Eleven Rings:
The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson
gets inside the mind of one of the greatest sports coaches
of all time. He won more championships than any coach in professional
sports and made sure players fit into his style, not the other
way around. Tagged as the “Zen Master” by sportswriters
he used this philosophy to inspire not goad, awaken not challenge.
He talked to the players desire to win, not to their egos.
There are a few points in the book that were extremely interesting.
He opens by comparing a winning sports team to a tight-knit
military unit, talking about, “the strong brotherhood
the soldiers formed, they were more concerned about what happened
to their buddies than about what happened to themselves.”
He then puts in an important disclaimer, that basketball players
do not risk their lives every day like soldiers in Afghanistan.
His point being that both a sports team and a military team
need trust, love for each other, an ability to perform at
the highest levels, and going beyond the purely technical
skill or physical talent, to succeed.
Another interesting point is the description he gives of his
coaching style. He never believed in forcing his will on his
players or thinking for his players. “I’ve always
been interested in getting players to think for themselves
so they can make difficult decisions in the heat of battle.”
Jackson emphasizes throughout the book that “selflessness
was the holy grail of basketball,” and that winning
has no superstars just great players willing to work together.
The real indication of a star is how much better he makes
his teammates look. Jackson also invoked the cliché
that there is no “I” in the word team, only in
the word win.
He also explained about his trademark triangle offense. “The
triangle is a simpler offense than most NBA teams run today.
Best of all, it automatically stimulates creativity and teamwork,
freeing players from having to memorize dozens of set plays.”
He liked the fact that it empowers the players where each
one plays a vital role, “All five players must be fully
engaged every second-or the whole system will fail. That stimulates
an ongoing process of group problem solving in real time.”
Michael Jordan had to be convinced of this offense’s
value, first calling it “that equal opportunity offense,”
until he saw how it helped to win championships.
In the book Jackson discusses the many players he coached,
pointing out how he dealt with each personality. He compared
and contrasted Michael Jordan with Kobe Bryant, noting that
Jordan once commented that “Kobe is the only player
who can be compared to him, and I have to agree.” The
similarities include their extraordinary competitive drive,
disregard of pain, playing some of their best games under
crippling conditions, and incredible resilience. The differences
include having different playing styles with Jordan using
his power and strength while Bryant uses his finesse. Jordan
was a more accurate shooter and more inclined to not overplay.
Jackson stated, “When his shot is off, Kobe will pound
away relentlessly until his luck turns. Michael, on the other
hand, would shift his attention to defense or passing or setting
screens to help the team win the game.” The big difference
according to Jackson is that Jordan was a much better leader
and knew how to work with his teammates to make sure they
were all on the same page, while at times Bryant had a self-serving
style.
The book also explores Jackson’s philosophy from humanistic
psychology, to the Native American thinking process, to Zen
mediation. Unless a reader wants to learn about these techniques
they might want to skip over them and concentrate on his anecdotes
and descriptions of his championship seasons where he won
six times with the Chicago Bulls and five times with the Los
Angeles Lakers, not to mention the two he won as a player
with the New York Knicks.
Eleven Rings is full of revelations about how Phillip
Jackson became the greatest coach in professional basketball,
the players he coached, and his own motivations to winning.
Anyone that enjoys the game of basketball will enjoy this
book.
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