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The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players
The New York Times bestselling book from one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time.
He’s one of America’s greatest coaches, known for inspiring the champions of pro basketball to work as a team—in short, Pat Riley is a master at creating success. The Winner Within is his game plan for team players in all of life—not just on the court but in business, at home, and in personal achievement. Here are his winning strategies that inspire change, motivate teamwork, and reveal the winner within us all.
“Pat Riley is a true master . . . no one committed to success can afford to miss this opportunity to learn from the coach of the decade.”—Anthony Robbins, bestselling author of Awaken the Giant Within
He’s one of America’s greatest coaches, known for inspiring the champions of pro basketball to work as a team—in short, Pat Riley is a master at creating success. The Winner Within is his game plan for team players in all of life—not just on the court but in business, at home, and in personal achievement. Here are his winning strategies that inspire change, motivate teamwork, and reveal the winner within us all.
“Pat Riley is a true master . . . no one committed to success can afford to miss this opportunity to learn from the coach of the decade.”—Anthony Robbins, bestselling author of Awaken the Giant Within
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 1958
42 people are currently reading
1391 people want to read
About the author
Pat Riley
18 books12 followersPatrick James "Pat" Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, and a former coach and player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, a position that enabled him to serve as their de facto general manager and as their head coach in two separate tenures (1995 through 2003, and 2005 through 2008).
Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams and an assistant coach to another. He was named NBA Coach of the Year three times (1989–90, 1992–93 and 1996–97, as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat, respectively). He was head coach of an NBA All-Star Game team nine times: eight times with the Western Conference team (1982, 1983, 1985–1990, all as head coach of the Lakers) and once with the Eastern team (1993, as head coach of the Knicks). In 1996 he was named one of the 10 Greatest Coaches in the NBA history. As a player, he played for the Los Angeles Lakers' championship team in 1972. Riley most recently won the 2012 and 2013 NBA championships with the Miami Heat as their team president. He is the first North American sports figure to win a championship as a player, coach (both assistant and head), and executive. He received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award from the NBA Coaches Association on June 20, 2012.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams and an assistant coach to another. He was named NBA Coach of the Year three times (1989–90, 1992–93 and 1996–97, as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat, respectively). He was head coach of an NBA All-Star Game team nine times: eight times with the Western Conference team (1982, 1983, 1985–1990, all as head coach of the Lakers) and once with the Eastern team (1993, as head coach of the Knicks). In 1996 he was named one of the 10 Greatest Coaches in the NBA history. As a player, he played for the Los Angeles Lakers' championship team in 1972. Riley most recently won the 2012 and 2013 NBA championships with the Miami Heat as their team president. He is the first North American sports figure to win a championship as a player, coach (both assistant and head), and executive. He received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award from the NBA Coaches Association on June 20, 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
April 16, 2011
As a Magic Johnson fan I was very excited to read this book. However, instead of Riles sharing his winning secrets of getting through the bullshit it is instead a book about how he talks to the people in his lives. There are numerous mentions on how his wife is lovely, a closer look at his administrative staff, etc. It does not however provide a closer look at the individual who led the Lakers to be champions, but more of how people react to his persona and how thrilled he is to their reactions to their own "aha" moment.
February 19, 2025
I knew going in this was more of a business book than a basketball book. The book is primarily about team building. The references were mostly about the 80s Lakers and a little bit about his time with the Knicks. No reference to how he took over the Heat as GM and coach and rebuilt the organization.
October 13, 2019
A great book by a great coach. It is definitely recommended if you are interested in looking at business management from a new angle.
October 31, 2024
Don’t pass up on the this book!
Pat Riley is the ultimate strategist, always thinking ahead and planning every act of inspiration and conversation he might use to channel more out of his players than they were currently giving. In 'The Winner Within', Pat Riley shares his tactics for converting his basketball teams into units with an emphasis on the greater good. The highlights of this book came for me in the following:
* Pat Riley's acceptance of being in the right place at the right time when the Lakers needed a head coach and how preparation added to his own confidence that he could succeed at a high level.
* Riley's view on the strengthening process of one's mentality and how being thrown the wolves can be a very healthy experience.
* Making the LA Lakers a team instead a collection of self-serving, finger-pointing superstars. He mentions tactics he employed on each of his different leaders, including ways to use Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's moody eccentricities as a leadership tool.
* How embracing success hurt the Lakers in the mid-eighties and the ways Riley developed a plan to combat complacency on the team.
* How leaders in any profession must be willing to confront cancerous team members swiftly and thoroughly.
* Riley's methods of using strategic moments of temporary insanity and how this can be highly beneficial to the overall good of the team.
* When to know your time is done and move on, as he did when he left LA for New York in 1990.
* Setting reasonable goals that are both attainable and difficult. For example, his 1992 New York Knicks set the goals of being the most hated team in the league, the most conditioned team in the league, and the most professional team in the league. To a T, they succeeded in meeting all their goals.
Riley is very open and honest in this book. He admits that he knew his Knicks would have zero chance of beating the Bulls in a do-or-die game seven in 1992. He had predicted Jordan would get calls and go to the line, and that Ewing would get into foul trouble quickly. Both of his predictions became eerily true. He admits that you must know your place in the pecking order and follow this format:
#1. From nobody to upstart
#2. From upstart to contender
#3. From contender to winner
#4. From winner to champion
#5. From champion to dynasty
Riley's book is also filled with numerous quotes from histories great minds and leaders. Each quote helps highlight what Riley is trying to emphasize.
I recommend this book to anyone who is or hopes to be a manager in any avenue in life. Riley gives a clear-cut format to achieving goals as a leader.
Pat Riley is the ultimate strategist, always thinking ahead and planning every act of inspiration and conversation he might use to channel more out of his players than they were currently giving. In 'The Winner Within', Pat Riley shares his tactics for converting his basketball teams into units with an emphasis on the greater good. The highlights of this book came for me in the following:
* Pat Riley's acceptance of being in the right place at the right time when the Lakers needed a head coach and how preparation added to his own confidence that he could succeed at a high level.
* Riley's view on the strengthening process of one's mentality and how being thrown the wolves can be a very healthy experience.
* Making the LA Lakers a team instead a collection of self-serving, finger-pointing superstars. He mentions tactics he employed on each of his different leaders, including ways to use Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's moody eccentricities as a leadership tool.
* How embracing success hurt the Lakers in the mid-eighties and the ways Riley developed a plan to combat complacency on the team.
* How leaders in any profession must be willing to confront cancerous team members swiftly and thoroughly.
* Riley's methods of using strategic moments of temporary insanity and how this can be highly beneficial to the overall good of the team.
* When to know your time is done and move on, as he did when he left LA for New York in 1990.
* Setting reasonable goals that are both attainable and difficult. For example, his 1992 New York Knicks set the goals of being the most hated team in the league, the most conditioned team in the league, and the most professional team in the league. To a T, they succeeded in meeting all their goals.
Riley is very open and honest in this book. He admits that he knew his Knicks would have zero chance of beating the Bulls in a do-or-die game seven in 1992. He had predicted Jordan would get calls and go to the line, and that Ewing would get into foul trouble quickly. Both of his predictions became eerily true. He admits that you must know your place in the pecking order and follow this format:
#1. From nobody to upstart
#2. From upstart to contender
#3. From contender to winner
#4. From winner to champion
#5. From champion to dynasty
Riley's book is also filled with numerous quotes from histories great minds and leaders. Each quote helps highlight what Riley is trying to emphasize.
I recommend this book to anyone who is or hopes to be a manager in any avenue in life. Riley gives a clear-cut format to achieving goals as a leader.
November 23, 2025
Riley uniquely describes success as a cycle. It has different recognizable stages, each with its own advantages and pitfalls. Riley describes the signs of these pitfalls and shows how one can be on the lookout for them. His metaphor for this is about recognizing a storm that is coming one's way.
The power that he identifies of the winner within is "innocence". However, his definition of this is idiosyncratic. It is to be free of the the possessiveness and protectiveness of one's success. That possessiveness and protection he identifies as the "Disease of Me", which is the antidote to the power of innocence. Despite these concepts and the title relating to the self, Riley shows concretely how success is always achieved with a team.
This book is very clear and concise in its message. Riley has great examples of success stories to illustrate his concepts - not all of which are from basketball or his life. I recognize the cycle he describes as I have been around long enough to see it. I think his book could be even more helpful to young people who may not have the full experience of it yet.
Each of our major goals in life will have its own cycle. Our accomplishments set the stage for further accomplishments, and if we play our cards right, we can use our wisdom to be winners in the future. That's why this book seems more natural than other self-help books. It seems to take life more into account, rather than focusing too narrowly inward.
The power that he identifies of the winner within is "innocence". However, his definition of this is idiosyncratic. It is to be free of the the possessiveness and protectiveness of one's success. That possessiveness and protection he identifies as the "Disease of Me", which is the antidote to the power of innocence. Despite these concepts and the title relating to the self, Riley shows concretely how success is always achieved with a team.
This book is very clear and concise in its message. Riley has great examples of success stories to illustrate his concepts - not all of which are from basketball or his life. I recognize the cycle he describes as I have been around long enough to see it. I think his book could be even more helpful to young people who may not have the full experience of it yet.
Each of our major goals in life will have its own cycle. Our accomplishments set the stage for further accomplishments, and if we play our cards right, we can use our wisdom to be winners in the future. That's why this book seems more natural than other self-help books. It seems to take life more into account, rather than focusing too narrowly inward.
April 21, 2019
One of the greatest professional sports coaches and executives, Pat Riley provides his core ideas for developing and sustaining a winning team culture, up until 1993 when he was coaching the New York Knicks and this book was written.
While the book provides some insightful ideas on overcoming team disfunctionalities in particular, I find its core idea - that each professional season of the Lakers in the 1980s provides an overarching generalizable universal lesson on leadership - not very plausible. In addition, as several reviewers of the book have pointed out, the book only very rarely goes into depth on the methods of effective team leadership and management, that is the core of what many a reader want to find out from Riley. Instead, there are descriptions of family life, friends and superficial parallel examples to a corporate world. Some claims (e.g., that Magic Johnson was the person who had to sacrifice the most in the 1980s Lakers) are raise an eyebrow and are left relatively unexplained. These claims, and how they relate to actually people becoming winning team players, should be much more at the core of the book throughout. This is an interesting recollection of Riley's coaching career up until 1993 and a nice personal narrative of the Lakers' 80s dynasty, but promises much more on the outset than in the end manages to deliver.
While the book provides some insightful ideas on overcoming team disfunctionalities in particular, I find its core idea - that each professional season of the Lakers in the 1980s provides an overarching generalizable universal lesson on leadership - not very plausible. In addition, as several reviewers of the book have pointed out, the book only very rarely goes into depth on the methods of effective team leadership and management, that is the core of what many a reader want to find out from Riley. Instead, there are descriptions of family life, friends and superficial parallel examples to a corporate world. Some claims (e.g., that Magic Johnson was the person who had to sacrifice the most in the 1980s Lakers) are raise an eyebrow and are left relatively unexplained. These claims, and how they relate to actually people becoming winning team players, should be much more at the core of the book throughout. This is an interesting recollection of Riley's coaching career up until 1993 and a nice personal narrative of the Lakers' 80s dynasty, but promises much more on the outset than in the end manages to deliver.
July 4, 2020
Ya que estamos con libros dedicados a grandes entrenadores del baloncesto, THE WINNER WITHIN, de Pat Riley, no podía faltar.
Es un libro motivacional acerca de cómo crear el éxito para uno mismo y, según dice el título, para los jugadores en equipo, desglosando el éxito en distintas fases.
En él, Pat Riley comparte su experiencia como entrenador del equipo 4 veces campeón de la NBA, Los Angeles Lakers de los 80, dándonos consejos que podemos aplicar a todas las facetas de nuestra vida.
Es un libro que salió en 1993 y que yo leí hace mucho tiempo. No recuerdo tanto sus lecciones como los ejemplos que usaba basados en su historial como entrenador de jugadores míticos del deporte como son Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabar o James Worthy, de los q destaca su capacidad y enfoque al trabajo en equipo. También recuerdo q me enganchó, en parte por su sencillez y en parte por su mensaje positivo.
Lo recomiendo a los amantes del baloncesto y a los q leen libros de liderazgo empresarial. A fin de cuentas, si alguien está a la altura de Phil Jackson y pudo plantarle cara con los Knicks, ese fue Riley, por lo q estamos ante el testimonio de uno de los grandes.
(Otras reseñas en https://www.instagram.com/srcorba/)
Es un libro motivacional acerca de cómo crear el éxito para uno mismo y, según dice el título, para los jugadores en equipo, desglosando el éxito en distintas fases.
En él, Pat Riley comparte su experiencia como entrenador del equipo 4 veces campeón de la NBA, Los Angeles Lakers de los 80, dándonos consejos que podemos aplicar a todas las facetas de nuestra vida.
Es un libro que salió en 1993 y que yo leí hace mucho tiempo. No recuerdo tanto sus lecciones como los ejemplos que usaba basados en su historial como entrenador de jugadores míticos del deporte como son Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabar o James Worthy, de los q destaca su capacidad y enfoque al trabajo en equipo. También recuerdo q me enganchó, en parte por su sencillez y en parte por su mensaje positivo.
Lo recomiendo a los amantes del baloncesto y a los q leen libros de liderazgo empresarial. A fin de cuentas, si alguien está a la altura de Phil Jackson y pudo plantarle cara con los Knicks, ese fue Riley, por lo q estamos ante el testimonio de uno de los grandes.
(Otras reseñas en https://www.instagram.com/srcorba/)
August 21, 2019
Although this book is pretty old, I still love it and I've read it a few times. I was a kid in LA during the Lakers Showtime era, so Pat Riley holds a special place in my heart...I think he's a total bad ass.
I love how he talks about the work and preparation that it takes to be successful. I especially love his thoughts on complacency...this is what sticks in my mind the most. I worked in advertising for 16 years. His principles definitely applied to this line of work and motivated me. I read this book whenever I am in a slump, starting something new or need a pep talk.
I love how he talks about the work and preparation that it takes to be successful. I especially love his thoughts on complacency...this is what sticks in my mind the most. I worked in advertising for 16 years. His principles definitely applied to this line of work and motivated me. I read this book whenever I am in a slump, starting something new or need a pep talk.
May 23, 2020
In the year 3078, archaeologists uncover a trove of peak American Empire cultural artefacts.
The self-help book.
One of its finest examples stems from a high priest of the National Basketball Association, a quasi religious-giant breeding genetic program at the center of American life.
The Winner Within by Pat Riley is that book. And its as relevant a read in 3078 as it is today.
Annoying, pretentious "influencers" popularize the message, much to the historians chagrin, and many peoples benefit.
The self-help book.
One of its finest examples stems from a high priest of the National Basketball Association, a quasi religious-giant breeding genetic program at the center of American life.
The Winner Within by Pat Riley is that book. And its as relevant a read in 3078 as it is today.
Annoying, pretentious "influencers" popularize the message, much to the historians chagrin, and many peoples benefit.
May 6, 2021
Is a good book with Pat Riley's leadership thoughts. I followed the Lakers during their heyday and was interesting to hear about some of the struggles the players and coach had during that time and what they needed to do in order to become champions. While much of the book is focused on lessons from the NBA and basketball team, there are a few other businesses that Riley talks about for showing leadership skills and traits.
October 12, 2018
2.5 stars maybe. The background and personal insight on the Showtime-era Lakers was interesting enough. Why did this book have to deviate from that into the realm of business? The style seemed so corporate at times, as cheesy as the title.
March 31, 2019
A book from the legendary basketball coach Pat Riley. It talks about the life plan that a team goes through and uses examples from the NBA and other businesses to hit the point home. Not a bad book but i feel it could of offer more.
October 6, 2019
Interesting read. The president of the Miami Heat has spent decades motivating players in unique ways. As a high school teacher, I believe I can modify some of those strategies to get more production from my students...
June 29, 2024
I’ve had this book for almost 20 yrs and finally started reading it a year and a half ago only to be disappointed in its contents. I picked it up again this week and enjoyed its life messages sprinkled with Laker history.
October 17, 2017
Has some good philosophies, but too much narrative on nothing useful.
December 19, 2018
it was okay
January 3, 2019
I read this for work (coaching) but it is far from just a sports book.
May 16, 2020
This book was very informative on being a good team player and on how to build a legacy within any aspect of our lives.
July 23, 2020
Fairly boring overall, a few interesting stories about the 80’s Lakers dynasty and could have used more than 20 pages about the Knicks.
December 21, 2020
Very good! He uses a lot of personal stories to drive home his points, one of the better books written by a basketball coach.
February 25, 2021
I have read dozens of sales & motivational books. Riley's is the best. I especially live his description of "The Disease of Me."
April 25, 2022
Could someone please get this book into a digital and audiobook format!!!
June 18, 2023
Jumps around a lot
December 29, 2023
Disease of more, after success people want a bigger piece of the pie for themselves
May 11, 2024
Crazy to think this was written by a man who said sometimes a situation requires us to shoot a hostage in the head and ask “Who the fuck is next?”
July 15, 2024
Great book about the different stages of a successful team! Perfect read for an athlete/coach!
December 18, 2024
His philosophy and psychology views are intriguing, his beginning at the New York Knicks will show this. Amazing book from amazing basketball guy
November 29, 2025
Not a good book. Pat’s ghostwriter did him a disservice in this horribly written piece of garbage.
May 5, 2022
The "Winner Within," is a fascinating inside look into what it takes to be a pro. The book also applies to life outside of sports. It represents a blueprint into making your life a success.
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March 1, 2017Tons of useful quotes within the entire book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews