Original artwork, not a still
Misattributed to Phil Jackson
The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Say it at a team meeting and it sounds like championship wisdom: no star carries a side, and no side exists without its players. The phrase is really a rewording of Kipling's wolf and pack, which is why it fits Jackson's team-first coaching reputation and why it gets pinned to him. Treat the attribution as folklore, but the sentiment is sound.
Context reviewed
In context
May contain spoilersShow the scene
No source has been found tying this sentence to Phil Jackson, the coach of the Bulls and Lakers. It appears on quote lists with no book, interview or date. What is traceable is the idea behind it: Rudyard Kipling's poem "The Law of the Jungle", in The Second Jungle Book (1895), holds that the Pack depends on the Wolf and the Wolf on the Pack, and Jackson is said to have often cited that couplet. The sentence here reads as a paraphrase of it, with team and member in place of pack and wolf.
Sources (3)
- Wikisource: The Second Jungle Book, The Law of the JungleOpening verse, fourth lineReference checked
- Wikipedia: The Second Jungle BookPublication detailsReference checked
- Antoine Buteau: Lessons from Phil JacksonTeamwork quote 10; mental-game sectionReference checked
Context reviewed
