Masters of the Game

A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players

By: Sam Smith, Phil Jackson

Narrated by: Sam Smith, Phil Jackson, Nayib Felix

The legendary sportswriter and the Hall of Fame, eleven-time NBA champion coach separate the music from the noise in the stories of the greatest who ever played and their impact on the game

Sam Smith and Phil Jackson grew to know and respect each other in the late 1980s, when Smith was a Chicago Tribune sportswriter and Jackson was an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls. Forty years later, the two remain close friends. In 2021, Smith helped the NBA arrive at a list of the seventy-five greatest players of all time in celebration of its seventy-fifth anniversary. Phil Jackson was asked to participate too, but he’s not a big fan of ranking greatness. They’ve been enjoying the argument ever since.

In Masters of the Game, Smith and Jackson chop it up about the basketball life, the sport, and the genius and the shadow side of the all-time greats: Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, Magic, Bill Russell, Wilt, Jerry West, Bird, LeBron, KD, Steph Curry, Bill Walton, and more. In a conversation full of high-grade analysis and high-grade gossip, we meet the stars of long-ago eras of basketball and see the mark race left on players and the business of the game—and we get a master class on character and the alchemy of a good team. And of course, inevitably, these two old heads get into the GOAT debate.

There are so many huge characters here, and Smith and Jackson can hold their own with any of them. Their spirit—sharp, wise, irreverent, honest, respectful of the lore and legacy of the game but never pious—and the clash of their different perspectives combine to make this book a joyous ride, a short course in greatness open to all students.

Great Book

I enjoy Phil Jackson’s honesty in all of his books and I think his zen approach is inspiring. The players that are chosen are given respect and Sam Smith is a great basketball historian who debunks the theory that the great players of the past could not play well today.

Outstanding take on Basketball History

What an excellent basketball book! Masters of the Game is part basketball history, part philosophy session, and part hangout with two legends. Sam Smith—one of Chicago’s greatest sportswriters—and Phil Jackson—eleven-time NBA champion coach—team up to walk through mini-biographies of the Top 75 NBA players. But this isn’t just another rankings book. Smith brings his insider reporting and dry wit, and Phil brings his Zen-infused take on greatness, pressure, ego, and what it really means to compete at the highest level.

I reviewed both the audiobook and the hardcover, and I highly recommend experiencing both.
The audiobook is a must. It captures the real-time conversation between Smith and Jackson, full of tangents, memories, inside jokes, and deep basketball wisdom. Listening feels like you’re sitting courtside with them, talking hoops. Phil even lays it all on the line with the GOAT debate. (No spoilers from me—you’ll have to listen.)

The hardcover is fantastic too. Gorgeous photography, great layout, and terrific short profiles of the stars. It’s a perfect coffee-table-meets-research volume, and the Top 75 ranking leans in a slightly different direction than others I’ve seen.

It is very Chicago Bulls-centric… and for this Chicago guy, that’s almost perfect.

If you want a smart, insightful, and flat-out fun sports book—one that feels like hanging out with two giants of the game—this is the one. A slam dunk.