Mindgames: Phil Jackson's Long Strange Journey

Having always been intrigued by Phil Jackson as a coach and a person, I was thrilled to see that an account of his interesting career and life had been published. Being a coach myself, I had always wanted to find how this living legend's mind works and maybe try to apply some of his ideas/concepts to my coaching. That was the reason that I had devoured "Sacred Hoops" as soon as it came out back in 95-96.I was also excited to see "the value" that the book offers: 400 pages..."Not bad" I thought, and I went ahead and ordered the book right away!The content of the book did not disappoint me one bit. It is nicely structured (chronologically) and it gives quite an insight and quite a few details of Jackson's life. Usually a slow reader, I breezed through this nicely written piece of work by Lazenby. I especially enjoyed the quotes from interviews and informal discussions that either Jackson himself or people he was associated with had given in the past. I also really liked the fact that the book includes Jackson's first season in LA. I think this adds tremendous value to the book: it makes its publishing a lot more timely and therefore more appealing.My only couple of concerns with this publication are the following: a) The book seems to repeat itself at times mentioning the same thing over and over maybe from a different perspective but the same information/idea none-the-less. I apologize for not having a good example of this handy, but I wasn't taking notes while I was reading... b) The book is a little too "superficial" for my taste. Jackson is such a complicated and unique person and I think this book makes little or no attempt to try and "decipher" him. I am not sure, however, that that was even the intent of the author to begin with. Maybe all Lazenby wanted to do was give an account of Jackson's life and not really try to judge/critique his coaching techniques or philosophies. Regardless, I felt that since the author seems to "know" Jackson so well, he should have tried to offer an opinion on some of the controversial decisions in his personal or professional life.Overall, I'd say that anyone interested in Jackson should get this book. Lazenby gives you an objective account of Jackson's life (the good AND the bad; unlike many autobiographies...) and one will have a great time reading through the stories and looking at the pictures.Should a basketball (or other) coach get the book though in order to maybe "gain some coaching knowledge"? I wouldn't think so...

Mind Games: Phil Jackson's Long Strange Journey by Roland Lazenby covers Phil Jackson as a coach. But it's just as much about his mindset and the two teams he coached, the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. Some of the stories in the book look like they were already in Blood on the Horns though they cover the perspective of Phil more. At times, it gets a bit fannish with all the game recaps and you can feel the love Lazenby has for the Bulls so if you were not a fan (I was) you may not care as much for this book.The ebook version of Mind Games starts off well but by the last 3 or 4 chapters the book devolves into a mess of typos and spelling mistakes. It made for an annoying read and I hope they will be fixed but I'm not counting on it.Should you get this book new? I dunno but if you can find it at a good price or at your local library I would say give it a read if you're into NBA basketball history.

I really enjoy NBA basketball and I have watched DVDs of a number of the Bull's and Michael Jordan's great games of the 90s, but my knowledge of the game and players is fairly basic and I am not a "fanatic" about the sport. From that perspective, Mindgames is a very readable and enjoyable book. It also has a lot of interesting information about Jackson, and Chicago and LA players, without being "overly detailed." The author based his book on an incredible number of interviews and he uses numerous quotes from important sources, which adds a lot to the story as it unfolds chronologically. The book is very thorough in covering Jackson's Chicago years and his first year at LA. It gives what seems to be a very honest and fair picture of Jackson that is very positive overall. The only thing I didn't like were the numerous stories of the conflicts Chicago VP Jerry Krause had with Jackson as well as with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. These are scattered throughout 100 pages of the 400 page book. They are part of the chronological history but I tired of them after awhile. Were it not for that, I'd probably give the book five stars.

When i order this book i thought it would be more all about Phil Jackson. But this book lost its way somhow. Yes you get many things about Phil but this is so mutch about the Bulls and so many things that Phil has litle to do with and the book is so mutch talking about the same things over and over again.But the good:I love the NBA and to read about the Bulls in the 90s and the Lakers with Shaq and Kobe is great fun. I learn some new stuff about Phil(i have read two other books about him) and how he see the game. This is the greatest coach in the history of the game.If you want to know about Phil then this is just a okey book but if you want to learn about the 90s Bulls this is a great book.

This is a good book. I like Spiritual Hoops a little better even though Mind Games has 11 years more current information. Still, with Phil Jackson winning a record 10th NBA championship this year by reforming a relationship with a player he identified 5 years ago as "uncoachable," it's time for an update from him or about him. Maybe some day he will permit someone with insight to sit down and interview him extensively to develop a more complete picture. There is no question that he is an interesting man, and he does not quite get his due recognition given his achievements.

Difficult to rate this book as it's very well written and interesting to read, but the title is misleading. There's so little about Phil Jackson's mindgames, that making it a title of a book is mischievous. However, I really enjoyed reading about Phil's background, his years as a player, coach in CBA, assistant and then head-coach in two great franchises. It's a long journey, but I recommend to read this book.

Fantastic story about PHIL JACKSON's coaching career and also about building his winning philosophy, His attitude towards players, conflict with Jerry Krause, relationship with MJ, thinking about motivation and also very well told parts concerned His childhood and basketball player career.

Lazenby's account of the story is awesome ! Backed by countless interviews from players, coaches, and more, it sort of takes you into the changing rooms, practice sessions, buses, flights and boardroom arguments through Phil Jackson's illustrious career ! It also gave me more reasons to love and 'not to love' MJ, Shaq, Kobe and the 3 Jerry's (Buss, Reinsdorf and Krause). You get to see how instrumental Phil Jackson was in the Bulls' 6 championships, and the Lakers' 2000 championship. If you didn't respect him already....this book will be a game-changer !Though it didn't meet my expectations with the actual mindgames, it left me very satisfied. I got to see how much effort, skill and will power is required to drive to the title; the effects of the 'supporting cast' (how MJ and Scottie didn't do it alone), and how 'contagious' confidence is, especially in team sports. If there's one thing I'd ask....is to have a new edition, detailing the Zen Masters complete Lakers experience...Kobe, Pau...the main reasons behind the trade (Artest for Ariza)...and the Dallas sweep !

A brief but interesting review of the championship teams that Phil Jackson has coached and developed over the time in the NBA.