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The Last Season: A Team In Search of Its Soul | 
 enlarge | Author: Phil Jackson
Publisher: The Penguin Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  90 reviews
Sales Rank: 184678
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 1594200351
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323640979494
EAN: 9781594200359
ASIN: 1594200351
Publication Date: October 2004
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Product Description
Nine-time NBA Champion coach Phil Jackson knows all about being in the spotlight-about high-profile, high-pressure seasons coaching gigantic personalities through adversity and controversy in the middle of a media hothouse in which every move is another headline, another installment in the soap opera. But nothing-not six championships with the Bulls of Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen, not three previous championships with the Lakers of Shaq and Kobe-had quite prepared him for the only-in-Hollywood high-wire act of the Lakers' 2003-2004 season.
In The Last Season, Jackson tells the full inside story of the season that proved to be the final ride for this great Lakers dynasty. From its beginnings in the off-season-with the signing of the future Hall-of-Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton and the enormous expectations it created, and the bombshell news of the felony sexual assault charges against Kobe Bryant, one of the league's marquee superstars-Jackson describes the many challenges that arose during this turbulent season. Juggling enormous egos with enormous sums at stake, managing difficult relationships and public feuds, facing injuries, contract disputes, and team meltdowns, all in the shadow of the Kobe Bryant trial-slash-media circus, Phil Jackson somehow guided his team through to its fourth NBA Finals in his five years as its coach. There, finally, his team ran out of road, a failure Jackson examines with the same deep honesty and wisdom he brings to bear on the rest of this amazing season.
Few seasons in memory can rival this one for drama, and fewer coaches rival Phil Jackson in the ability to write about it with such wisdom and clarity. The combination has produced, in The Last Season, a book of tremendous human drama and timeless appeal, rich in lessons about coaching and about life.
With the honesty and insight that are his hallmarks, one of the most successful coaches in the history of basketball offers his personal account of a season like no other-the extraordinary ride of the 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers
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| Customer Reviews: Read 85 more reviews...
 Great July 6, 2008
The book is in great shape and got to my house sooner than expected... Positive stuff all around...
 Nice try, Phil November 2, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is fairly well-scribed but definitely lacks the insight/depth that I would have preferred from a coach like Jackson. The most absurd and hypocritical part of it all is that Phil the Moneygrubbing Hippie who only wins when he has starpower, returned to the Lakers a year later---making this book basically null and void. Typical of a person of his pathetic ilk. Not a role model for anyone. And he's a mediocre coach. Phil Jackson is the Joe Torre of hoops.
More than a penny for his thoughts September 10, 2007
I have always perceived Phil Jackson to be a an introspective and intellectually curious individual. This book has further bolstered that opinion. A fairly easy read, the depth of Phi's candor is perhaps what is most striking. He unabashedly relays his thoughts on how Shaq could be a better overall basketball if he focused on playing defense, his admiration of Karl Malone and Gary Payton for taking on diminished roles yet working hard, and then there's kobe. When this book was publicised back in 2005 in it the media (shocker) gave the impression that Kobe was villified throughout the book. Needless to say that perception is inaccurate. Although this book is about the tumultous 2003-04 season,Kobe hover's heavily over much of Phil's rumination. Phil's thoughts of Kobe are conflicted. On one hand there is the criticism of Kobe ( the aspect o of the book which the media dwelt on)his headstrong, occassional combustible personality, his refulsal to adhere to the triangle, seeming indifference, even ingratitude to the Laker's organization for their support during his rape trial, and feuds with Shaq. Phil's criticism of Kobe is tempered by him deeply analyzing the context in which the various incidents play out, and his (phil) role in agitating or diffusing the situaition. Overall, Phil seems to have a reluctant reverence of Kobe Bryant. This is mostly conveyed by how much he compares Kobe to Michael Jordan. The interpretation of this book should be subject to understading the context in which it is written. Phil's thoughts seem jarringly raw until one realizes that they were entries made into his personal journal. At that point he may be forgiven a little.
Read about what a creep Kobe Bryant really is August 31, 2007
I was curious to see just what exactly this book would be like. I mean, the "last season" was not really the kind of season that Phil Jackson was looking for when he decided to write this book. Although the Lakers did have some brewing turmoil going on inside the organization, with the additions of Gary Payton and Karl Malone, it was assumed that they were the ordained NBA Champions. Well, did not turn out that way. But the growing Shaq vs. Kobe feud provides some ammunition. I like Phil Jackson and think he is a good coach and all and I guess this book is pretty good. If you are an NBA junkie and if you are a Laker junkie, it is essential. But if you just consider yourself a casual fan, it might be a tad dry. One thing is clear, Kobe is the creep that you always thought he was and I find it so enjoyable that he is stuck on a Laker team going nowhere, while Shaq has moved on and won another championship.
 Bad writing style. August 21, 2007
The book is written in a disorderly manner. At times he jumps around so much that it's hard to follow. Entertaining and informative as far as showing life as a coach of Lakers, especially Kobe and Shaq, the two dominant players, and biggest "problem children" on the team. Two players who were just down-right childish at times (especially Kobe). Phil had an especially tough time with Kobe, the ever so narcisitic MJ wannabe.
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