Nice perspectives from Phil Jackson during his coaching days for the Chicago Bulls. Interesting to see how he applied Zen philosophies to the game of basketball.

Whether one is believes in Zen meditation or not, it is easy to agree that Sacred Hoops is an excellent story on one simple mans journey form humble church-goer to 11-time NBA championship head coach. Phil Jackson's autobiography teaches one with a conflicted mind to clear their head, and move past roadblocks.

This book begins with Jackson in his mid-teens. His family has been forcing him to study the Catholic religion for years now, and Phil is beginning to disagree with some terms the religion contains. He becomes a rebel. He listens to Rock and Roll, gets a car without consent, goes to parties, and creates a separation between him and his parents that is never fixed. This affects his performance in his career of basketball, and he uses zen meditation to come to peace with his mind, and later on his players. The way Phil Jackson illustrates his story really captivates the reader, and even encourages one to practice zen on their own.

While this book has many positives, there are some downfalls to the book. Jackson can be very repetitive when referring to Michael Jordan and the Bulls. He seems to be retelling the same story on how he created a bond within the team, and can somewhat dull the readers mind. Jackson also assumes that the reader is Christian, as he refers to Jesus and God throughout the book, disregarding other religions. Other than those two setbacks, Phil Jackson's Sacred Hoops is an excellent read, and gets a four out of five stars from yours truly. -Jonah Ogunsanya

A special book for me; a readable book on sport and one that does manage to combine the pragmatic with the spiritual.
I was given this book by a dear American friend who trained me in his approach to executive coaching and leadership. His death (way out of time) a year later has made this all the more precious.

The back cover talks of the higher wisdom of teamwork employed by the head coach of the Chicago Bulls basketball team, Phil Jackson. He has a fresh and refreshing look at leadership issues in sport, and one that is not "win at all costs".

Amazing book, loved it!

This book was very good. I really like the way it was written, and I loved all of the lessons and teachings that are shown the Phil Jackson taught to his team. Phil jackson was a very philosophical person and learned amazing things in his life, and he passed these amazing ideas and teachings to his players and us through this book. I have nothing bad to say about this book and would greatly recommend it to anyone who likes anything philosophy, basketball, or cared little to none about each. It is an amazing book and I would recommend it to all.

An easy and enjoyable read, and it's written in a slightly more interesting way than most books about sports.

Jackson perfectly embodies a certain kind of American sports success that sees his worldview as applicable to all situations from the business world to reservations. I enjoyed reading his thought process, and while simplistic, his world view and perspective do show how easy sport is to turn into an allegory for life.

Phil Jackson is a legendary coach in the NBA. He explores the way he coached the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers to World Championships using the intellect and the philosophy of the Lakota Indians. This book is not just for sports minded people. This book is for people who want to be the best they can b, starting from a beautiful place and finishing with ones humility in tact. I read it again and again.

Phil Jackson, basketball coaching legend, writes about his spiritual connection with basketball and his coaching style which utilizes mindfulness and compassion, and how it helped the Chicago Bulls and himself be as great as they were in the NBA.

I've read better books about the glory years of the Chicago Bulls. I've read better books about Zen and other non-western styles of thought. I've read better books in general. However, I quite enjoyed reading this. It's a fast read, and very simply written, yet there's a lot to think about.

It's easier to take it seriously if you pretend that Phil Jackson died when he left The Bulls rather than ditching his wife and family to babysit a bunch of date-rapists in L.A.

I thought this book was interesting and enlightening, but it was not really what I thought it was going to be. While I initially had the idea that Spiritual Hoops was going to have lots of player stories and inside notes from the famous Phil Jackson, I found that it was a lot deeper than that. Jackson talked about his Zen Buddhist religion quite a bit throughout the story, and at points I felt it was too much. However, the book did provide lots of good lessons that can be applied not only to basketball, but to life as well. As the story went on, I liked Jackson more and more because of how he was not just a great coach but a great person as well. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about religion and/or basketball. I gave this book three out of five stars because it was fascinating at the parts when Jackson talked about basketball, but I lost interest when Jackson talked about his religion. Ultimately, while this was a good-book, I would not consider it a must-read for anyone.

Picked this up in preparation for my coaching job.

Although he's clearly an intelligent man of many ideas and a deep understanding of the game, the book is disjointed, repetitive and doesn't seem to follow any real logical or even thematic progression. He doesn't elaborate when it would be interesting for him to do so and he repeats himself without adding any new insights too often.

While it has set some sort of foundation on what I would want to do as a basketball coach, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, nor was it a particularly good read.

A calming read, offering perspective and wisdom on the topic of leadership, life, and success. While the insights from the esteemed Phil Jackson come from the experiences of a head coach, there is much to learn from in this captivating collection of anecdotes and reflections. What does a team need, what motivates us, how do you acknowledge defeat? There is much to gain from the words of a man who has excelled at his craft and has reflected honestly and curated mindfully the stories shared in this book.

As a fan and participant of basketball and life, I enjoyed this book, but it may be hard for those outside of sports or leadership roles to fully relate to.