Mindgames: Phil Jackson's Long Strange Journey
Complex as he is colorful, Phil Jackson has led an improbable basketball  life, marching to the tune of his own iconoclastic drummer and managing to win  at every level along the way. He doesn't think like an average jock, nor does he  approach his game like one: just ask Michael Jordan or Shaquille O'Neal, who've  played better for him than for anyone else. Roland Lazenby couldn't have come up  with a better title for his compelling exploration of what makes Jackson tick  and how he evolved into one of the most successful and driven coaches in NBA  history; for Jackson, the joy of his game is every bit as cerebral and  psychological as it is physical. His aim, he says, is to help his players  "strengthen the muscle of their minds."Of course, Jackson--part shaman, part shrink, part mentor, part guide--has found  some fascinating ways to strengthen his own, including LSD, meditation, Zen,  Native American culture, William James'sVarieties of Religious  Experience, and the Grateful Dead. They are as much a part of Jackson's  evolving core as pounding the offensive boards with the Knicks and warring with  Bulls' management. If some of it seems contradictory, it is those very  contradictions--more than the seven championship rings as a coach and two as a  player--that make Jackson so interesting; they have helped him reshape and  redefine the job. "Somehow," writes Lazenby, "Jackson has managed the very  difficult feat of blending fun and discipline and spiritual exploration for his  teams, sort of like combining a trip to the dentist with a carnival ride." No  other coach has learned to walk that delicate balance so gracefully. But then,  balance is Jackson's operating metaphor: keeping himself--and his teams--in  balance while keeping opponents off theirs.InMindgames, Lazenby puts together a smart, solidly reported, and  balanced portrait of a Zen master with a dark, driven side. He respects Jackson  enough to not whitewash him. After all, innovators have a way of stepping on  toes, and in basketball, the shoes, like the personalities, tend to be  oversized.--Jeff Silverman--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.