The Last Season: A Team In Search of Its Soul

Next book was Phil Jackson’s The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul. I enjoyed this book but also did not enjoy some parts of this book. The last season is a book about my team the Los Angeles Lakers when they had a super strong team. We had 4 hall of fame players and I was sure it was going to be a piece of cake. Phil went through the year in kind of a personal journal of the year. In 03-04, we had Kobe, Shaq, Gary Payton (the Glove), Karl Malone and of course others but with those four guys we ought to have locked it up. In the end we got spanked by Detroit 4-1. Yes there were injuries, and “bad officiating” and all the other excuses but the thing that I loved and hated about this book was Phil’s insights into the show more personalities of the Superstars. I really understood how much he admired the big man Shaq. Shaquille O'Neal truly was a force at center, he is huge, strong and able to clog up the middle. When he was there to play he was there to play. The thing I didn’t like about him was how he only wanted to play during the playoffs, had his surgery during the season and not during the off season because “I’m not going to do it during my time. I’ll do it on the clubs time,” he said. He would take off and not do any work to stay in shape. Kobe on the other hand has a huge ego. He was going through the rape changes at that time and he and Phil had a hard time working together. Kobe would take too many shots, there was a feud between him and Shaq, and he does not like the triangle offense. Malone was just awesome. He was aged but he could still play and we got a lot of good minutes out of him. I really wish that he got his ring but he never did. The Glove did not do his job in the finals and had a really hard time sharing the spotlight with the others. Phil said in this book that he would not coach if Kobe is still on the roster. I didn’t know they had that much consternation between the two of them. The book was a fun read because he wrote about some of the history trying to reign Kobe in, how he used psychologists on himself and recommended other players and one and how he used a friend, a Buddhist, that told him to focus on his breathing. Phil said “thanks” and went on his way. He was looking for something else not a breathing rec. It talked about his girlfriend and her father, Dr. Jerry Buss and the other coaches. I really appreciated all the insights about the team even through I did not like hearing that negative things about Kobe and how he could not play with Shaq. Now I see that Phil favored Shaq. This book was 304 pages and I’d give it a 3.5 stars out of 5. Go read it and talk to me about it. show less

Disclaimer: I am a Sacramento Kings season ticket holder. That noted, I admit that I bought The Last Season largely to enjoy reading about the demise of the Lakers. I was not disappointed.

Jackson writes this book in journal form and often skips days or even weeks at a time. He rambles and muses. The reader can not help but wonder how much editing was done after the fact. Regardless, it is like being a fly on Jackson's therapist's wall. It is an entertaining read even if not particularly news. Some re-runs are worth watching.

Jackson doesn't give up the dirt on Kobe and certainly not Shaq. He does mention weaknesses in his players and others, but he generally balances his criticism with a compliment. The cynic in me wonders what Jackson show more would write if he knew he would never coach again and could remain hidden in Montana for the rest of his life.

This book is an easy read. If you are a basketball fan, this book is fun. However, since the book is largely a rerun, I recommend waiting until the paper back edition comes out. show less

260/300
The last season is about a Phil Jackson and the Los Angles Lakers going through some tough times during the 2003 season. Some of those struggles were the arguments of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, which played a very big part in the book because of the fact on how it affected their playing game on the court and relationship with coach, Phil Jackson. This book was perfect to read, not only because it talked about basketball, but also because of the behind the scenes of what I was watching on T.V.
I can relate to this book in many ways. Some of those ways are the struggles that I go through in life. In The Last Season, one of the biggest struggles was the Kobe Bryant rape case. During this time Kobe went through a lot. I can show more relate to this because sometimes people blame me for something I did not do. I liked everything about the book and would not want anything left out of it because it wouldn't be the same. I recommend this book to people who like a good sports book with some critical moments in between it. show less

Phil Jackson, the NBA's greatest coach, recalls the collapse of the Los Angeles Lakers dynasty. The Shaq-Kobe was once hailed as the next Jordan-Pippen duo, but Shaq's ego and the flase rape accusations aginst Kobe got in the way. A sad story to a great dynasty; however, the current Lakers (08-09 team) is much better.

Lessons on leading a team of malcontent, spoiled players (or at least trying to).