Cause and effect are in different places
A layup looks like the work of the player who scored it. Rewind ten seconds and the cause is often a screen set at an awkward angle, or a cut that pulled a defender two steps out of position. Because cameras follow the ball, viewers see the effect in high definition and infer the cause. That is a reasonable way to enjoy the sport, and a poor way to understand it.
An exercise worth trying
Pick one player and watch only them for a full possession, ball or no ball. It is uncomfortable at first, because it means missing the part everyone is reacting to. Within a handful of possessions, patterns appear: who is always moving, who is being hidden, which defender is asked to make two decisions at once. Nothing else teaches the shape of a game so quickly.
What this changes about judgement
Off-ball watching tends to raise your estimate of unglamorous players and complicate your view of prolific ones. It also makes coaching visible, because the repeated actions are the plan. It will not tell you who is the best player, but it will tell you why a team looks organised or ragged, which is usually the more interesting question.