Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players

by Sam Smith, Phil Jackson

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 otherin the late 1980s, when Smith was a Chicago Tribune sportswriterand Jackson was an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls. Fortyyears later, the two remain close friends. In 2021, Smith helped theNBA arrive at a list of the seventy-five greatest players of all timein celebration of its seventy-fifth anniversary. Phil Jackson wasasked 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 thebasketball life, the sport, and both the genius and shadow side ofthe all-time Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, Magic, Bill Russell, Wilt,Jerry West, Bird, LeBron, KD, Steph Curry, Bill Walton, and more. Ina conversation full of high-grade analysis and high-grade gossip, wemeet the stars of long-ago eras of basketball and see the mark raceleft on players and the business of the game—and we get a masterclass 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 Jacksoncan hold their own with any of them. Their spirit—sharp, wise,irreverent, honest, respectful of the lore and legacy of the game butnever pious—and the clash of their different perspectives combineto make this book a joyous ride, a short course in greatness opento all students.

Genres: Sports, Basketball, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Audiobook

400 pages, Hardcover

Published November 4, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Sam Smith is a writer and editor for Usborne and he produces a wide range of children's books and related products from from mini books, activity pads and maze books

Reviews

[LPosse1 Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Michael Sclafani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun basketball background, but not much new if you know a lot and don’t expect Phil Jackson to stay on topic at all — at times reads a bit like an NBA episode of drunk history.

[K.C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players is HEAVY on conversation. Reading this was an interesting experience: because it reads like a podcast transcript, it feels like it might be intended to be consumed as an audiobook. The format seems to be a reasonably tight player overview followed by a snippet of conversation, as if they were being shown and responding to a flash card of a player bio to varying degrees.

Lots of interesting anecdotes that I thoroughly enjoyed. Admittedly it was hard to follow at points, which feels odd for a book with such short chapters. It was an interesting choice not to edit more heavily, although it was maybe unnecessary for correctness, it was necessary for clarity; it reads like stream of consciousness, often not that far off from [You know that guy who did the thing?] It struck me as odd that multiple people are identified through vague or ambiguous identifiers (e.g., "that kid that was known for rape," etc.) who are clearly not the player whose chapter it is, but it feels like those references warrant further discussion or should be omitted. For instance, during Elgin Baylor's chapter, I was struggling to follow the fact that there had been more than one basketball-related plane crash, and the one discussed most was the one Baylor was NOT involved in. While I appreciated learning about Jay Ramsdell, and the authors they were very respectful of his passing, I just felt like it was free association and that the players were given unequal treatment, as they clearly knew (or knew about) or were more interested in some players more than others. Some players are discussed in chapters besides their own and others barely get acknowledged in their own commentary section.

Overall, a very breezy read, but it felt like a first draft. Digestible, but half-baked. I am glad I read this, but for the average reader I suspect they might find this worth borrowing from the library or a friend, though maybe not worth purchasing.

[SB1125 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m surprised this was even released. Pretty embarrassing presentation and completely incoherent rambling. For example, the section about Elgin Baylor devolves into Phil’s recollection of sharing a flight with someone who later died in the 1960 plane crash on which Baylor was also aboard. That’s it, that’s Phil’s commentary about a transcendent talent.

[Jeffrey Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was right up my alley but was so meandering, poorly edited (only first names of people being used out of context without any explanation of who they are as an example) and off-topic (half the "stories" between Phil and Sam aren't even about the player the section is about) that it was hard to stick with.

[Jeff Wait · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for top 75/100 player lists, and this one is really neat. You get a bio of each player and then some back and forth between Sam Smith and Phil Jackson. The homerism definitely comes out from both, but you also get a little bit of extra insight that you won’t get from The Basketball 100.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is a surprisingly charming trainwreck, with Smith doing his best to hold things together and Jackson's grouchy zen thing almost becoming endearing by the end. But it is also kind of a total disaster in terms of achieving what it supposedly set out to do.

[Austin Musselwhite · Rating 1 out of 5]

Genuinely feels like they took a podcast transcript and just kind of assigned parts to different players, I'm not sure phil jackson was even paying attention to what he was saying

[Laura Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am rounding up from 2 1/2 stars. I believe true sport trivia lovers may enjoy this book more than casual sport fans. I was thankful that the book included descriptions of the discrimination some players experienced in the not so distant past. It adds an honest and historic framework to the list. I found myself skimming the listings for some players and then reading with more interest segments featuring players I had more familiarity with. There are some photos in the book. I wish a photo would have been included along side each athlete. I did not enjoy the conversational aspect of the book as the conversations seemed to wander away from the highlighted players and back onto the authors more often than I would have preferred. I did think the list was fair and accurate and called attention to the accomplishments and some of the personality quirks of some of the most outstanding athletes of the 20th and 21st century.

[Matt Lowy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good oral history and this follows that outline but not like anything that I have read before. It seems like there is a multi-page/audio minute cap on each of the 75 players, regardless of their impact on the game or length of career. Often, chapters get tied into indirect stories and recollections that aren't even focused on the subject which has benefits and drawbacks. Often the chapters just end with no real conclusion and at times with a joke between Smith & Coach Jackson.

So with all of those criticisms, how do I still find the four star mark you ask? Because Coach Jackson other than Kobe's Memorial Service and a Chicago Bulls Championship reunion has been off the grid this whole decade. Hearing his thoughts, opinions and memories time stamped in late 2024 leave you on the edge of your seat wanting more with every chapter. Despite being 79, his recall is still as sharp as a tack and you can really tell that he is still in lockstep with the product on the floor since his departure from the game in 2017. Here's hoping he has another book in him later this decade.

[Julesreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the strangest sports books ever written. Could’ve used some editing. Case in point: the chapter on Kareem begins with Phil Jackson recalling an apartment he had in NYC - the first paragraph devoted to it. But the days from which Jackson and Smith hail are becoming bygoner and bygoner. Great stuff in here you just have to sift through it. Definitely not your typical basketball book and I enjoyed picking through it at bedtime for a few months.

[François Blanchette · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a debutant at basketball such as myself, this is a very approachable and laid-back reading to get to know the legends of the sport. It is also a breeding ground to get to know the major events in basketball's history. Neat.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this light 30,000 foot view of the greatest to ever lace em up.

A quick read that brought color to a lot of my memories of watching the NBA over the last 40+ years.

Sam Smith’s curmudgeonly style and camouflaged anti Jordan sentiments were a bit of a buzz kill. I also had a hard time following the “Conversational” style. Often felt like I walked into the middle of a private 4 hour conversation with references to things and individuals that they may have known well, but I did not. Confusing. Using first names only of players/coaches from the 70s was not helpful?? Possibly ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s if not for this.

Phil Jackson’s contribution was the straw that stirred this drink. His insights & memories were worth the price of admission.

Entertaining read. Good time. Recommend.

- My Top 10 -

1) MJ
2) Bird
3) Kareem
4) West
5) James
6) Russell
7) Bryant
8) Chamberlin
9) Curry
10) Magic

- Just Sayin -

[Bowen McCasland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book with some great history on players! What I didn’t love was the “conversational” part of the book. The authors would go on random tangents sometimes that wouldn’t refer to the players they were speaking on. Cool to see the history of the game and how it has evolved through their stars.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining at times, thoughtful at times, but the constant first-name-only references and non-sequiturs grate after awhile. I imagine the audio version is better, especially since much of this is simply transcription.

[Ian Strong · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it was okay, not really what I was expecting for a ranking of top 75 players. There were some good anecdotes and information, but I think overall it was limited. I wish it would’ve listed off which teams each player played for, their college and all their awards. I also think the conversations between Sam Smith and Phil Jackson get lost and confusing sometime, witb them both just trailing off into random stories, not about the player the section is on, but someone completely different. I can see the goal but it would’ve been better suited for video or a podcast. Theyre also lebron haters saying he “top 10” which I find ridiculous. I know Sam Smith is a Jordan Shill, but acting like Curry is not the greatest shooter and LeBron is not AT LEAST second to Jordan should get your pen and paper privileges suspended.

[Joe Kraus · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the co-authors of this book is on my Mount Rushmore of basketball personalities, a guy who helped define the Michael Jordan years, who has continued to bring the best of the NBA to a broad audience, and who remains one of the most literate and thoughtful people in sports.

The other is Phil Jackson.

In general, I do like Jackson and, while his time with the Lakers and then, more forgettably, with the Knicks tarnished him a bit, I have never been prouder to boast of a coach of my team as I did in his Bulls years. (I admit that Joe Maddon came close for a while there with the Cubs.) He is all those things as well – literate and focused on what’s best in the game – but I love Sam Smith and all he brings.

If you don’t know Sam’s mailbag, you should. He goes through dozens of letters a week, writing real and thoughtful responses to a semi-regular cast of correspondents and never losing sight of analyzing – with a soft spot in its favor – the team of the moment. I’ve been one of those correspondents, a lesser one, and I’ve always felt heard in his responses and smarter for reading them.

All that said, this probably isn’t a great ‘book.’ The premise is that he and Jackson went through the NBA’s all-time top 75 players. But it’s a loose premise. They’ll start talking about the relevant player, and then they’ll drift into other topics that player reminded them of.

And the references can be hard to follow. We get a lot of “Bill” without the clearest context – Bill Fitch, I believe. And the same with “Willis,” Jackson’s great teammate from his Knicks playing days.

So, this can be confusing and meandering, but that doesn't make it a failed project. Instead, we get to hear two NBA lifers reflect on the players who built the league. Jackson goes back to the late 1960s as a player and then coach, so he went up against almost all the guys they consider. (No Mikan, but you can’t have everything.)

And Sam, who drops nice autobiographical notes – I love that his mother was a Pritzker, so he might be related to the billionaire governor – switched from political reporting to basketball long ago…and long before that, he was a New York kid saving his dimes to get to as many games at Madison Square Garden as possible.

So these are the first-hand memories of guys who were there, guys who always have something worthwhile to say.

In my imagination, if I ever got invited to hang out at the bar with the two of them, I’d have the wits to shut up and listen to all they have to say about guys from before my time – like Lenny Wilkens and Oscar Robertson – and about guys I’ve watched from the get-go, some of whom are still playing. I may not have been invited to the bar here, but this book gives the privilege of listening in all the same. It’s not perfect, but it’s a chance to listen to one of the NBA’s finest.

And Phil Jackson, too.

[Jack Vainisi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came into this book excited by the concept: Phil Jackson and Sam Smith discussing the 75 greatest players in NBA history. As a basketball fan, that should have been an easy five-star read. Instead, it was one of the more frustrating basketball books I’ve picked up in years.

The biggest problem is that the book often seems completely uninterested in the players it’s supposedly about.

A typical chapter starts with a brief biography of a legendary player. Then Phil and Sam begin their conversation, only to immediately drift into stories about coaches, teammates, old road trips, Michael Jordan, random NBA executives, or some other tangent that has little to nothing to do with the player whose name is on the chapter heading. By the end of many sections, I felt like I learned more about Phil Jackson’s memories than the actual Hall of Famer being discussed.

The conversational format doesn’t help. Rather than feeling like a polished discussion between two basketball minds, it often reads like someone transcribed a four-hour conversation and forgot to edit it. Names are dropped without context. Stories begin and never really go anywhere. Entire chapters feel like inside jokes between two people who have known each other for forty years.

What makes this especially disappointing is that there are flashes of a great book hidden inside. When Phil is discussing players he coached, competed against, or studied closely, his insight is genuinely fascinating. The problem is that those moments are constantly interrupted by rambling detours that belong in a podcast outtake rather than a book.

I also found the perspective on modern basketball exhausting. Every generation thinks the game was better in its day, but the book repeatedly falls into the trap of glorifying the past while minimizing current players. The treatment of LeBron James is the clearest example. You don’t have to rank him ahead of Jordan, but there were numerous moments where the discussion felt less like analysis and more like an attempt to explain away his place in history.

By the end, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this book was marketed as a celebration of 75 NBA legends but was actually about Phil Jackson and Sam Smith reminiscing about basketball. Some readers may enjoy that. I wanted a book about the players.

There’s an excellent 250-page book trapped inside these 400 pages. Unfortunately, this version feels like a first draft that desperately needed a tougher editor.

[Zachary Obel-Omia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book, but it definitely also had its problems. First and foremost has to be the glazing of Jordan as well as some other older school players. It is very clear that Sam Smith and Phil Jackson have great knowledge of the game and I understood the book, but I do not feel like this is a book for more causal viewers like other books like this can be especially when telling great stories. The blurbs on some of these players also were ridiculously short and many of the times in the blurbs they would not even be talking about the actual player because they would go off in tangents about MJ or something. I did appreciate the interview style and I think it’s a very interesting way to write a book, but the unrelated tangents were the problem which is why I would’ve preferred if there was some perspective from the actual players here which I don’t believe would be impossible to do given Sam Smith’s connections. Some of their opinions were very clear, but I still would’ve loved if they had actually ranked the players instead of just going in chronological order. Or at least explain if they think they belonged, if they are top 10, and other things like that. I also did not like when they combined players together especially the second to last part because they were just sort of bashing those players and saying they shouldn’t have gotten in and then potential replacements. I believe that would’ve been a good section to even go more deep on, but that would be better as a separate chapter. What I am suggesting might make you think it would make the book a lot longer and it certainly would, but I believe if they concentrated more on the actual players then I believe it would be more interesting to read instead of constantly eye rolling some very old head takes. I’m definitely happy for have reading this book and maybe I’ll read more from both of them, but there definitely were some problems.

[Sumukh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was in the new books section of my local library so I had my eye on it as a basketball fan. Then, Bill Simmons brought it up on his podcast with Zach Lowe and I figured it’ll be a quick read so let’s do it.

I agree with Simmons’s assessment. The pros are that you get little nuggets of really good information from one of the greatest coaches in history and a prominent journalist if you are a fan of basketball and its history.

However the structure of the book is annoying. While Smith provides a background on the player, the conversation portion then between Jackson & Smith could have barely to nothing to do with the player. They just go off rambling their own perspectives/experiences. So, a small chapter focused on Hal Greer is suddenly more about Bill Sharman, even Nick Nurse is somehow referenced.

Conversation in book form can be good but it’s not the best here because this is supposed to be analytical but it’s not edited properly. This almost would be better suited as a TV show where they pick a player, discuss and analyze, and also show some highlights as opposed to whatever this was. It says it’s a “conversational history” but it feels more conversation that’s too casual and goes off-topic than history.

Nevertheless, still entertaining enough if you love basketball.

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Wow! How disappointing was this thing. I only read the first three and then skimmed to see if all the players were treated like this.

Each chapter starts with a Wikipedia page of the player's accomplishments, it then hard cuts to a . . . conversation(?) between Sam Smith and Phil Jackson, two men who know the game, but have no idea how to share their love.

It's hard to even say what they are doing, it's like someone was recording a conversation, and then transcribed the conversation verbatim without any idea of what the two are saying. There is no question and answer format, no clear markings of what they are discussing. Just random conversation.

It becomes a list of names of other player completely unrelated to the player in the chapter, it becomes a list of coaches that are not referenced anywhere else, often it is just by a single name. Eventually you can't tell if they are talking about Larry Bird, Larry Brown, or even Larry the Cable Guy. Several times I wasn't sure who they were talking about, and I only read the first three players.

On top of that, they would reference other stories about the players . . . and then not tell the stories. I finally quit with Bob Pettit, a name I know, but I don't know anything else about the man. He mentions the Cleo Hill story . . . and then talks about race relations in the south during the 50/60's.

What am I supposed to do with that? I'm not looking up the Cleo Hill story, that's why I have this book. Over and over they would do this.

Remember that legendary Knicks game -- Nope
Remember the coach and rules change -- Nope
Remember that guy with the thing -- Nope

Tell the stories!

What a waste of potential with this book.

[Larry Coleman · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a mess. I read Smith's The Jordan Rules and liked it and I've read several books by Phil Jackson and loved them all, so as soon as I saw the cover, I didn't even open it, I plucked it off the shelf immediately. With the two of them together, what could go wrong?

Everything.

There are a lot of times when the chapter is on a certain player and that player is hardly mentioned at all. More than once, they're mentioned in the first sentence and then it drifts off to a player or a topic completely unrelated and he's never brought up again. And remember, these are supposed to be 75 of the greatest players ever, not people we've never heard of. There are so many ways this could have been done better. Taking this jumbled, rambling mess of a conversation and turning it into informed, intelligent text would be the first place to start, but Sam Smith is so in love with himself that he thinks everyone hangs on his every meandering word. I didn't.

[John Pehle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel pretty sure that a hard-core NBA fan would appreciate this book a bit more than I did. My fandom, such as it is, is rooted in the 60's and 70's and peaked with the Bulls pair of three-peats. Where the book was good for me, it was because of discussions of players and eras that I knew. Each player got a brief description of the player's career strengths and weaknesses followed by a discussion between Sam (Smith) and PJ (Phil Jackson). Unfortunately, the conversations between Sam and PJ were disjointed, jumping topics and referencing a lot of "inside basketball" that left me baffled. Perhaps these bits were edited to save space but they left me wanting to research a lot of events on the old "google machine", which is not the way I want to read a book. I am glad I read it as it certainly scratched a nostalgic itch for me but "Masters of the Game" is definitely a niche book more suited to a more avid fan.

[Edgar Guevara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good conversation between two gentlemen who know a great deal about American basketball. I enjoyed the player profiles and the exchanges between the authors, particularly when they shared anecdotes or criticized longstanding problems in the league that are not as new as they might seem, such as the step-back and the dreaded flopping.

What I did not enjoy was how often the authors began to show their age and allowed the conversation to drift away from the player being discussed. For example:

“Do you remember such-and-such player?”

“Yes, he got along well with the team owner.”

“I remember him. He bought the team from so-and-so, who was also in the real estate business.”

“Yes, a good guy. I once ran into him on a flight to Boston.”

END OF CHAPTER

This happens several times, and the authors sometimes barely discuss the player who is supposed to be the subject of the chapter. 🤷‍♂️

[Michael Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Particularly the format of the conversational back and forth between two elder statesman discussing the nuances of the game we all love so much. Phil having played when he did was able to speak to playing against such NBA Legends like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. I understand the criticism of it meandering a bit because they start discussing a player, go on a tangent, then end up talking about Michael Jordan. Look, Jordan is my goat but those portions of the book were distracting when you’re discussing players from the 50s and somehow Michael Jordan comes up (but I get it they’re both biased in this regard). Overall, it felt like hanging out with two old timers that had seen some shit and were sharing their life experiences which I appreciated.

[Charles Sisson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 I'm not sure why reading about basketball is such an escape for me, but my reading history clearly indicates it is. Phil Jackson's range and depth of knowledge are important, though his distain for changes in the game frame him as a grouch at times. It was interesting to get more information about players even I am not old enough to know much about, not George Mikan, who all basketball fans know about now, but Bob Pettit, Sam Jones, Hal Greer, Dave DeBusschere. Jackson and Smith really paint a picture. I also think their takes on the last 25 were very satisfying. Take that Melo, Pierce, and Unibrow. Super enjoyable fluff.

[Joshua Riddell · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Sam smith was a generation or two younger then this would have been a podcast series that would have key been a more successful format than this book. Jackson admits he doesn’t watch modern NBA so it was hard to care about what he said about current players. He also had few interesting things to say about players of his generation and Sam Smith did most of the heavy lifting. Some players had laughably short sections and others had nothing said about them as a player. Feels like Jackson regretted agreeing to this project after an hour.

[ORACLE · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Loved learning about “forgotten “ basketball players from the early NBA/ABA merger days to the Modern 2000s And reading up on stats/ accolades.
I personally Believe some players were left out Like,
Kyrie Irving, Nikola Jokic & Dwight Howard.
Overall, this was a great read, but at certain some points, I felt them always bringing up Michael Jordan or changing conversations when we were focusing on players . Basketball is a beautiful sport with many great players.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains random musings on top basketball players. It offfers very little research, deep inside stories, or coherence as the book progresses from player to player.
Even if Sam Smith and Phil Jackson did no preparation, research or interviews for the book I would have expected deeper, more meaningful insights and more coherent thoughts just from the positions they had as journalist, player, coach and GM.

[Jim Castine · Rating 3 out of 5]

it kind of reads like a wiki page. I enjoyed reading about some of the guys I don't know too much, but I could've got the same stuff off the internet

I didn't care for the conversation aspect of the book either. sometimes the two would go off track and talk about someone else completely

get a list of the All 75 team and Google them. it'll be about the same