Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

As he always does, Jeff Pearlman reported the hell out of this great book, a deep dive into the 1996-2004 Los Angeles Lakers dynasty. All the big names are here, including an egotistical, widely-disliked by teammates Kobe Bryant, larger than life in every way Shaquille O\’Neal, who often couldn\’t stand Kobe, and Phil Jackson, the \”Zen Master\” who had to get two massive egos to co-exist. But as always with Jeff\’s books, it\’s the role players, the extras, who provide the meatiest material. Read about Samaki Walker nearly punching Kobe in the face, and Mark Madsen\’s unique perspective from the bench. And the chapter detailing Kobe\’s questioning by Colorado police immediately after an allegation of rape was made is as good as anything Jeff has ever written. This is a championship-quality biography of a team that won three titles, but could\’ve won so many more.

Attractive plot, interesting storyline, live characters.. yet not convincing. This book talks about the ‘dark side’ of Lakers, or to be more specific, the ‘dark side’ if Kobe Bryant. Every mistake Kobe made were amplified, and every mistake Shaq and others made were generally ignored. All the dedication and efforts Kobe put in to enhance his skills are largely ignored. Jeff is a great writer, but with flawed vision.

The conventional wisdom about the great Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal Laker teams of the early 2000s goes like this: Shaq was content for basketball to be one of his many interests, while Kobe was solely focused basketball above anything else. They were a poor fit as teammates, and ultimately went their separate ways, dooming the dynasty. This is how I remembered it and I don’t think I’m unique. The Lakers were the first great team I knew as an NBA fan. While I have hazy memories of the second Bulls dynasty, I clearly recall the unstoppable force of the Shaq / Kobe Lakers clearly. After reading Three Ring Circus, I realize that my understanding of these teams, why they succeeded and fell apart was wrong. Shaq and Kobe weren’t too different to effectively coexist. Like a basketball episode of the Good Place, they were perfectly calibrated to torture each other. Three Ring Circus is the story of the Lakers championship teams from the early 2000s. Shaquille O’Neal, the star center. Phil Jackson, the wise coach, and of course, Kobe Bryant, the kid. The book tells the story of how they came together, dominated the league, and ultimately collapsed under the weight of their egos. It’s incredibly well sourced and a must-read for NBA fans. In a way, it acts as a sort of spiritual sequel to The Last Dance, picking the league up and some of the main characters where the documentary series left off. Because of the period it covers, it also serves as a biography of the first 26 years of Kobe Bryant’s life, from his childhood in Italy through his rape trial in Eagle, Colorado. While Shaq is the key to the team’s dominance on the court, Kobe is the key to understanding what was happening off the court and why this dominant team just couldn’t stay together. He is as arrogant and selfish as Shaq is out of shape, if not more so. If Shaq’s critical flaw is that he isn’t willing to put in the work in the off season to take care of his body and extend his prime, then Kobe’s critical flaw is that he would rather be the star of the team than work with Shaq to win. I entered the book thinking that Shaq and Kobe were too different to coexist for longer than they did. I left it thinking that they were too similar — ultimately both men only wanted to win on their own terms. For Shaq, this meant enjoying life off the court; for Kobe, this meant being the star of the show with the ball in his hands. Both men expected to be the center of attention in his own way. Unlike MJ and Scottie, they never could manage to get beyond it for the greater good of the team. The book’s greatest strength is the way that it tells this story for all of the characters that enter it. Del Harris is tactically brilliant, but unable to adapt his style to a new generation of players. Nick Van Excel has all the physical gifts, but he lets little slights from others convince him he’s unvalued. J.R. Rider has all the physical gifts, but can’t figure out the work habits of being a professional. The tension between one’s own strengths and flaws, the desire to do something special as a team and desire to shine as an individual are immensely relatable. It’s impossible to read this book and not think of Kobe Bryant’s untimely death and the eulogizing that happened afterwards, particularly from other athletes. Even before the alleged rape (which the book strongly suggests should’ve resulted in a conviction), Kobe comes off particularly poorly. While Shaq’s flaws are relatable, Kobe comes off as arrogant to the point of being delusional and cruel to those less talented than he is. The question hanging over the book is, “How did this kid who everyone hated become that guy everyone loved?” That it is never answered is the book’s greatest flaw. In the preface of the book, Pearlman tells the story of how the book was finished when Kobe’s shocking death happened. He goes out of his way to explain that who a person is from seventeen to twenty six isn’t the sum total of who they are to avoid the charge of speaking ill of the deceased. Answering the question of how and to what extent Kobe changed over the second half of his career would’ve led to a different book and it’s certainly certainly understandable why an author, having just completed a book as thoroughly researched as this one, wouldn’t be eager to start over. But as it is, the ending of the book feels incomplete, like it’s only part one. Despite this, I enjoyed the book immensely. Sign me up for a sequel.

To open this review… I feel it needs to be strongly stated… that you can’t rewrite history. This book is about the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 thru 2004… which of course covers the “THREE-PEAT-LAKER-CHAMPIONSHIP-DYNASTY”! The author, Jeff Pearlman starts the book with a three page “Author’s Note”… that he wrote when finishing the book when he became aware of Kobe Bryant’s death. It comes across to me… as almost an apology for the hundreds of pages that follow… that among other things… describes AND documents in extreme microscopic detail… what an egotistical… pampered… unlike-able… terrible teammate… to say the least that Kobe was during most of the time period covered in this book. I feel that weak “attempt” to almost minimize those portions that engulf the reader in the next three-hundred-ninety pages… is the only weak spot in this tremendously researched and written book. I have been a die-hard Lakers Purple-and-Gold fan for over sixty-years… and had Lakers season tickets during the 2000-2001-2002 *THREE-PEAT-CHAMPIONSHIP-RUN*… and despite attempts by some to change the view in life’s rear view mirror… not all Lakers fans adored Bryant… and not all were fooled by his persona in front of a camera off the court… or out of the team bus. That stated… let’s get to the pages that follow the aforementioned three. This is the sixth book by Pearlman that I have read… and like the previous five… it’s fantastic. The detailed research and interviews… along with prose that can range from being Shakespeare-like… to beautiful four-letter-word straight- street- talk. Though many of the sagas have been told before by others… Pearlman adds updates and has the exquisite ability to tell them a little bit better. In addition to “SHAQ” and Kobe’s pre-Lakers life being explored… the author gives just enough background info on teammates such as Nick Van Exel… Samaki Walker… Rick Fox… Robert Horry… Glen Rice… Derek Fisher… J.R. Rider… Dennis Rodman… and many more… so the reader has a thumb- nail understanding… of why each of these players reacts the way they did to teammates and others. Of course coaches such as the legendary Phil Jackson and the less than legendary Del Harris are a big part of the tale. In fact on a personal level… I was so glad to see how in depth Pearlman went in Del Harris minutiae… especially his long-long-long-long-long-long-long-long-long-endless-factual-but-boring-boring-talks. He drove the modern players into a combination of a coma and rebellion. The reason I was so glad… was my basketball buddies and I couldn’t stand a five-minute interview with Harris whom we nicknamed **YE -OLDE –SCHOOL- MARM**! Everything of any importance… positive… negative… or influential… on or off the court during this period is faithfully reported… Including Kobe’s arrest for rape. Perhaps the most enjoyable tidbits in the book are all the ubiquitous quotes from even the most lackluster players. One of my favorites was regarding the physical dominance displayed by “SHAQ” as he entered the NBA and shook it by its very core. Former Orlando Magic teammate and backup center Greg Kite stated as ““SHAQ”’s first four seasons with the Magic produced the following results… four All-Star selections… 27.2 points per game… 12.5 rebounds… and 2.8 blocks per game. “WHEN HE’D GO UP AND DUNK, IT REMINDED ME OF A CHRISTMAS TREE, WITH DEFENDERS HANGING OFF OF HIM LIKE ORNAMENTS… OR THEY WERE THE BOWLING PINS, AND HE WAS AN ENORMOUS 300-POUND BALL. I’D NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.” My favorite sportswriter of all-time… was the late Jim Murray. Murray could educate you in one sentence… make you laugh in the next sentence… and make you cry in the next sentence. He is on the top of my Mount Olympus of sportswriters. Pearlman has many of the same qualities. He’s not up on top of Olympus with Murray… but he’s close enough on the side of the mountain where he can see Murray’s feet. I’m already yearning for Jeff’s next book.

After reading Showtime I knew what sort of book this was gong to be, in fact it was better than I expected. The portrait painted of Kobe is brutal and if it wasn\’t for his untimely I wonder I am sure the author would have enough material for another book. How Phil managed to stay sane is probably why he is the greatest basketball coach ever, if you like basketball and love the Lakers this is a must read. It is entertaining and unlike some many other books on basketball not a statistic bore.

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