Best 2712 quotes in «basketball quotes» category

Know what you want to emphasize, then do it daily.

Kobe Bryant is my favorite basketball player. He takes risks. He goes for the shot. He isn't cautious with whatever he does.

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

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...

Larry Bird is like a basketball god to me for what he's done for my career.

Leadership is an ever-evolving position.

Leadership is getting players to believe in you. If you tell a teammate you're ready to play as tough as you're able to, you'd better go out there and do it. Players will see right through a phony. And they can tell when you're not giving it all you've got.

Leadership is helping yourself and other people achieve goals. The ability to direct your life to get the results you want is leadership.

Leaders must learn to discipline their disappointments. It's not what happens to us, it is what we choose to do about what happens that makes the difference in how our lives turn out.

Learning what not to do is sometimes more important than learning what to do.

Leadership starts at the top.

Legends are not born - they are created.

Left hand, right hand, it doesn't matter. I'm amphibious.

Let me be clear: Any new approach must ensure the integrity of the game. One of my most important responsibilities as commissioner of the NBA is to protect the integrity of professional basketball and preserve public confidence in the league and our sport. I oppose any course of action that would compromise these objectives. But I believe that sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated

Leaders will not experience long-term success unless a lot of people want them to.

Life is about growth. People are not perfect when they're 21 years old.

Like a versatile baller, George Dohrmann swings seamlessly from position to position: investigative journalist, social critic, gifted storyteller. The result is a gem of a book that addresses THE question central to contemporary basketball: how does such an unseemly culture spring from such an essentially beautiful game? You'll come away rooting harder than ever for the kids and harder than ever against the basketball profiteers.

Life is tough and it's tough whether you're famous or not famous. And in the end it's probably better to be famous because the perks are better. You get better seats at the basketball game, and you get better tables and reservations places. If I call a doctor on Saturday morning I can get him. There's a lot of things, indulgences that you don't get, if you're not famous. Now I'm not saying it's fair. But I can't say that I don't enjoy it.

Like life, basketball is messy and unpredictable. It has its way with you, no matter how hard you try to control it. The trick is to experience each moment with a clear mind and open heart. When you do that, the game - and life - will take care of itself.

Live in the moment that you are in.

Live every day as if it were Saturday night.

Let me go back to a comfortable analogy for me - sports... basketball. I use it because you're naive if you don't see the national full-court press picking away right now: A good point guard drives through a full court press, protecting the ball, keeping her eye on the basket... and she knows exactly when to pass the ball so that the team can WIN.

Long term success is a direct result of what you achieve everyday. Goals provide your daily routine

Look for players with character and ability. But remember, character comes first.

Losing builds character. You know who said that? A loser! Guy who got his ass stomped every day, basketball, football, baseball, lose, lose, lose and lose. All right, I'm talking about me.

Losing is only temporary and not encompassing. You must simply study it, learn from it, and try hard not to lose the same way again. Then you must have the self-control to forget about it.

Losing a basketball game hurts but when you see what you've been through, you look on it and say well if this is the worst thing that can happen to me, then I'm okay.

Love is the force that ignites the spirit and binds teams together.

Lotta people don't know where Utah is but it in Salt Lake.

Loyalty is a cohesive force that forges individuals into a team.

Loyalty is not unilateral. You have to give it to receive it.

Magic Johnson, former basketball player, may run for mayor of L.A. in the next election. Remember the good 'ol days when only qualified people ran for office like actors and professional wrestlers.

Magic Johnson is the best player who plays on the ground, and Michael Jordan is the best player who plays in the air.

Magic is who I am on the basketball court. Earvin is who I am.

Look, I think you should promote the game, but I think you should make it what it ought to be. Not some kind of a side-show.

Magic is crazy. He is that crazy wild guy on the basketball court that is very intense and very serious. He is the guy who lives and eats and breathes basketball.

Make it a point to be around those with positive energy - people who want what's best for you, people who understand your goals and priorities.

Make friendship a fine art.

Make every day your masterpiece.

Man, meeting Michael Jordan for me was like.. black Jesus walking towards me. It was overwhelming to me to finally meet the guy I've looked up to my whole life.

Mama wanted me to be a preacher. I told her coachin' and preachin' were a lot alike.

Man, I think the sky is the limit for this team.

Many Americans follow pro basketball from November through June, for reasons that I found unexplainable, other than the fact that they were overly fascinated with soaring armpits.

Maybe it’s my own fault. Maybe I led you to believe it was easy when it wasn’t. Maybe I made you think my highlights started at the free throw line, and not in the gym. Maybe I made you think that every shot I took was a game winner. That my game was built on flash, and not fire. Maybe it’s my fault that you didn’t see that failure gave me strength; that my pain was my motivation. Maybe I led you to believe that basketball was a God given gift, and not something I worked for every single day of my life. Maybe I destroyed the game. Or maybe you’re just making excuses.

Many people think sports are totally physical, that you don't have to think, everything is done for you and you're catered to, I found that to be so far removed from the truth that it's almost a joke. The ones who become stars are the ones who have a head on their shoulders and know how to use it.

March is a month without mercy for rabid basketball fans. There is no such thing as a 'gentleman gambler' when the Big Dance rolls around. All sheep will be fleeced, all fools will be punished severely... There are no Rules when the deal goes down in the final weeks of March. Even your good friends will turn into monsters.

Meadowlark was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I've ever seen.

Meditation practice is like piano scales, basketball drills, ballroom dance class. Practice requires discipline; it can be tedious; it is necessary. After you have practiced enough, you become more skilled at the art form itself. You do not practice to become a great scale player or drill champion. You practice to become a musician or athlete. Likewise, one does not practice meditation to become a great meditator. We meditate to wake up and live, to become skilled at the art of living.

Mental toughness is to physical as four is to one.

Make the practices like games and the games like practices.