Read by Jordan Peterson, Bryan Johnson, Paul Graham and 2 others
What books does Phil Jackson recommend?
Handing the right book to the right player at the right moment was Phil Jackson's real signature as the most decorated coach in basketball history, and his book recommendations still read that way. His 44 titles, many hand-picked for specific athletes like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Scottie Pippen, and Pau Gasol, are drawn from accounts in his own memoirs Eleven Rings and Sacred Hoops. The collection reflects his Zen sensibility, weighted toward fiction and literature, psychology and human behavior, philosophy, and history. Among his top picks is Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, alongside Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind and Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, all books he used to teach presence and self-discovery. Jackson is also the author of Eleven Rings, Sacred Hoops, Maverick, and The Last Season, where much of this reading philosophy is documented.
Last updated March 2026 · Every recommendation cited to its original source.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
An Inquiry into Values
byRobert M. Pirsig
1974540 Pages“You look at where you're going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you've been and a pattern seems to emerge.”
— Phil Jackson
Source: Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success
Read by Phil Jackson
Tribal Leadership
Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization
byDave Logan, John King, Halee Fischer-Wright
2008320 Pages“In their groundbreaking book, Tribal Leadership, management consultants Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright lay out the five stages of tribal development... My goal in my first year as head coach was to transform the Bulls from a stage 3 team of lone warriors... to a stage 4 team.”
— Phil Jackson
Source: Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
byShunryu Suzuki
2020176 Pages(50,800)
“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.”
— Phil Jackson
Source: Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior
Read by Tim Ferriss, Naval Ravikant, Bryan Johnson and 7 others
Siddhartha
An Indian Tale
byHermann Hesse
2002176 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Shaquille O'Neal to aid his focus and self-discovery
Read by Phil Jackson
Ecce Homo
How One Becomes What One Is
byFriedrich Nietzsche
1908144 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Shaquille O'Neal
Read by Phil Jackson
byLarry Watson
1993169 Pages“It was about a part of the country I grew up in, so it was something special for me to give it to him.”
— Phil Jackson
Source: Hand-picked for Kobe Bryant
2666
A Novel
byRoberto Bolaño
2008898 Pages“Pau's a reader. He's got himself a tome right there.”
— Phil Jackson
Source: Hand-picked for Pau Gasol
Read by Phil Jackson
Read by Phil Jackson
Shantaram
A Novel
byGregory David Roberts
2003936 Pages(240,000)
Source: Recommended to Kobe Bryant during injury recovery
Read by Phil Jackson
byEdward Abbey
2006448 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Luke Walton
Read by Phil Jackson
Read by Phil Jackson
byBarack Obama
1995403 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Shannon Brown
Read by Phil Jackson
Six Easy Pieces
Easy Rawlins Stories
byWalter Mosley
2003288 Pages“He said it was a good, quick read.”
— Phil Jackson
Source: Hand-picked for Andrew Bynum
Read by Phil Jackson
The Right Mistake
The Further Philosophical Investigations of Socrates Fortlow
byWalter Mosley
2008288 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Lamar Odom
Read by Phil Jackson
There Is No Next
NBA Legends on the Legacy of Michael Jordan
bySam Smith
2014274 Pages“He said he wanted the players, especially Carmelo Anthony, to grasp the level of intensity needed to be a champion.”
— Phil Jackson
Source: Hand-picked for Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks
Read by Phil Jackson
byChinua Achebe
1994224 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Bill Cartwright
Read by Phil Jackson
byTom Wolfe
2004704 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Bill Cartwright
Read by Phil Jackson
Say It Ain't So, Joe!
The True Story of Shoeless Joe Jackson
byDonald Gropman
1992317 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Michael Jordan
Read by Phil Jackson
There Are No Children Here
The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America
byAlex Kotlowitz
1991336 Pages“I thought it might be a source of information because a lot of people were clamoring about his inattentiveness to the people in Chicago, and I thought it was a good book for him to keep and to have.”
— Phil Jackson
Source: Hand-picked for Michael Jordan
Read by Phil Jackson
The Perfect Vehicle
What It Is About Motorcycles
byMelissa Holbrook Pierson
1997242 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Dennis Rodman
Read by Phil Jackson
byCormac McCarthy
1992301 Pages(318,256)
Source: Hand-picked for Steve Kerr
Read by Phil Jackson
byTony Hillerman
1988336 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Steve Kerr
Read by Phil Jackson
Makes Me Wanna Holler
A Young Black Man in America
byNathan McCall
1995448 PagesSource: Hand-picked for Jordan Farmar
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Phil Jackson recommend?
His 44 recommendations include Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, and Tribal Leadership by Dave Logan, blending Eastern philosophy with team dynamics.
Who did Phil Jackson give books to?
He famously hand-picked specific books for individual players, including Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Scottie Pippen, Pau Gasol, and Luke Walton, tailoring each choice to the player's temperament and where they were in their careers.
Where do Phil Jackson book recommendations come from?
Many are documented in his own memoirs, Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success and Sacred Hoops, which describe the books he assigned to players and the Zen thinking behind his coaching throughout his career.
Has Phil Jackson written any books?
Yes. He is the author of Eleven Rings, Sacred Hoops, Maverick, The Last Season, and More Than a Game, memoirs that blend championship basketball with the Zen and Native American philosophy he studied.
What genres does Phil Jackson read most?
His recommendations favor fiction and literature, psychology and human behavior, philosophy, and history, reflecting his well-known interest in Zen Buddhism and Eastern thought as tools for coaching.
All 44 Books Phil Jackson Has Recommended
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance · Robert M. Pirsig
- Tribal Leadership · Dave Logan
- Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind · Shunryu Suzuki
- Siddhartha · Hermann Hesse
- Ecce Homo · Friedrich Nietzsche
- Montana 1948 · Larry Watson
- 2666 · Roberto Bolaño
- The Ways of White Folks · Langston Hughes
- The White Boy Shuffle · Paul Beatty
- Shantaram · Gregory David Roberts
- The Monkey Wrench Gang · Edward Abbey
- Reservation Blues · Sherman Alexie
- Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance · Barack Obama
- Six Easy Pieces · Walter Mosley
- The Right Mistake · Walter Mosley
- There Is No Next · Sam Smith
- Things Fall Apart · Chinua Achebe
- The Bonfire of the Vanities · Tom Wolfe
- Say It Ain't So, Joe! · Donald Gropman
- There Are No Children Here · Alex Kotlowitz
- The Perfect Vehicle · Melissa Holbrook Pierson
- All the Pretty Horses · Cormac McCarthy
- A Thief of Time · Tony Hillerman
- Makes Me Wanna Holler · Nathan McCall
- Soul on Ice · Eldridge Cleaver
- Riders of the Purple Sage · Zane Grey
- Tao Te Ching · Lao Tzu
- The Art of War · Sun Tzu
- The Mindful Athlete · George Mumford
- The Light in the Forest · Conrad Richter
- To Kill a Mockingbird · Harper Lee
- Corelli's Mandolin · Louis de Bernières
- The Perfect Storm · Sebastian Junger
- Dirty White Boys · Stephen Hunter
- Hoops · Walter Dean Myers
- Glitz · Elmore Leonard
- City Primeval · Elmore Leonard
- Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives · Dan Millman
- On the Road · Jack Kerouac
- The Great Santini · Pat Conroy
- Fallen Angels · Walter Dean Myers
- Rabbit, Run · John Updike
- The House on Mango Street · Sandra Cisneros
- The Breaks of the Game · David Halberstam