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5 basketball books for NBA fans

Here are excerpts from five recent books about professional basketball and its players, ranging from a mega-biography of Michael Jordan to a behind-the-scenes look at the Magic Johnson-era "Showtime" Los Angeles Lakers.

3. "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success"

  • By Ross Atkin Staff writer

By Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty
Penguin Books
384 pages

"In basketball, statisticians count when players make assists, or passes that lead to scores. But I've always been more interested in having players focus on the pass that leads to the pass that leads to the score. That kind of awareness takes time to develop, but once you've mastered it, the invisible becomes visible and the game unfolds like a story before your eyes.

"To strengthen the players' awareness, I liked to keep them guessing about what was coming next. During one practice, they looked lackadaisical. I decided to turn out the lights and have them practice in the dark – not an easy task when you're trying to catch a rocket pass from Michael Jordan. Another time, after an embarrassing defeat, I had them go through a whole practice without saying a word. Other coaches thought I was nuts. What mattered to me was getting the players to wake up, if only for a moment, and see the unseen, hear the unheard."

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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