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Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson, Margarita Cavandoli Menendez, Hugh Delehanty
brad_wallini's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
An interesting look into Phil Jackson's coaching philosophy. He goes through his career year by year and talks about the obstacles in each season.
hannahisapalindrome's review
3.0
I am not a huge basketball buff or a Lakers fan, I was just really interested in Phil Jackson after watching The Last Dance. Interesting guy. Not sure what to call this book: it’s kind of a mix of leadership principles/biography/meditation principles. Interesting read but I didn’t find it captivating.
paulogonzalez's review
4.0
This book is a review about Jackson's NBA career. It's named 'Eleven rings' after his 11 championships as coach, although he treats briefly his years as NBA player (two rings more) in the first chapters. Here you won't find anything about his youth, his tenure in University of North Dakota or his beginnings coaching in CBA. If you want to know about that, you better read [b:More Than a Game|4149|More Than a Game|Phil Jackson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386922847s/4149.jpg|7849], for example.
There is another difference between [b:More Than a Game|4149|More Than a Game|Phil Jackson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386922847s/4149.jpg|7849] and Eleven Rings, the former is more personal, the latter is more sort of a summary of his NBA career. Anyway, there is a lot of psychology here, Jackson speaks broadly about that topic and team leadership. We learn who his mentor was (Red Holzman) and in whom he sought advice whenever he needed spiritual support or to know how to behave with his players.
It's interesting to know how PJ discovered meditation and his approaches to Zen philosophy, and then how he was able to apply that on his teams. I found overwhelming his behavior of “doing nothing” applied to some critical situations that he found through years. He explains that and many more stories and anecdotes.
One thing I credit Phil is to be different from other coaches. Not only his use of Zen and psychology, but little things like not call a time out if the rival team scores 6 or 8 points in a row. He explains how, especially in first part of season, he prefers the players to be able to solve the situation, so they can learn to trust themselves and create a bond with one another. Or, in a similar goal, his preference for an offense system, not based in call a play every offense.
There is another difference between [b:More Than a Game|4149|More Than a Game|Phil Jackson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386922847s/4149.jpg|7849] and Eleven Rings, the former is more personal, the latter is more sort of a summary of his NBA career. Anyway, there is a lot of psychology here, Jackson speaks broadly about that topic and team leadership. We learn who his mentor was (Red Holzman) and in whom he sought advice whenever he needed spiritual support or to know how to behave with his players.
It's interesting to know how PJ discovered meditation and his approaches to Zen philosophy, and then how he was able to apply that on his teams. I found overwhelming his behavior of “doing nothing” applied to some critical situations that he found through years. He explains that and many more stories and anecdotes.
One thing I credit Phil is to be different from other coaches. Not only his use of Zen and psychology, but little things like not call a time out if the rival team scores 6 or 8 points in a row. He explains how, especially in first part of season, he prefers the players to be able to solve the situation, so they can learn to trust themselves and create a bond with one another. Or, in a similar goal, his preference for an offense system, not based in call a play every offense.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review
3.0
Phil Jackson could have been anything---teacher, diplomat, even philosopher-king, perhaps---but he decided to become a basketball coach. And what a basketball coach. How can you resist wanting to learn more about him?
I couldn’t. I wasn’t really interested in all the basketball talk (who can remember all these basketball words and players?) but I loved seeing how Jackson coached. It was fascinating to see how he managed not only showboat-er Koby Bryant but the odd-bird Dennis Rodman and even Mr. Basketball Michael Jordan. He coached out-of-the-box and from-the-heart and that worked. Fascinating.
I couldn’t. I wasn’t really interested in all the basketball talk (who can remember all these basketball words and players?) but I loved seeing how Jackson coached. It was fascinating to see how he managed not only showboat-er Koby Bryant but the odd-bird Dennis Rodman and even Mr. Basketball Michael Jordan. He coached out-of-the-box and from-the-heart and that worked. Fascinating.
srchief's review
4.0
In Eleven Rings, Phil Jackson discusses all the teams that he has won NBA titles with and on. There is some discussion about his youth that I didn't know about and some terrific insight into the team and the chemistry that was needed to win titles. I really enjoyed the fairly candid insight into some of the great players that Phil has worked with. This insight included Michael Jordan's struggles before becoming a champion, his struggle with the media and his father's death. Then he moved on to insight into Kobe Bryant and how that really was a struggle. As a huge Laker fan, I suspected a lot of the issues that he discusses and it was nice to finally get a little of the inside picture.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story and for Phil Jackson and basketball fans this is a good summer read.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story and for Phil Jackson and basketball fans this is a good summer read.
clambook's review
3.0
Too much Lakotas and Zen for me. Didn't learn much about the legendary Knicks, Bulls and Lakers teams I didn't already know.
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