Phil Jackson was born in Deer Lodge, Montana on September 17, 1945. He graduated from the University of North Dakota. He played professional basketball for 11 seasons with the New York Knicks. After coaching in the Canadian Basketball Association and serving as the Chicago Bulls assistant coach for two years, he became the Bulls coach from 1989-1998. He coached the Bulls to six championships in the eight seasons between 1990-91 and 1997-98. He was the coach for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1999-2004 and from 2005 to 2011.
He has written several books including The Last Season, which describes his point of view of the tensions that surrounded the 2003-04 Lakers team, and Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior, which is about mindful basketball and delineates his personal philosophy as well as his coaching and leadership style, based on Eastern and Native American principles. Jackson is also the author of Eleven Rings: The Soul of Successs.
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