Mike Krzyzewski Quotes

My mom gave me unconditional support and unfailing love. You can't get any better than that. That's why I've never been afraid to lose.

You have to work hard at staying in contact with your friends so that the relationships will continue and live on... Friendships, along with love, make life worth living.

Two are better than one if two act as one.

A team is a fist-not five fingers.

The worst thing we can do is put the (other) team in a one-and-one.

You cannot merely expect culture to be a natural occurrence; it has to be taught and made a part of your everyday routine.

Sometimes it's not bad to hurt. Sometimes you don't want things until you get hurt. We got hurt today, let's see what we do.

Discipline is doing what you are supposed to do in the best possible manner at the time you are supposed to do it.

Always get back to your core principles.

I don't think you play for other people's expectations, you know. You don't go and become a lawyer because your mother or father want you to, you don't become a coach because somebody wants you to.

Almost everything in leadership comes back to relationships.

Friendships, along with love, make life worth living.

Courage and confidence are what decision making is all about.

Pete Newell told me 'get as much information and learn as much about the game as you can, but use your own personality to teach it.'

The team that trusts-their leader and each other-is more likely to be successful.

I never want to lead a team that is not allowed the freedom to pursue what's in their hearts. If you want your team to be fully committed, then you'd better be fully committed

I try to see each new season as a new challenge because I have a new team to work with, new opponents to encounter, and often new ideas and theories to try

Don't let a single game break your heart.

Making shots counts, but not as much as the people who make them.

Players' attention spans get less and less as they progress.

Throughout the season, I look into my players eyes to gauge feelings, confidence levels, and to establish instant trust.

It's always an honor to be ranked high, but whatever is said about you, you take it and then take a realistic look at yourself and who you are.

I always wanted to teach.

If the only reason I coached was to win basketball games, my life would be pretty shallow

Why do you play a game? I play a game to see how good we can be.

When you win, sometimes it overshadows a poor performance.

Turning down the Lakers was tough, but it is always good to renew your vows to the loves of your life.

It is the ultimate honor for a coach to be his country's coach.

Sometimes in a defeat, you can set the stage for future victory. I wanted them to feel good about what they had accomplished. Not to like losing, but to like the success that they had.

As a leader you can get sidetracked but you have to complete your mission

...you can't play any defense if the other team is on the foul line.

We travel in Duke stuff... They can have a hat, but it must be a Duke hat.

Mutual commitment helps overcome the fear of failure—especially when people are part of a team sharing and achieving goals. It also sets the stage for open dialogue and honest conversation.

That's why basketball was so good, because I didn't really need you or anyone else to play it. It would be better if we played four-on-four or five-on-five, but I could go out there alone.