This was a fun and interesting read about Phil Jackson, the former NBA player and coach who quite successfully employed mindfulness exercises into his basketball coaching. This is not necessarily a new theme as many successful athletes and sport psychologists echo similar concepts but I think the extent to which this author used it, and at the level of professional sport he did, makes this telling important

Que libro! Que persona mistica y apasionante Phil Jackson. Si te gustó la serie "Last Dance" entonces este libro lo vas amar. Te cuenta el origen de Jackson como entrenador y como jugador; y cómo a lo largo de su historia fue encontrando herramientas para poder formar, unir y liderar el mejor equipo de la historia y su maximo referente (Su Majestad MJ).

A beginners book to Buddhism and basketball. Somehow, I feel like I am the target market for this kind of book. From film sessions laced with movie quotes to an informal request to change Benny the Bull into the white buffalo a spiritual symbol of the Lakota tribes. I really liked this book.

While I would have loved Phil to turn this book into a coaching 101 guidebook. I loved this book for what it was. A primer for living life in balance through an incredible array of basketball experiences.

I gave this book a 5 out 5 stars because it was by far one of the best book I have ever read. Phil Jackson in my opinion is one of the best authors. When I was reading this book i could visualize his problems and I could visualize Michael Jordan and the game of basketball. This book got me closer to basketball and it makes things more clear in life. This book is very inspirational because Phil Jackson has a way with words and it inspires me to enjoy life and not let problems get you down. He shows you how the fame and money can control. He shows you how you should not let that happen. This book is very interesting also because he doesn't only inspire you but makes you feel like you're playing basketball. I liked how he talked about his problems in the game and how Michael Jordan was the star player and that everyone else in the team followed him and wanted him to do everything in games. Phil didn't let that happen and let everyone participate and that got them so many championships and awards. The chemistry of the Chicago bulls was so good that Phil Jackson was named one of the best managers. I rated this book 5 out 5 stars because it inspired me in the real life world.

I thought that Phil Jackson gave a lot of interesting philosophical ways to think about basketball. Since I love basketball, I loved reading about how to play the best team basketball and about Michael Jordan and the Bulls. It taught me about what the NBA was like before I started watching basketball.

To be fair, my rating is primarily reflecting the fact that I read "Eleven rings" BEFORE reading this. Otherwise the ratings probably would've been reversed. There are so many stories that are repeated in the two books, that this just became a tedious repetitive read. It's fine. It's a decent book, but you certainly don't need to read both.

I really enjoyed learning more about Phil Jackson and connected with what he was trying to do with the Bulls during the 90s. As a displaced Chicagoan, it was fun to be thrown back into the mid-90s with the Bulls. This was a leadership book recommended by Keith Murnighan, a Northwestern Business professor who taught sessions on decision making for a few programs when I was at the ADA. Sadly, Keith died much too young in 2016. Good messages here about collaboration, sharing success, mentoring, focus and innovation. Adding it to my list of unconventional business books.

I remember seeing this in 1995 when it was first published, but I'm glad to have read this updated version published in 2006 when he was coaching the Lakers. This edition, with a new introduction, still focused on his time with the Bulls and it is a joy to relive some of those great moments those Bulls teams had in bringing 6 championships home to Chicago. The epilogue of the book is fantastic as he discusses the 1995-1996 season as the Bulls reclaimed the NBA Championship after a remarkable 72-10 regular season record in what Phil Jackson describes as the "Greatest Season Ever." He closes the epilogue with a great moment in the locker room immediately after Chicago closed out the NBA Finals in Game 6 at home describing how they gathered as "our last time together doing a communal act that represented something that joined our spirits." There is a lot to learn from Phil Jackson's mindful approach, but perhaps one of the best lessons from the book is how he describes that "basketball had taught me many lessons about impermanence and change." Winning moments can be very short in life and on the basketball court. He also reminds us of the powerful learning that takes place when we do not achieve victory stating that "losing is a lens through which you can see yourself more clearly." It was great to hear his thinking on the triangle offense as he weaves that into the wisdom he has gained from Zen Buddhism describing how executing that system required surrendering the "me" for the "we."

Phil Jackson, a former player and coach in the National Basketball Association, has further revealed his experiences in the league through his autobiography titled, Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior. Jackson explains the approaches he utilized to win eleven NBA championships as well as strategic methods the everyday person can adopt to improve their quality of living.

The National Basketball Association is an American basketball league founded in June 1946. After being drafted by the New York Knickerbockers in 1967, Jackson soon learned that his real love for the game resided in coaching. Subsequent to this realization, he became the assistant coach of the New Jersey Nets. By using teamwork, motivation, and Zen insight, Jackson eventually found himself as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls and later the Los Angeles Lakers. It is by virtue of his time spent with these two teams that he is considered one of the greatest coaches to ever live.

Anyone with limited reading time and a passion for sports and religion will enjoy Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior. Phil Jackson accurately describes his successes and hardships as a professional basketball coach, along with their relationship to everyday life. The novel provides unique approaches on how we can improve the quality of our personal lives, as well as the lives of those around us. If you are looking for a quick read with a powerful message, this book is an excellent choice to consider. Overall, It flows well and retains the reader’s interest.

I was interested in reading this mainly for his thoughts on Native American and Zen philosophies and how they can be integrated to teamwork and personal peace. It had much more about the basketball teams he played on and coached than I expected.

Fortunately we are Bulls fans and closely followed and lived the Bulls' 6 Championship Seasons as they occurred, so I did find that information also interesting although I would have preferred less about it.

If you are interested in a) basketball, b) Phil Jackson as a coach and c) the concept of being present (aka The Power of NOW)…you will enjoy this light read. I always wondered how Phil coached the Jordan trans to multiple championships. He understood the power of living in the moment, as well as leadership.

He understood that winning meant giving up something small for yourself so that the team could gain.

Oscar Roberson: the really great player takes the worst player on his team and makes him good.

Winning is ephemeral

In basketball - as in life - true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when things are going your way.

It’s no accident that things are more likely to go your way when you stop worrying about whether you’re going to win or lose, and focus your full attention on what’s happening right this moment.

The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack

Lakota: “we are earth people on a spiritual journey to the stars. Our quest, our earth walk, is to look within, to know who we are, to see that we are connected to all things, that there is no Separation, only in the minds .”

Peace comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the great spirit, and that this center is really everywhere. It is within each of us.

To excel, you need to act with a clear mind and be totally focused on what everyone on the floor is doing. Some athletes describe this quality of mind as a “cocoon of concentration”. But that implies shutting out the world when what you really want to do is become more acutely aware of what’s happening right now, this very moment. The secret is not thinking - quieting the endless jabbering of thoughts so that your body can do instinctively what it’s been trained to do without the mind getting in the way.

Any experience, including boredom, becomes interesting when it’s an object of moment-to-moment investigation.

Impermanence is a fundamental fact of life

When a problem arises, I try to read the situation as accurately as possible and respond spontaneously to whatever’s happening. I rarely try to apply someone else’s ideas to the problem because that would keep me from tuning in and discovering a fresh, original solution, the “most skillful means.”

The true measure of a star is his ability to make the people around him look good.

When we cannot accept the truth of transient, we suffer.

The best part of winning is that it’s not losing

Losing is a lens through which you can see yourself more clearly and experience in the blood and the bones the transient nature of life.

Being able to accept change or defeat with equanimity gives you the freedom to go out on the floor and give the game your all.

By accepting death you discover life

Phil Jackson’s understanding of philosophy and basketball knowledge is an amazing thing to read and something I would recommend to every sports fan. He understands and shows that it takes not only talent to create a winning team. The book also gives an interesting insight into the development of Micheal Jordan’s career, which would not have played out as successful if it was not for Phil Jackson. 5 stars