3.5 stars. I read Sacred Hoops while watching The Last Dance, which added interest to both.

"Sacred Hoops" is an engrossing account of Phil Jackson's career as a basketball player and a coach with special focus the evolution of his thinking that led to unparallelled success with the Chicago Bulls and later with the Los Angeles Lakers.

I despised the Bulls when I was younger. I couldn't forgive them for displacing the Lakers as the dominant team in the NBA. But then, Kareem had retired, and the other Laker stars were aging, so decline was inevitable. Meanwhile, the Bulls were a truly awesome team through the 1990's, partly because of Michael Jordan's tremendous gifts as an athlete and competitor, but also because of Jackson's wisdom as a coach in tutoring Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the rest of the Bulls to think as a team rather than a collection of individuals.

Jackson would be easy to parody with all his trendy Zen and native American mysticism, if only he hadn't been the most successful coach in NBA history. Some might argue that anyone could win with Jordan, Shaq or Kobe on their teams. Indeed, this criticism is mentioned in the forward by Senator Bill Bradley: "Anybody can coach a team led by Michael Jordan to the World Championship." But each of those players went through long stretches in their careers without winning NBA championships. They were performing admirably as individuals, but their teams were not functioning harmoniously together a wholes.

So how was Jackson so successful? Having great players was certainly part of it, but so was a philosophical outlook. Jackson tells us that his dream was "not just to win championships, but to do it in a way that wove together my two greatest passions: basketball and spiritual exploration." This is not the usual talk from a coach. One thinks of the contrast with Raider owner (and former coach) Al Davis, whose motto is "Just Win, Baby."

Jackson culls his philosophical maxims from Eastern thought, especially Zen Buddhism, and also from his own Pentacostal Christian upbringing. Above all he emphasizes what Buddhists call "mindfulness", an idea he summarizes thusly: "In basketball--as in life--true joy comes from being present in every moment, not just when things are going your way." This is an important insight, and seems to have been an important part of his teams' success. The ability to free one's mind from clutter, to cease worrying about what happened before or what might happen in the future, and instead to focus attentively on what one is doing now is crucial to success. Any fan can see this intense focus on the faces of Jordan or Kobe as they plat. And not just in the playoffs, but in every game.

Jackson doesn't mention the great American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, but the two have similar ideas. When Emerson wrote, "In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, -- no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part and parcel of God," he is describing an experience very similar to the mindfulness Jackson describes. And when Emerson the Preacher implores us to "Pray without ceasing" he sounds like Jackson, the Preacher's son, describing all of life as a "spiritual quest."

Jackson is not an academic philosopher, and that shows in his writing. For academic philosophers now mainly devote themselves in the US to idle debate about syntax, or in Europe toward metaphysical obfuscation. What's clear is that most of them have less to say about the meaning of life than Al Davis, who at least has a clear idea of how life should be lived. So Jackson has more to offer than most academics. He reminds us that real philosophy is not idle speculation, clever sophistry or pale ratiocination--it is essential to living a full and successful life. Philosophy is a necessity, not a luxury. And even those who despise philosophy, are really prisoners of some philosopher's ideas, without realizing it--perhaps the religious Thomas Aquinas, or the atheist Hobbes.

So anyone who enjoys basketball, and who marveled at the success of Jackson's Bulls in the 1990's and Lakers in more recent years, would do well to read this book. It is full of insights about basketball and about life.

I finally found the time to finish this incredibly interesting book! Written by Phil Jackson, one of the greatest coaching minds of all time. Phil Jackson had an interesting childhood being the son of a pastor. His parent's strict parenting style made him a fierce competitor on the playing field that ultimately lead him to be a professional athlete. When injuries ended his playing career early he decided to coach. Once again, his background came into play. Phil wasn't your typical coach he took on a different coaching style that used the ideas of Zen Buddhism to bring together a wide range of personalities to work together and be successful. Phil was extremely successful winning 6 championships with the Chicago Bulls.

tBorn in North Dakota, Phil Jackson was raised in a very Christian home. He played basketball as a kid and fell in love with it. It was more his religion than Christianity. He played all through high school and managed to get recruited at North Dakota University.
tWhile in college, a friend introduced Jackson to Zen. Being a Christian, he found this strange. Over time, Jackson became very interested in Zen and began to meditate. Meditation calmed his mind and helped him concentrate on things. He still remained with his faith but meditated without clashing beliefs.
tJackson played several seasons in the NBA. He played several seasons for the Knicks as well as a few seasons bouncing around with the Nets and Bucks. A few years later, he came out of retirement to coach.
tJackson earned 6 rings with the Chicago Bulls, including two three-peats. The book jumps into a time of mourning – Jordan is gone and playing baseball. Jackson elaborates on the events leading up to MJ’s return and the controversy that came with it.
tThe main theme of the book is the Bulls overcoming that stardom of Jordan and playing like a real team again. Basketball is not a one man game; it is a five man game. Jordan had to put himself with the team rather than putting himself above them as many fans did.
tI would recommend this book to anyone that likes a good read, mainly about sports. I enjoyed how Jackson would use his Christian roots and meditation skills learned in Zen to calm himself and make him a better coach. It was very interesting.

Basketball. Zen. Totem poles.

Phil Jackson is the man and a wonderful storyteller. There’s something fascinating about the mix of 90's triangle-basketball and mindfulness, and I thoroughly enjoyed this for the second time.

tWhether you watch basketball or not everyone can learn something from, “Sacred Hoops” by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty. I learned so much about mindset, religion, and basketball while reading this book. The book talked about zen meditation and how important it was for athletes to do. It gave them a chance to relax and get into a good mindset. My favorite part of the book was when Phil talked about “surrendering the “me” for the “we””. I found it really interesting how star players could be unselfish even though they are some of the best players in the world.
tThe book starts off with Jackson in his teenage years. He is raised in a very strict catholic house hold in North Dakota and is not given much freedom. As a kid Jackson fell in love with the game of basketball. Jackson has been forced to be catholic all of his life, and begins to disagree with some of the beliefs. He starts to act out and goes to parties, listens to rock and roll, and gets a car without asking his parents. This all created a big stain between Jackson and his parents. Jackson would later go on to say that his relationship with his parents would never be the same as before. He said that this is when he first started to use zen meditation to heal himself from the inside out. He would later go on to use it with his players and it becomes a large part of the book.
tI enjoyed reading this book. I found it very interesting and learned many new things. I agree with most of the other positive review, because I believe that it is a good book. An important thing about the book is to keep a calm and clear mind. I am going to try to implement this into my life. After hearing all the positive that it did for Jackson I feel like it could help me or any one out. Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and learned so many new things.

4,5

After March Madness I heard of and tried to read _When the Garden Was Eden_ (about the NY Knicks in the 1970's) but it was too much of an insider's story for me. But that got me poking around for more books of those players and teams, and somehow I landed on Phil Jackson's book. Jackson was a player on the Knicks back in the day, and then coached the Chicago Bulls during the years of Michael Jordan's meteoric return to the game and the Bulls' taking the NBA championship.

But what made this book really neat is that it wasn't so much a book about basketball, or about the particular players that he worked with, either as a player or as a coach. It was about how to deal with life's challenges, how to work in and as a team, how to figure out your priorities, and how to achieve your goals when the world is pushing on you in all kinds of ways. Or at least, how he walked himself and a really headstrong group of high-profile, strong personality basketball players through all that.

He tells the story well. You can read it as a story, or you can read it as a lesson for life. Your choice. But for a random find located by poking through book review and following names and titles around, this was a really great read.

I read the book “Sacred Hoops” by Phil Jackson. This book is about how Phil Jackson’s story and how he combined both religion and basketball. I really enjoyed this book. It had a lot of good qualities and I learned many lessons. One quality of the book that I liked was how well it combined religion and basketball. He did not just talk about basketball he talked about religion. He combined the two together and made them like they were one topic. Another quality of the book that I liked was how Phil Jackson didn’t shy away from saying the bad. I think that anyone can tell the story of all the good things that happen, but it’s hard to tell about all the hardships and tragedies. For example, he tells us about his down times without Jordan when he left to play baseball, but he also spoke about all of the championships they won together. The last qualities that I enjoyed in this book was how inspirational it was. It was almost like you were being spoken to by a motivational speaker. He included different quotes and stories about himself and his players that got themselves to where they are today. He was talking about the ups and downs of the game.

Other reviewers also had opinions on the book. One reviewer said, “ Phil was not your typical coach...” I agree with this. Phil really cared about his team and made sure that they worked together and that they all had a role on the team and knew what it was. Phil’s philosophy was also different. He focused on making his team be as wholesome as possible and for them to not only be good players, but good people. Another reviewer said, “He uses Zen ideas and practices to enhance his own abilities as a coach and those of his own players.” I also noticed and agreed with this too. He would make the players do Zen meditation or activities like that. The players at first thought it was goofy, but some later learned to appreciate it.

I recommend this book to people who like both religion processes and basketball. Even if you do or don’t like basketball you will like this book because of how inspirational it is. It also does a good job of not making it just a basketball book but about life experiences and about Phil Jackson’s story,

Phil Jackson is an important part of NBA history, but turns out I’m not that interested in his coaching philosophy (no pun intended) or his storytelling.

Another re-read inspired by "The Last Dance," this is Phil Jackson's book about relating his spiritual quest to his pursuit of basketball glory, both as a coach and as a player. Pretty heady stuff at times, and might not be what your average basketball fan is after (even though it's pretty well known that Jackson is a seeker in a lot of ways, one of the leagues' few hippies during the Sixties and Seventies). It doesn't cover all the Bulls' championship runs (there's an addendum for the 1995-1996 season, and the forward is written from the perspective of his tenure with the Lakers in 2006), but it's a nice window into the world of the Bulls and their efforts to not only be champions on the court but off the court as well. Interesting to read Jackson's fairly kind words about Jerry Krause, the mercurial GM, with the context of knowing how toxic their relationship eventually became (I doubt Jackson was very Zen about it in 1997-1998).

In this book Phil Jackson explains to readers his coaching methods in sports and his beliefs throughout his life. I loved the spiritual element he added into coaching and being part of a team. I also really liked how he didn't focus on one religion, but took ideas from multiple and lived off of those, allowing him to grow and help others grow too. The book was a little boring at times, but some stories he told were incredible. The lessons you learn in this book are to be selfless and accepting, which is a big reason why I really enjoyed this book, and the fact that he incorporated stories about basketball and baseball into it.