind that made a real difference when it mattered most.
Investing is no different. Sometimes, your initial investment plan, sound as it may have been, won’t get you all the way to your financial goals. That doesn’t mean you’ve failed; it just means it’s time to reassess and make small but meaningful adjustments. Perhaps that involves rebalancing your portfolio, trimming positions that no longer align with your strategy, or adding exposure to a specific asset class, such as gold or REITs.
What matters is that you stay focused on the big picture and not panic when things don’t go your way. Like the Thunder, success often comes not from doing everything perfectly the first time, but from learning, adapting, and making smart decisions along the way.
#4 Plan for the Long Game, Not Just A One-Off Win
Winning one championship is hard enough. But building a team that can contend for years to come, like the Chicago Bulls team in the 90s, is even more impressive. That’s exactly what the Oklahoma City Thunder have set themselves up to do.
Their 2025 title was no fluke. Their core players—Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren—are all in their early-to-mid 20s. They have kept most of their future draft picks, have financial flexibility and didn’t make any reckless trades to “go all in” for a single season. Instead, they’ve built a foundation that could support a dynasty.
As investors, we should aim to do the same. It’s tempting to chase short-term wins, especially when the markets are hot or everyone seems to be talking about the next big thing. But real wealth is built by those who plan ahead, stay consistent with their investment plans, and don’t mortgage their future for short-lived gains.
That means building a portfolio that can stand the test of time. Having a clear financial plan. Making decisions that not only benefit you this year, but set you up for the next 10, 20, or even 30 years. Don’t sacrifice long-term financial stability for short-term excitement.
Join Us For Our Everyday Investor Event
Just like the Oklahoma City Thunder built their championship team with vision, patience, and long-term planning, we believe anyone can build a resilient investment portfolio, one that isn’t just chasing quick wins, but is designed for success over the long haul.
If this mindset resonates with you, join us at our upcoming EveryDayInvestor event on Saturday, 19 July 2025, at the SGX Centre.
In this event, we will be sharing how to manage your portfolio like a winning football team, with defenders, midfielders and strikers playing different roles to help you achieve long-term goals. Plus, hear from Loo Cheng Chuan (1M65) and Dawn Cher (SGBudgetBabe), and get a chance to walk away with great insights, practical tips, and maybe even a prize or two.
Tickets are just $5—and that includes lunch, refreshments, and a goodie bag.
Register now and join the movement.
Read Also: 3 Investment Lessons I Learned From Watching Football
Photo Credit: iStock/Müge Ayma
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