Best 2712 quotes in «basketball quotes» category

Where the concrete kept his pain at bay, the page gave his pain a place to go.

Who could better motivate Bill Russell than Bill Russell?

1. Be on time. 2. Never criticize a teammate. 3. Never use profanity.

A basketball diameter is 10 inches and a rim is 18 inches so I made a 14-inch rim I put in to practice on. Few people could do that because it was so frustrating that it drove everyone but me nuts. That led to me shooting very high, which basic physics tells you is the best angle - the hole is bigger from above than from the side.

Winning squads emphasize fundamentals-pick and rolls,teamwork,and defense. They play with passion and they play hard. They move the ball, and when their players don't have it, they move well without the ball. They play with sagacity by exploiting mismatches. They gauge their opponents weaknesses and then attack them relentlessly.

A basketball team is like the five fingers on your hand. If you can get them all together, you have a fist. That's how I want you to play.

A big market is something that doesn't really concern me too much. It's cool to think about, it's good for off-the-court deals. But I'm more of a basketball player. That's what I want to be known as. And this is the best place for me to play basketball. I'm glad I'm here.

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

You know how when you step on court your coach is like "go go go!"? And all throughout you just keep telling yourself to hit harder and harder and keep at it? You know how much you treasure those five-minute timeouts? You know how good you feel at the end of a session? You know how you're glad you're tired? No pills, no shots, just plain energy. I want to work like that. Whether I have to write ten thousand words or send five hundred emails, brainstorm for hours at a time, I want to have that energy. To keep fighting. To know it's all worth it. Oh, yeah. That's my perfect day.

About the time you think you are getting to know the moves in this game, someone comes along and does everything but undress you on the basketball floor. Standing there under the basket with your hands cupped - and finding that you dont have the ball in them - is a great little old leveler.

Accept a loss as a learning experience, and never point fingers at your teammates

Accountability is essential to personal growth, as well as team growth. How can you improve if you're never wrong? If you don't admit a mistake and take responsibility for it, you're bound to make the same one again.

A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.

Actually, Magic and the Lakers beat Philadelphia for Magic's first NBA Championship.

A Coach must never forget that he is a leader and not merely a person with authority.

Adam [Sandler] is a good basketball player, so he is a natural athlete, he worked with Sean Salisbury to make his footwork and delivery smooth, and he did a great job.

After Michael Jordan had scored a play-off record 69 points - I'll always remember this as the night Michael and I combined to score 70 points.

After you have a big game, you can't just say, 'That's it, I've arrived,' by any means. I'm always pushing it to be better. You always want to be better than you are, no matter what. I think that's important.

A good coach improves your game. A great coach improves your life.

A great way to test the conditioning of your team is the two-mile run.

A guy who gives you less than what he has to give is, one, telling you what he thinks of you, and two, telling you what he thinks of himself.

A hook shot kisses the rim and hangs there, helplessly, but doesn't drop and for once our gangly starting center boxes out his man and times his jump perfectly, gathering the orange leather/from the air like a cherished possession.

A common mistake among those who work in sport is spending a disproportional amount of time on "x's and o's" as compared to time spent learning about people.

Administrators are like pigs; don't wrestle with a pig because you both get dirty and the pig likes it.

Admit to and make yourself accountable for mistakes. How can you improve if you're never wrong?

Adrian Dantley is a guy that I looked at . . . on how to maneuver my body around.

Advising the average person to not concern herself with calories but instead to pay attention to hunger triggers and eating foods rick in nutrients--well, it's a wonderful concept. I also love the thought of unicorns jumping over cotton candy rainbows. I'm even considering taking up basketball to see if it makes me taller. Come on already! Suggesting that someone who struggles with his weight does not need to think about calories is as risky as suggesting you not look at price tags the next time you're in the market for a car.

After an earthquake in Los Angeles - The earth in LA moved more in one hour than Benoit Benjamin did all last season with the Clippers.

After I played him for the first time, I said 'Let's see. He's four or five inches taller. He's 40 or 50 pounds heavier. His vertical leap is at least as good as mine. He can get up and down the floor as well as I can. And he's smart. The real problem with all this is I have to show up.

After Michael Jordan recently criticized President Obama's golf game, Obama responded by saying that Jordan should spend more time thinking about his basketball team, the Charlotte Hornets. Then Jordan said, 'Do you really want to talk about whose team got crushed this week?'

After spending more than 17 years playing for the NBA, in the summertime, I always came back to community service and different basketball clinics.

A good leader must be fair.

. . . a jostling scrum of office buildings so mediocre that the only way you ever remember them is by the frustration they induce - like a basketball team standing shoulder to shoulder between you and the Mona Lisa.

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.

A leader's job is to develop committed followers. Bad leaders destroy their followers' sense of commitment.

Alexander Hamilton realized that warfare was part and parcel of human nature, and it's something we had to prepare for.

A lion never roars after a kill.

All athletic accomplishments begin with volition; that is, the desire and willpower necessary to succeed. Volition affects more than thoughts and feelings - it affects physical performance.

All kids need is a little help, a little hope and somebody who believes in them.

A key basketball skill is imagery. The best players "see" situations before they happen so they can be prepared

A leader's responsibility to his team is paramount. It overshadows even his own personal feelings at any given time.

A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.

Allah says in the Qur'an not to despise one another. So the criterion in Islam is not color or social status. It's who is most righteous. If I go to a mosque - and I'm a basketball player with money and prestige - if I go to a mosque and see an imam, I feel inferior. He's better than me. It's about knowledge.

All of the Chinese people, the Asian people say, "Oh Yao Ming, you are all the Chinese, all of Asia's hopes." That's a lot of pressure. I'm just a basketball player.

All I know is, as long as I led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, my grades would be fine.

All love affairs end. Eventually the girl is gonna put curlers in her hair.

All of us learn to write in the second grade. Most of us go on to greater things.

All the courage and competitiveness of Jackie Robinson affects me to this day. If I patterned my life after anyone it was him, not because he was the first black baseball player in the majors but because he was a hero.

All really successful coaches have a system.

All of the sudden, my right leg caved in. I crumpled to the floor in pain. The doctor weren't sure I'd ever be able to play again...and even if I did recover physically, the psychological scars of so traumatic an injury might never heal.