Editor's note: This as-told-to, from Phil Jackson, was originally published in the May 4, 1998, issue of ESPN The Magazine.
In what appears to be the final season of the Chicago Bulls' 1990s reign, coach Phil Jackson has periodically collected his thoughts and analyzed the swirling action around him. Beginning with a preseason trip to Paris and then later, often while relaxing at his desk at the Bulls' Deerfield, Ill., training complex, surrounded by the books and mementos that have become so meaningful to him, Jackson never seems rattled by the crazy activity that surrounds his team, which opens the playoffs as the favorite to win its sixth title in eight years.