Best 195 quotes in «nba quotes» category

Ninety percent of the coaches in the NBA are guards, and there arent very many big men people coaching, I happen to be one of them and when I coached, everybody on my team, including the guards, had a hook shot, so that it was their bail out shot.

No one is bigger than the team. If you can't do things our way, you're not getting time here and we don't care who you are

Not sure if that will benefit me or hurt me, but I know I have the skills and am ready to play in the NBA regardless of my ethnicity.

One thing I've learned about the NBA is that you can have one good year, but you've always got to be progressing and working and making yourself better.

(Oklahoma Thunder center Kendrick) Perkins doesn't like other NBA players.

Once you are labeled 'the best' you want to stay up there, and you can't do it by loafing around.

People ask me if I could fly, I said, 'yeah....' for a little while.

People always talk about going on offensive runs. But you can go on defensive runs too

Passing is your best weapon against man to man. Dribble penetration is your best weapon against zone.

People think that I'm some tough renegade, black-hearted being, evil, but that ain't me.

People say that, but I think the NBA was bigger than Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

Players have to buy into your system and be willing to accept the role, you, as the coach, have assigned to them

Perfection is impossibility but striving for perfection is not. Do the best you can. That is what counts.

'Play the right way' means play unselfishly, respect each other's achievements, play hard, fulfill your role

Promise to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit trouble to press on you.

Positioning, anticipation and technique create quickness. Therefore, you can always get quicker

Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings everyday.

Shot fakes and ball fakes work. No one uses more than Wisconsin. It's amazing how many people don't use them

Push yourself to keep improving or you'll stay as close to the bottom as you are to the top

Shaq is not the man. He's the man because the NBA wants him to be the man, but before you can be the man, you've got to be the man.

So many people doubted me. They motivated me every single day, to be, who I am.

Stop by stop by stop. Play aggressively. Sprint back on 'D' and pay attention to how we're supposed to guard as a team

Sport is the only profession I know of that when you retire you have to go to work.

Sometimes the best recruits are the ones you don't get.

The fundamentals of the game are the same wherever you go: pass, dribble, shoot, defend, rebound, screen, play hard and together

The best teams play for each other, not with each other

The difference between a good defensive team and a bad defensive team is as little as three possessions

Teamwork is not a preference, it is a requirement.

The big and the fast beat the small and the fast. If you check out the NBA today, they're big and fast.

The good part about being famous is being able to help people. The hard part is every day you have to be in a good mood, because that is what people expect. You learn to get good at it.

The highest level of achievement is attained by the teams with the best conditioned players

The greatest sin a coach can commit is to allow kids to slide by. This goes for the classroom as well as the court

The greatness of Michael Jordan is his competitive drive. The weakness of Michael Jordan is his competitive drive

The greatest compliment to any player is he is a great teammate. We can't all be great players, but we can all be great teammates

The NBAs a Fortune 500 company. Thats how you look at it. And all the other Fortune 500 companies out there in the world, you dont see their CEOs and COOs going to work with white tees and baggy clothes and stuff like that. So I have to take that same approach.

The most underrated player in NBA history is Dominique Wilkins. Right behind him is Gary Payton. He never has gotten the respect he deserves. If he doesn't spend the rest of his days in Seattle, I hope he goes someplace where he has a chance to win a title.

The NBA has a voice that's why they have a lockout. The NFL has a voice that's why they had a lockout. Boxing is the only sport that's individually represented the individual people - Managers, Promoters and Boxers.

The NBA is tough. Everybody plays hard and every game is vital.

The NBA needs more of that 'it's-about-us-against-them' mentality.

[The NBA] used to be a small band of basketball groupies. Now there are a lot more corporate-type people working in the league.

The NBA and NHL have different agendas: The NBA is much more protective of its players and its brand; the NHL has less to lose, and it's in their best interest to generate buzz any way they can.

There are many times when you are better off practicing than playing; but most people just don't understand that

The reality is that the NBA was in worse shape in the '70s and early '80s. People have convenient memories.

The thing that happened in Washington -- it happened. All you can do is just grow from it. That took a toll on me. That was probably -- I think if I could've bounced mentally out of that situation faster than I did, I would probably still be in the NBA. But since I couldn't understand why they were trying to treat me like that, I basically gave up. I just didn't want to be a part of it anymore.

The swimming community is really small, but why can't it be as big as the NBA or the NFL?

There is a lot of basketball beyond our control, but a player should never let anyone try harder than he does

There's a disposition great defenders have - a genuine pride that scores are a problem, people that score on me is a problem

There's never been a better time to be an NBA owner

The thing with NBA teams, a lot of times they just want to get you back on the floor to play, so as a player you've got to be very, very smart.

Truthfully, this is how I approach my workout: I want to be the best athlete I can possibly be. If I can out-perform some of the better athletes then I'm happy. When I look at the NFL or the NBA, these guys look how I want to look - it's useable, functional muscle.