Phil Jackson's New Book 'Eleven Rings' Will Not Skimp on the Hard Truth

Former Lakers head coach Phil Jackson is putting the finishing touches on his new book entitled Eleven Rings, which is set to release in 2013. That gives a Lakers-mad nation ample time to prepare for some hard truths and brutal honesty. 

This would be the first official word from Phil Jackson since he left his post as Zen Master of the LA Lakers.

It's too bad that you can't script how you leave the game. The departure of a man with 11 NBA championships, 13 NBA Finals appearances and 229 playoff wins should have been as grandiose as one of his many diamond-encrusted rings. 

Instead, his Lakers were swept out of the 2010-2011 playoffs with ease by the eventual champion Dallas Mavericks. It was an embarrassment that the current Lakers squad is trying to answer and that Jackson will no doubt address. 

The beauty of any Jackson memoir is that it is heavy on the brutal honesty. It might be biased, as all personal memoirs tend to be, but it is guaranteed to pull no punches. 

If you want proof for how intriguing a storyteller Jackson can be, look no further than The Last Season, a memoir that delved deep into the 2003-2004 season. 

Lakers fans will recognize that season as the one where promise turned out to be over-inflated hype. Karl Malone and Gary Payton signed on to win a championship. Instead, they shared in the embarrassment of being bounced by the Detroit Pistons in the Finals. 

After the season, Phil Jackson was out, Shaquille O'Neal was dealt and Kobe Bryant was public enemy No. 1. 

Among the issues in The Last Season, Kobe Bryant and his ability to be coached was questioned and the way Jackson was forced out was addressed. 

It made for quite the awkward moment when Jackson returned to coach the Lakers in the 2005-2006 season. 

Eleven Rings may be Jackson's chance to dive into Bryant and whether he has truly transformed himself in the twilight of his career, the reasons his star-studded team was bounced well before the job was done and how he sees the transition in the Buss family going. 

Jackson may take an all-encompassing look at his entire career. The name on the book makes that apparent. 

However, there is hope that a good portion of burning questions hitting Lakers fans will get answered, and it will be given with the honesty that only Jackson knows how to deliver. 

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