Basketball Quotes

When problems confront successful leaders, they get excited about the opportunity.

I just aim for basketball season to start. I don't really care about anything else in life.

I sing the Star Spangled Banner, so I can get into football, basketball and baseball games for free.

Hell, I'm going to play pro basketball. I'm going to maybe be famous. I'm going to write books.

There is nothing, I think, more unfortunate than to have soft, chubby, fat-looking children who go to watch their school play basketball every Saturday and regard that as their weeks exercise.

I once did something right. I played first-rate basketball. I really did. And after you're first-rate at something, no matter what, it kind of takes the kick out of being second-rate.

Teamwork is not a preference, it is a requirement.

Ability may get you to the top, nut it takes chracter to keep you there - mental, moral, and physical.

Winning games, titles and championships isn't all it's cracked up to be, but getting there, the journey, is a lot more than it's cracked up to be.

Intensity makes you stronger. Emotionalism makes you weaker.

I am not a strategic coach; I am a practice coach.

If you let social activities take precedence over your academic activities, then you will soon lose your basketball activities.

Our titles would not have been possible without the unselfishness displayed by all our teams, the team wins, not the individuals

The greatest ally you have to get things working well and the players performing as a team is the bench. Don't be afraid to use it, either for the star player or anyone else.

The team with the most talent usually wins.

Generally speaking, individual performances don't win basketball games

When the legs go, the heart soon follows

Do passing drills that come from your offense.

I always stress condition with my basketball players. I don’t mean physical condition only. You cannot attain and maintain physical condition unless you are morally and mentally conditioned.

I also wanted my basketball players to know that I really cared about them. Forget basketball; as a person, I cared, I cared about their family.

I grew up with baseball; I played in Little League and went to games with my dad. But I, as I grew up, became more of a basketball fanatic than a baseball one.

It's tough. Gymnastics isn't basketball or football or baseball, where you can get these huge contracts and make a lot of money.

Mr. Watras asked me whether I was practicing, and I told him I was practicing my tissue basketball skills.

As failures go, attempting to recall the past is like trying to grasp the meaning of existence. Both make one feel like a baby clutching at a basketball: one's palms keep sliding off.

If you don't like basketball and you're from Kentucky, they'll kick you out!

I play basketball probably four to five days a week when I'm back home.

I play basketball all the time. Me and my band play every week on the road. That's something that I've never really given up since high school.

I was never really a model. That somehow is in my bio. The whole thing is I was tall since I was a child - you're either a model or you play basketball.

I wanted to undertake the challenge of daring to be great.

And I continued to grow until I was 25 years old.

I didn't want to become a reserve player, or a bench player, and it was time to move on and take on another challenge.

I started playing professional basketball in 1971, and I played professionally for five seasons before going to Philadelphia.

I don't know if I was the baddest. People kind of saw me in that light.

We don't have selfish guys here, which sometimes leads to problems.

Lakers were able to maintain a certain level of talent and success and so were the Celtics. So after awhile it became part of people's sports lore...

Kobe's an incredibly talented athlete, and there are many more like him among today's players.

The Lakers fans have been great, even folks in the supermarket are welcoming me back.

Initially when I stopped playing, I had accumulated some burnout.

The rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics endured for about eight years, and the interest grew each year.

The constant expansion has diluted the talent. Other than that, it's still the same game.

I'm not going to emphasize the sky-hook as much as work with the specific skills of the guys.

Either because I was an athlete or because I was black - probably both - there seemed to be a clear assumption that I wouldn't be up to the work.

We want to show how hip-hop, which kind of fuels today's basketball stars, is directly related to jazz.

He doesn't necessarily have to learn the sky hook. He just has to learn how to be an effective post player. I think I can help him do that.

During 1866 and 1922, Native Americans and black soldiers often intermingled in the American west, on the frontier.

Few players have cast a spell across the game like Yao Ming, before or since.

I needed to go to class; I needed to go to practice; I needed to have a life away from basketball.

I feel that Dennis Rodman has become a problem. He will be more of a problem than an asset. Of course, he can prove me wrong.

I think I did very well against everyone who tried to defend me.

OK, I'll put it like this: I doubt if we will see another All-American basketball athlete who is a Rhodes Scholar.