Reviewed by Abdelkarim Hassan

Book: Sacred Hoops
Authors: Phil Jackson & Hugh Delehanty(2006). New York : Hyperion

The Oakland California-based Golden State Warriors basketball team, recently won the NBA championship of 2014/2015 season for the first time in 40 years. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Oakland Victory Parade for the championship.

Steve Kerr who was the Rookie coach, with NBA championship, was asked how did it happen, this milestone in his life?

“I’m thinking of Phil Jackson…. I’ve been blessed to play for the greatest coaches ever, and I’ve learned a ton from them, and they’ve all helped me get here.”

In general, sports are very competitive field where tremendous value is placed on individual performance. Pay and bonuses are also tied to each player’s standing in the team, although the team shares the end result of the game, win or lose. Thus, coaches face tremendous challenges to balance the individual performance to that of the team’s performance, so players are not carried away by their egos.

Kerr thanked among others Phil Jackson, the former Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers couch, as one of the key coaches, that he credits to his successes. To win the championship, coach Kerr utilized the techniques he’d learned from his Hall of Fame coaches, leading Golden State Worriers to championship, after 40 years of absence.

Phil Jackson, wrote with Hugh Delehanty, the book Sacred Hoops, , The National Bestseller, discussing in great detail about his philosophy of mindful basketball–how to play with a clear mind, eliminating the practice of looking everything through the prism of good and bad, instead focusing on what needs to be done at any given point. The books delves into how an effective leader Phil was to get the players at their utmost performance, in a team spirit.

The NBA sport is a very competitive industry where winning a championship is the ultimate goal. If we look into Phil Jackson’s career record as head coach, the results of his coaching tenure is stunning. Phil is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He led Chicago Bulls to 6 championships in his 10-year tenure (1989-1998) and 5 chairmanships for LA Lakers from 2000-2010. Phil also won two championships as a player for New York Knicks. Thus, Phil won 11 championships as a head coach and 2 as a player. Phil holds the best record of winning championships.

Success doesn’t come by chance, particularly on NBA Basketball, on Phil’s case the repeated success that he enjoyed shows that he was a great leader. He shares in his book, the Sacred Hoops, his vision, methodology to selfless team play, being compassionate with the players, the game, listening and supporting the players, his use of holistic approaches from Zen and Buddha’s spiritual teachings of clearing the mind and his overall strategy of success that led him to the NBA championships, which indeed makes him a good coach and more importantly a transformative leader.

Throughout his coaching careers in NBA , Phil believed as he discusses in the book, Sacred Hoops, the success of the team depends on everyone pulling together . Teamwork was very critical for Phil. He talks about how early on when he joined the Chicago Bulls, he shared the coaching staff, an adage from the Hall of Fame and former New York Knicks’ coach Red Holzman, “the sign of a great player was not how much he scored, but how much he lifted his teammates” (Jackson, 2006, page 84).
Phil talks about his philosophy of coaching, which was all about team play,” put on your full potential and play with your teammates”. Coach Phil also talks in detail how he strategized his wining scheme.

The book gives many accounts on how Phil is compassionate about his players, and urges them to be compassionate to one another and their opponents as well. He talks about that most of the tools he used were from his experience in practicing spiritually Zen meditation of clearing the mind and Buddha teachings. Phil believed clearing the mind is critical so the players could only and only focus on one thing, the Ball and the Hoop. Phil believed in teamwork, as he called in his book, “surrendering the me for the we” (Jackson, 2006, page 89).

Phil Jackson had a good understanding the role of leadership can play as coach of many basketball teams, including Bulls and LA Lakers who won NBA championships many times under his leadership. Throughout the book Sacred Hoops, Phil shows his passion about the basketball, a field that he has been in for too long as a professional player, thus, this gave him an inside story of how to get the players the most out of them, and not to depend on one individual player but the entire team performance.

Phil, as he stated in the book, was against the individualistic play, “ Today’s NBA payers have a dazzling array of individualistic move, most of which they have learned from coaches who encourage one-on-one play in an effort to become young stars.”
Phil’s philosophy was in total disagreement with that strategy; he talks about in great detail on how he encouraged his players which included the super star player Michael Jordan, against individualistic play but to look into who is most appropriate (open) to take the shot at the time of need. This means empowering everyone not just the key players. This shows that Phil was inspiring his players and influencing them to get the most out of them for the common goal of winning the game.

Phil is also passionate and visionary. Through the pages of Sacred Hoops, you will learn how creative and experimental coach Phil was by giving the reserve (bench) players an ample time of play, which proved successful and gave the confidence of the players. The book also specifies how supportive Phil was at the time of hardship, case and point when Scotia Pippen, a key player of Bull’s father passed away in 1990 amid the play off, Phil asked the players to support Scotia and treated him as part of his family. This type of bond that Phil created among the players shows his leadership. Phil’s philosophy of leadership was also to listen to his payers and show support without judgment; he injected in this quality from his spiritual Buddhist teaching, “bare attention”, as he explains in the book. This gave him leverage where players in return performed their potential to win the games.

Phil, an NBA professional player himself, had the knowledge and knowhow of the competitiveness of NBA basketball industry. This experience as illustrated in the book, Sacred Hoops, provided him an expert and referent power that accorded to him a buy in from the players. Phil used this leadership style for his advantage to bring change on how NBA basketball is played moving away from “me first” to selflessness putting the team goals first. Phil talks in the book of his vision of what he wanted to achieve and the means to achieve his ultimate goal of building a team that is compassionate, works together, trusts each other and supports one other to WIN.

In reading the book, the Sacred Hoops, you will also come across other leadership qualities of the author, that include charismatic and participative leadership styles. Phil has the persona to gain the confidence of the players by listening, believing in their ability to perform their best. And communicating using a variety of tools ranging from quotes from books, native Indian culture and Buddhism. He had the vision of how to get the players from their best performance and ultimately win the NBA championship.
Phil uses a variety of tools to keep himself and the team on track, among them is the use of movie clips that fits on what he wanted to convey to the players. Case and point, Phil showed the team a clip from the movie, “The Wizard of Oz”, to get their attention and also ease the pressure from an upcoming game they had against the Bad Boys of Detroit Pistons, known for their rough play and opponent intimidation. The movie clip that Phil chose had some relevance on the game, for instance the quote from the movie the Wizard of Oz “this isn’t Kansas anymore Toto” related to Bulls point guard B.J. Armstrong conveying the message, “you are not playing against college players anymore, you are playing against a hardened professionals.”

Throughout his NBA career, Phil has shown great leadership that resulted the successes he accomplished in winning 11 championships. He demonstrated compassionate leadership to his players, his assistant coaches, building selfless team player. He had a vision and strategy for success. He led to unparalleled success with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. Phil holds the best record in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and that he is considered a great coach. And with such great success, the book, Sacred Hoops, is a great book to read to learn how to navigate and thrive in a complex and competitive environment, to come out a winner in a selfless team spirit.

Phil Jackson’s Sacred Hoops is not only a valuable resource from a fine coach but it is also written in an entertaining style that makes for an enjoyable read for everyone. As Phil said, “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.”

Abdelkarim Hassan
Email: Abdelh1@hotmail.com
WardheerNews
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The Sacred Hoops, was part of a Leadership class in MBA program.