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My Job As A Coach Was To Make Something Meaningful Out Of One Of The Most Mundane Activities On The Planet: Playing Pro Basketball.

-Phil Jackson

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My Job As A

Phil Jackson

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My Job As A Coach Was To Make Something Meaningful Out Of One Of The Most Mundane Activities On The Planet: Playing Pro Basketball.

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Like Life, Basketball Is Messy And Unpredictable. It Has Its Way With You, No Matter How Hard You Try To Control It. The Trick Is To Experience Each Moment With A Clear Mind And Open Heart. When You Do That, The Game - And Life - Will Take Care Of Itself.

Basketball Is A Great Mystery. You Can Do Everything Right. You Can Have The Perfect Mix Of Talent And The Best System Of Offense In The Game. You Can Devise A Foolproof Defensive Strategy And Prepare Your Players For Every Possible Eventuality. But If The Players Don’t Have A Sense Of Oneness As A Group, Your Efforts Won’t Pay Off. And The Bond That Unites A Team Can Be So Fragile, So Elusive.

Basketball Is Sharing.

Basketball Coaching

Not Everyone Has A Purpose.

The Most We Can Hope For Is To Create The Best Possible Conditions For Success, Then Let Go Of The Outcome. The Ride Is A Lot More Fun That Way.

My Accountant Tells Me I Can't Be A California Resident Anymore. I Spend Too Much Of My Time In New York.

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.

The Real Value In Everything You Do Is In The Details.

Remember, Team, Surrender The Me For The We.

I Thrive On Challenges, And There Is No More Imposing Challenge For Someone In My Profession Than Winning An Nba Title.

If You Give The Future All Your Attention, The Present Will Pass You By.

I Think The Most Rewarding Part Of The Job, And I Think Most Coaches Would Say It, Is Practice. If You Have It, A Very Good Practice In Which You Have 12 Guys Participate, And They Can Really Get Something Out Of It, Lose Themselves In Practice.

I'm Not Trying To Find Answers Anymore. I'm Trying To Live What I Know.

Not Only Is There More To Life Than Basketball, There's A Lot More To Basketball Than Basketball.

I Don't Believe In Curfews, Because You Can't Treat Men Like They Were Boys Without Forfeiting A Certain Level Of Trust.

Good Teams Become Great Ones When The Members Trust Each Other Enough To Surrender The Me For The We.

Basketball, Unlike Football With Its Prescribed Routes, Is An Improvisational Game, Similar To Jazz. If Someone Drops A Note, Someone Else Must Step Into The Vacuum And Drive The Beat That Sustains The Team.

The Ideal Way To Win A Championship Is Step By Step.

An Acrobatic Dunk Will Make It Onto Sports Center. A Simple, Unspectacular Bounce Pass In The Rhythm Of The Offense Will Not. System Basketball Has Been Replaced By Players Who Want To Be The System.

Coaching Is About, "how Do I Get People To Play At Their Peak Level?" It Is A Spiritual Quest. And If It's Not That, You Don't Have A Challenge, You Don't Have A Mission. Forming A Brotherhood And Trying To Move It Forward - That's What Coaching Is.

Despite Their Tremendous Talent, (nba Players) Are Still, By And Large, Young Adults, Seeking Validation From An Authority Figure, And There Is No Greater Authority Figure On A Team Than The Coach. Needless To Say, In Today's Warped, Self-indulgent Climate, Too Many Players Couldn't Care Less About Appeasing The Coach.

Love Is The Force That Ignites The Spirit And Binds Teams Together.

People Think I Would Never Take On A Team That Has No Legitimate Chance To Win A Championship, This Is One Of The Major Misconceptions About Me. Success Can Be Measured In Many Different Ways. . . . Either Way, I Would Find The Challenge Invigorating.

Approach The Game With No Preset Agendas And You'll Probably Come Away Surprised At Your Overall Efforts.

The Sign Of A Great Player Is How Much He Elevates His Colleagues' Performance.

You're Only A Success For The Moment That You Complete A Successful Act.

Basketball Is A Sport That Involves The Subtle Interweaving Of Players At Full Speed To The Point Where They Are Thinking And Moving As One.

Kobe Was Hell-bent On Surpassing Jordan As The Greatest Player In The Game. His Obsession With Michael Was Striking. When We Played In Chicago That Season, I Orchestrated A Meeting Between The Two Of Them, Thinking That Michael Might Help Shift Kobe’s Attitude Toward Selfless Teamwork. After They Shook Hands, The First Words Out Of Kobe’s Mouth Were, ‘you Know I Can Kick Your Ass One On One.’

My Philosophy Is That You Can't Motivate Players With Speeches, You Have Motivated Players That You Draft. That's Where They Come In And Those Are The Guys That Are Competitive. You Cannot Teach Competitiveness.

The Problem With Trading Dominant Players Of That Size Is You Never Get In Return What You've Bargained Away.

Everybody Has An Opportunity To Play A Role, A Playmaking Role, So It Makes It Harder To Coach. It Takes A Little More Time.

I Know What It Takes To Be A Coach. I've Gone Through That. I Think I Came Up Short My Last Season. Lots Of Things Were Happening Physically To Me, And Emotionally, Perhaps Mentally, Too. I Thought It Was Time To Tend To More Important Things, Like Health And Like Family. I Still Enjoy That, And I Don't Think I Have Any Need To Go Back To Coach.

Tomorrow Gives A Beck'ning Hand-- I Turn My Face Away; I'll Not Invite Her To My Home-- I Only Love Today.

The Greatness Of Michael Jordan Is His Competitive Drive. The Weakness Of Michael Jordan Is His Competitive Drive

Yes, Victory Is Sweet, But It Doesn't Necessarily Make Life Any Easier The Next Season Or Even The Next Day.

You Have To Be Unique.

And Yet As A Coach, I Know That Being Fixated On Winning (or More Likely, Not Losing) Is Counterproductive, Especially When It Causes You To Lose Control Of Your Emotions. What’s More, Obsessing About Winning Is A Loser’s Game: The Most We Can Hope For Is To Create The Best Possible Conditions For Success, Then Let Go Of The Outcome. The Ride Is A Lot More Fun That Way.

Always Keep An Open Mind And A Compassionate Heart.

You Can't Force Your Will On People. If You Want Them To Act Differently, You Need To Inspire Them To Change Themselves

I Think The Most Important Thing About Coaching Is That You Have To Have A Sense Of Confidence About What You're Doing. You Have To Be A Salesman And You Have To Get Your Players, Particularly Your Leaders, To Believe In What You're Trying To Accomplish On The Basketball Floor.

The Real Value In Everything You Do Is In The Details. I Just Like That Quote. A Very Similar Way To Say The Same Thing. If You're Washing Dishes You Pay Attention To Washing Dishes. If You're Driving A Car, You're Paying Attention To Driving The Car.

Coaching Is Salesmanship. Coaching Is Winning Players Over And Convincing Them They Have To Play Together. It Takes A Team Conviction To Play Together To Make Things Work.

I Think The Most Important Thing About Coaching Is That You Have To Have A Sense Of Confidence About What You're Doing.

Before A Vision (dream) Can Become A Reality, It Must Be Owned By Every Member Of The Group.

I Probably Would Have No Capability Of Absorbing A 60-defeat Season As A Coach. It Would Be A Foreign Experience. My Whole Career, Even As A Player, Has Been On Winning Basketball Clubs And It Just Seems To Have Been A Part Of The Make-up Of What’s Been Given Me. That’s What I’ve Been Given And That’s What I’ve Had To Deal With. Some People Can Make Fun Of It Or Some People Can Have A Good Time With It, Or Some People Can Resent It. It’s Just What It Is.

I Won't Coach This Team Next Year If He Is Still Here. He Won't Listen To Anyone. I've Had It With This Kid.

What Moves Me Is Watching Young Men Bond Together And Tap Into The Magic That Arises When They Focus With Their Whole Heart And Soul On Something Greater Than Themselves. Once You've Experienced That, It's Something You Never Forget.

Leadership Is Not About Forcing Your Will On Others. It's About Mastering The Art Of Letting Go.

I Think People Forgot That There Are Still Ways You Can Get The Ball Inside Rather Than Just Standing There And Throwing The Ball In. You Have To Have A System That Makes All Things Work.

The Bigger Your Head, The Easier To Fill Your Shoes.

When The Mind Is Allowed To Relax, Inspiration Often Follows.

I Gave It My Body And Mind, But I Have Kept My Soul.

My First Act After Being Named Head Coach Of The Bulls Was To Formulate A Vision For The Team. I Had To Take Into Account Not Only What I Wanted To Achieve, But How I Was Going To Get There.

I Expect A Cigar.....not Lit, Hopefully

My Dad Always Had This Little Sign On His Desk: 'the Bigger Your Head Is, The Easier Your Shoes Are To Fill'. He Really Drilled That In.

The Best Part Of Basketball, For Those People On The Inside, Is The Bus Going To The Airport After You've Won A Game On An Opponent's Floor. It's Been A Very Tough Battle. And Preferably, In The Playoffs. And That Feeling That You Have, Together As A Group, Having Gone To An Opponent's Floor And Won A Very Good Victory, Is As About As High As You Can Get.

If You Meet The Buddha In The Lane, Feed Him The Ball.

I'm A Patient Person. I Think That's One Thing That I Feel Comfortable I Can Deal With - The Downfall And The Errors, As Long As I See Progress And People Trying.

I'm Not Going To Coach Again. I've Done My Coaching, And I Think I Can Put That Aside.

No One Plays This Or Any Game Perfectly. It's The Guy Who Recovers From His Mistakes Who Wins.

The Strength Of The Team Lies Within The Individual. And The Strength Of The Individual Lies Within The Team

Basketball Is A Simple Game. Your Goal Is Penetration, Get The Ball Close To The Basket, And There Are Three Ways To Do That. Pass, Dribble And Offensive Rebound.

If You Have A Clear Mind . . . You Won't Have To Search For Direction. Direction Will Come To You.

My Job As A Coach Was To Make Something Meaningful Out Of One Of The Most Mundane Activities On The Planet: Playing Pro Basketball.

A Coach's Main Job Is To Reawaken A Spirit In Which The Players Can Blend Together Effortlessly.

I'm Not Railing, 'this Is Inadequate' Or 'this Isn't Right.' Just Show Me What Will Work.

Winning Is Important To Me, But What Brings Me Real Joy Is The Experience Of Being Fully Engaged In Whatever I'm Doing.

He Practiced Against Kobe All Of Last Year, So Obviously It Was Sweet Revenge For Him. We Deserved That. We Didn't Know Who He Was, We Gave Him Up To Charlotte, We Had No Idea How Good A Player He Was.

Your Problems Never Cease, They Just Change.

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. Of Course, It's No Accident That Things Are More Likely To Go Your Way When You Stop Worrying About Whether You're Going To Win Or Lose And Focus Your Full Attention On What's Happening Right This Moment.

For Us Tall People, The Whole Key Is That Your Hips And Your Knees Should Form A Right Angle When You Sit Down. That's Where Backs And Hips Get To Be Problems For Big Guys.

I Always Tell The Players, "we Are In The Business That's Very Much Like A Marathon Race Only We're Gonna Be Doing It For 260-something Days Or So." And The Race Is Something You Get Ready To Do. There's Gonna Be Some Trial Inside Of There, But You Put Yourself Through It Because Ultimately It Brings A Lot Of Meaning To Your Life, It Gives A Lot Of Energy To What You're Doing.

Wisdom Is Always An Overmatch For Strength.

If We Can Accept Whatever Hand We've Been Dealt - No Matter How Unwelcome - The Way To Proceed Eventually Becomes Clear.

Once You've Done The Mental Work, There Comes A Point You Have To Throw Yourself Into The Action And Put Your Heart On The Line. That Means Not Only Being Brave, But Being Compassionate Towards Yourself, Your Teammates And Your Opponents.

The Road To Freedom Is A Beautiful System

Pau Is One Of The Best Big Men In The Game. I Mean, Pau Gasol Is Going To Be In The Hall Of Fame.

The Best Thing That I Think Happened To Me Was I Got The Opportunity To Have Really Good Players And We Were Able To Meet The Demand Of The Competition. And I Think That's What I Value Most.

It Takes A Number Of Critical Factors To Win An Nba Championship, Including The Right Mix Of Talent, Creativity, Intelligence, Toughness, And Of Course, Luck. But If A Team Doesn’t Have The Most Essential Ingredient - Love - None Of Those Other Factors Matter.

I Care About Systematically Playing Basketball. If The Spacing Isn't Right, If Guys Are Standing On Top Of Each Other, If There Aren't Lanes To Be Provided, Or Rebounders Available To Offensively Rebound The Ball, Or We Don't Have Defensive Balance When A Shot Goes Up, All Of These Things Are Fundamental Basketball. I Follow It.

I Will Have Derek Fisher Wear All 5 Of His Rings The First Time He Comes In To Talk To Carmelo.

I'm A Sports-watcher. I Played Football And Baseball, Coached Baseball. So I Watch Those Things.

I Played Hockey In North Dakota Growing Up And Watch A Lot Of That.

The Strength Of The Team Is Each Individual Member. The Strength Of Each Member Is The Team.

Make Your Work Your Play And Your Play Your Work.

You Go In The Weight Room And You Lift Weights And You Do All These Things To Strengthen Your Body. This Is Strengthening Your Mind. When You Can Stay Focused And You Can Use That Focus To Always Come Back With Your Breath To Center Yourself, So That You're Kind Of Floating In The Moment, In The Spirit.

There's A Term, Agape, You Hear Used A Lot With Charismatic Religious Groups, That It's This More Pure Love Of Caring, Of Sharing Of Concern And Understanding. I Think Players And Teams Have To Come To That At Some Point In The Season To Become Successful. Maybe Not "personal Friends," But They Become Teammates At The Highest Level Of That Term.

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