Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success

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

This is books is primarily a linear narrative of the life of Phil Jackson. He grew up in the upper midwest in a religious family (both parents were preachers). He took to basketball and eventually made it to the NBA to play for the Nicks. He was never a super star, but was a role player. He earned two championships as a player (though he was out injured for a season where he got it.) At the time, life in the NBA was not glamourous or well-paying. Some of the college students had better experiences. He was drawn towards coaching. He had various experiences (including in Puerto Rico.) He eventually was an assistant for the Bulls. They had Michael Jordan and some potential. Management decided he was best to get them over the cusp. They fired the coach and made him head coach. After some challenges, he was able to put together 2 three-peat championships with the bulls. Part of it involved helping the team to be more balanced rather than dishing everything to Jordan. He took time off, then took the Lakers job. There he won three championships with Kobe and Shaq. Again, he needed to work to get them to be team players. After some down years, he was able to win two more with Kobe. He stayed on for another season after the last championship where they failed to win. In between the championships he also had some bad years. The pain of defeat helped encourage him and his teams to play for more victories. He also talks about some of the meditation and other non-basketball work he did. In his time, he worked with some of the best players and got the best out of them. The combination of players and coach seemed to work well.