Becoming Human Character Analysis

Analyzing Exclusion to Inclusion in the Chicago Bulls Team The feeling of inclusion and exclusion is an experience every human faces. Humans experience inclusion and exclusion in many forms whether it be on a team or during a group project. In the texts Becoming Human by Jean Vanier and Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson, inclusion and exclusion takes place with the authors themselves and characters they interact with. In Jean Vanier's book, Becoming Human, the main idea present is that every human, despite any differences they may have physically or mentally, should feel included and should feel like an important member in today's society. Similar to Jean Vanier's book, the main idea present in Phil Jackson’s Sacred Hoops is that every member
on a team can feel included as long as each player has an equal role on the team whether they have a lot of talent or not.
In a team it can be very effortless for players to feel discluded due to the fact that every player has different skill levels and the players that have a tremendous amount of talent tend to “stand above” their teammates. As a coach Phil Jackson understands that in order to win games and championships a team has to work together rather than every player working individually. Phil Jackson attempts and has success with making players, that do not have a large role on the team, feel important and he is able to bring every player together to work in sync as a team and this caused his Chicago Bulls team to win numerous times such as in the years 1995-1996. Phil Jackson was able to make every player feel included by having every player on the team trust one another, having players participate in tasks together to develop chemistry, and having every player accept each other's flaws and strengths. In the book, Sacred Hoops, written by Phil Jackson, Phil makes every player on the team
along with himself move from a state of inclusion to exclusion. For a team to win games and championships every player has to trust each other on the court. Trust comes from experience. As a new coach, Phil Jackson did not have trust in his team and his team did not have trust in him. However, Phil was able to implement a system on the court called the Triangle Offense that allowed every single player to have a role on offense even when they were not touching the ball. Each player had a significant role on the team and if their role was not executed then the offense would not work. This allowed every player on the Chicago Bulls to trust each other. Without one player doing their part the offense would collapse. This new system where the offense worked majorly through off ball movement allowed every player to feel included and important rather than one player standing out. “What appealed to me about the system was that it empowered everybody on the team by making them more involved in the offense, and demanded that they put their individual needs second to those of the group”(Jackson 89). This system allowed players to revoke their selfish mindset and forced every player including Michael Jordan to put the team's needs first and their individual needs second. “All things being equal , each player will spend around eighty percent of his time without the ball”(Jackson 88). By having every player have an equal role on the team, it allowed every player to trust each other. Rather than having the team rely on one player, each player relied on each other and this allowed them to include one another rather than exclude.

Every player on the team wants to feel included and important in the offense. Players want to be recognized for their contribution but if they are excluded then they can not be recognized. “Human nature is to want to belong to groups of like minded creatures, to those of the same culture or who have the same goals and interests”(Vanier 76). Each and every member on the Chicago Bulls wanted to be recognized for their team’s success rather than having one player be recognized for their individual goals. Every player wanted to have a significant role on the team so that, as a team, they can win a championship. Members of the Chicago Bulls want to be around each other if they are like minded but if one player is significantly better than certain players would feel discluded. Using the Triangle Offense, Phil Jackson included every member on the team by giving them a significant role whether they started or came off the bench. By giving the player a significant role, it allowed them to have a sense of importance and allowed them to feel included.
In order for every player to feel included, every player must participate as a team player.
Phil Jackson struggled with having every member of his team participate because many players would get mesmerized by the level of talent Michael Jordan had. This led to many players feeling excluded because of their lack of participation in the offense. Many times players would give Michael the ball rather than attempting to create an offense on their own. This led to many players not participating in the offense and caused those players to feel excluded.“Members of his ‘supporting cast’ as he called it, were so entertained by what he could do with a basketball that they never learned to work with successfully”(Jackson 20). Rather than participating and playing with Michael, they idolized him and wanted him to win the games on his own. Players and Phil Jackson were so bedazzled and stunned by Michael Jordan that they excluded themselves from the team and stopped contributing, thinking that because he is so great that he can win games and championships on his own.“Some of the players were so bedazzled by his moves they’d unconsciously step back and wait to see what he was going to do next”(Jackson 18). However Phil Jackson learned after losing in the playoffs to the Detroit Pistons three consecutive years, Phil learned that Michael Jordan can not “carry” the offense on a consistent basis for eighty two games and still manage to be successful in the playoffs. Phil learned to work with
Michael Jackson and to communicate with him. He was able to teach Michael Jordan that he may have to sacrifice shots during the games and he may have a decrease in stats, specifically points per game. However in return, Michael Jordan and the team would be able to win a championship. That following year, after the third consecutive loss to the Detroit Pistons, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won a championship in the year 1990-1991.
It was very easy for members of the Chicago Bulls to feel discluded once Michael Jordan took over as the leader of the team. They were so bedazzled by his greatness that it was hard for players such as Dennis Rodman and Steve Kerr to feel included when they do not have the talent that Michael Jordan has. “We are frightened of those who are different. We are frightened of failure and rejection.”(Vanier 71). Members of the Chicago Bulls were afraid of participating because they felt lesser and different than Jordan. Michael Jordan is a one of a kind type of player and it was hard for his team to accept him and play along him. Once Phil Jackson incorporated every player in the Triangle Offense, it gave every player purpose and a specific task. This allowed players that were not as great as Michael Jordan to feel included and taught them to participate with him rather than feeling frightened or intimidated by his greatness. The Triangle Offense played to each individual's strengths and players would cover each others flaws. This allowed the Chicago Bulls to play so well as a team rather than playing as individuals.
Humans can only include other humans once they accept their flaws and strengths. Phil Jackson learned that every player has weaknesses and every player has strengths. Rather than discluding players for their weaknesses, Phil learned to play their strengths. Players like Dennis Rodman who was a tremendous rebounder and defender was not very significant on offense. His averages for the championship year 1995-1996 were 5.7 points, 15 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. Dennis did not score the ball as well as Michael Jordan or Scottie Pippen. However Phil was able to accept his flaws treated him as a defensive anchor. He was the team's best defender. Phil Jackson trusted him to be the leader on defense and made him feel included despite his lack of skill on the offensive end. Phil coached around his players flaws and this allowed the team to work better in his system which today is called the Triangle Offense and Defense. “Once the players have mastered the system, a powerful group intelligence emerges that is greater than the coaches ideas or those of any individual of the team”(Jackson 92). Players such as Dennis Rodman began to play their strengths and this allowed them to operate more efficiently in Phil Jackson system. This allowed the team to develop chemistry and a group intelligence to the point where every player on the team was putting the team's needs ahead of their own individual needs knowing that Phil and their teammates would not judge them for their weaknesses. “In terms of leadership, this means treating everyone with the same care and respect you give yourself and trying to understand their reality without judgement”(Jackson 154). Once the players learned that Phil has accepted them without judging them it allowed them to operate at free will without fearing criticism.
Phil accepted his players for their strengths and flaws and that allowed them to work so well with each other. Each player did not have a fear of failure because they knew that they are accepted by their team and by their coach. “I am suggesting that if each one of us, with our gifts and weaknesses, our capacities and our needs, opens our heart to a few people who are different and become their friends, receive life from them, our societies would change. This is the way of the heart”(Vanier 85). Phil was able to accept players who had a different play style or a different level of skill such as Dennis Rodman. Once Phil learned how to play to Dennis’ strengths, Dennis became a big role for the Chicago Bulls on defense and in rebounding. Rather than excluding Dennis and trading him from the team to acquire a more skillful offensive player, Phil learned to include Dennis in the offense and defense and that allowed Dennis Rodman to prosper.
Although Phil Jackson struggled at times to have players work with Michael Jordan and within a team, Phil was able to win numerous championships with the Chicago Bulls. He learned that accepting his players flaws and participating with them allows every member on the team to feel included. Also by using the Triangle Offense every player would have a significant role rather than one player standing out. Phil Jackson made every member of the Chicago Bulls feel accepted and included through the teamwork that he developed within the team. Once this was done, it was very effortless for them to win championships. This ideology allowed the Chicago Bulls to dominate the majority of the 1990’s. In Jean Vanier's book, Becoming Human, the main idea is despite their physical differences everyone should be accepted. Members of the team were accepted and their flaws were embraced rather than shunned. This allowed every player to operate freely on the court without fear of failure or rejection by the coach or team. Once Phil Jackson teaches his team how to work together and rely on each other, every member of the Chicago Bulls was included rather than excluded.

\