the last book I ever read (Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, excerpt twelve)

from Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty:

No question, I have a big job ahead of me. Now that we’ve hired Derek Fisher as the new head coach, we need to bring in some new players to complement Carmelo (who has decided to stay with the Knicks), change the team chemistry, and give the team more of the grit and character New York is famous for. Derek was an exceptional leader when he played for me on the Lakers and I’m certain he’ll inspire the players to meld together and play the game the right way.

Soon the honeymoon will be over. I can already sense the sharks circling in the water. But that doesn’t bother me. What matters now is waking up every morning and getting a chance to do something I’ve always dreams of: reawakening the team that Red Holzman built, the team that changed my life forever.

the last book I ever read (Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, excerpt eleven)

from Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty:

Ron grew up in New York’s rough Queenbridge projects, and sports tattoos of a Q on his right left and a B on his left to remind him of his roots. He remembers hearing gun shots while playing at the Twelfth Street courts. And he once witnessed a young man getting killed during a game at a local recreation center when a brawl broke out and one of the players tore off a leg of the scorer’s table and stabbed him with it. “I’m still ghetto,” Ron once told the Houston Chronicle. “That’s not going to change. I’m never going to change my culture.”

the last book I ever read (Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, excerpt ten)

from Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty:

The mistake that championship teams often make is to try to repeat their winning formula. But that rarely works because by the time the next season starts, your opponents have studied all the videos and figured out how to counter every move you made. The key to sustained success is to keep growing as a team. Winning is about moving into the unknown and creating something new. Remember that scene in the first Indiana Jones movie when someone asks Indy what he’s going to do next, and he replies, “I don’t know, I’m making it up as we go along.” That’s how I view leadership. It’s an act of controlled improvisation, a Thelonious Monk finger exercise, from one moment to the next.

the last book I ever read (Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, excerpt nine)

from Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty:

After the All-Star break we went on a long road trip that I hoped would help bring the team closer together. As part of my annual give-each-player-a-book program, I presented Shaq with a copy of Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse’s fictional account of the like of the Buddha. I thought the book might inspire Shaq to reexamine his attachment to material possessions. In the story the young prince Siddhartha renounces his luxurious life to seek enlightenment. The point I wanted Shaq to understand was that everyone has to find his or her own spiritual path—and accumulating more toys was not the way to get there. It was my way of nudging him to explore the road to inner peace—by quieting his mind, focusing on something other than his own desires, and becoming more compassionate toward his teammates, especially Kobe, who was dealing with some attachment issues of his own.

I was amused by the book report Shaq turned in a few weeks later. The gist was: This book is about a young man who has power, wealth, and women (much like me), and gives them all up to pursue a holy life (not so much like me). I would have been surprised if Shaq all of a suddent went on a search for englightenment after reading the book, but I think the message about compassion hit home with him. He has a generous soul.

the last book I ever read (Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, excerpt eight)

from Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty:

Kobe had big dreams. Soon after I started with the Lakers, Jerry called me into his office to report that Kobe had asked him how he had averaged 30-plus points a game when his teammate, Elgin Baylor, was also scoring 30-plus points per game. Kobe was hell-bent on surpassing Jordan as the greatest player in the game. His obsession with Michael was striking. Not only had he mastered many of Jordan’s moves, but he affected many of M.J.’s mannerisms as well. When we played in Chicago that season, I orchestrated a meeting between the two stars, thinking that Michael might help shift Kobe’s attitude toward selfless teamwork. After they shook hands, the first words out of Kobe’s mouth were “You know I can kick your ass one on one.”

the last book I ever read (Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, excerpt seven)

from Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty:

My favorite psychological tool was one June called a “social bull’s-eye,” which creates a picture of how people see themselves in relation to the group. On one of our long road trips, I’d give each of the players a sheet of paper with a three-ring bull’s-eye, representing the team’s social structure, in the center. Then I’d ask them to position themselves somewhere on the bull’s-eye based on how connected they felt to the team. Not surprisingly, the starters usually placed themselves somewhere near the eye, and the backups scattered themselves in the second and third rings. One year backup forward Stacey King, a fast-talking, stylishly dress player who made everyone laugh, drew himself hovering far outside the third ring. When I asked him why, he said, “I don’t get any playing time, Coach.” Which wasn’t true, but it was how he felt. On the surface, Stacey seemed confident and gregarious, but inside he felt like an outside struggling for recognition. I don’t think I ever figured out how to heal that wound.

the last book I ever read (Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, excerpt six)

from Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty:

The triangle gets its name from one of its key features—a sideline triangle formed by three players on the “strong” side of the floor. But I prefer to think of the triangle as “five-man tai chi” because it involves all the players moving together in response to the way the defense positions itself. The idea is not to go head to head against the defense but to read what the defense is doing and respond accordingly. For instance, if the defense swarms Michael Jordan on one side of the floor, that opens up a series of options for the other four players. But they all need to be acutely aware of what’s happening and be coordinated enough to move together in unison so they can take advantage of the openings the defense offers. That’s where the music comes in.