"The Chicago Bulls' Buddha-like guru Phil Jackson inks the richest coaching deal in N.B.A. history ($6 million for one last season [with the Bulls])" (Notebook, 11). There may be some sound reasoning behind this. Michael Jordan was quoted on how some team members are starting to use Jackson's religion to help them win, "It's that Zen Budd

Jackson's interest in Zen also helped incorporated the triangle offense as the structure of the game. Fortune Magazine states in their article titled "Zen and the Art of Teamwork" the triangle offense is when, "Three players all must be in a particular place on the floor, but each has the freedom to act." And Fortune quotes assistant coach Jim Clemons as saying that, "In this particular offense, the cuts and passes aren't programmed. You have to know instinctively where everyone is going to go. This gets everyone involved, and the players end up working like five fingers on a hand." Another aspect of the Eightfold Path is used here. It is Right Mindfulness. Hewitt says that Right Mindfulness is when Buddhists, "try to be mindful, which means being alert and aware of what they are thinking, feeling, and doing, so that they do not behave in a way that they will later regret (5). The players must be aware of everything around them including themselves. This technique has proven useful to many teams not just Jackson's.

In this passage Jackson incorporates some very important fundamental Buddhist ideas. One of the aspects of the Eightfold Path, or the "Middle Way", which Buddha said was the cure of suffering, Right Thought is the basis of this statement. In the introductive book Buddhism Catherine Hewitt spends three pages (4-6) discussing the aspects of the Eightfold Path. She says that Right Thought is when Buddhists, "strive to think unselfishly and compassionately." Jackson is saying that in our Western way of living, the self is everything. We are constantly worried about how things will effect us (ourselves) instead of as a community, society, or team; where we are going and for others to get out of our way not thinking that they might have somewhere to be too; and also in reflection of the team structure, how we are going to make that three point shot instead of thinking about how the team will or how we could help someone else.

"In Zen it is the gap between accepting things the way they are and wishing them to be otherwise is 'the tenth of and inch of difference between heaven and hell.' If we can accept whatever hand we've been dealt - no matter how unwelcome - the way to proceed eventually becomes clear" (69).

"One of the main jobs of a coach is to reawaken that spirit so that the players can blend together effortlessly. It's often an uphill fight. The ego-driven culture of basketball, and society in general, militates against cultivating this kind of selfless action, even for members of a team whose success as individuals in tied directly to the group performance. Our society places such a high premium on individual achievement, it's easy for players to get blinded by their own self-importance and lose a sense of interconnectedness, the es

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Approximate Word count = 1881
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)