The Sources of Conflict in Professional Basketball Teams. The Case of Greece

Abstract Conflict is an inevitable fact of human existence. It can arise among members within a team, such as a professional basketball team. The basketball coaches, acting as leaders of the team, they should identify the sources of conflict between the players and they should handle conflict effectively. The aim of this study was to examine the main sources of conflict, in order for the coaches to act properly and protect the cohesiveness of the team. The sample was consisted of 25 professional basketball coaches n = (25) who coached in professional level during the 2011-2012 seasons. They were surveyed using questionnaires. Using the descriptive statistics it was found that, the professional basketball coaches consider the “communication breakdown” (2.84), as the main source of causing conflict among them and the players, followed by the “personality clashes” (2.89). Also they consider that the less source of causing conflict is the “scare resources” (4.60).