Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball

Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey

I was hooked from the start. A terrific read of the can't-put-it-down variety! - Andy Clayton, Daily News

A modern day Hoosiers where reality trumps what even the most talented writer could dream up. - Andrés Alvarez, Box Score Geeks

Pressure plays, buzzer-beaters, and mindfulness meditation: A team of teenagers goes for the championship in Namibia’s professional basketball league.

Ben Guest takes a high school coaching gig on the other side of the world. On the first day of practice one of the ten players can’t complete a simple defensive slide. Follow their journey over two seasons as the team loses a heartbreaker in the high school league championship game and then takes their talents to Namibia’s professional league, the KBA.

Guest models a different way of coaching: meditation, team-led decision making, and surrendering to what is. This expertly-told memoir includes cameos from Coach K and Bob Knight, and a detour through the Mississippi Delta, until we find ourselves on the biggest stage of Namibian basketball: The KBA Finals.

When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose…

Ray LeBov, Editor-in-Chief of Basketball Intelligence, calls reading the book, “A magical experience!”