BASKETBALL QUOTES III

quotations about basketball

Basketball is like most other things: if your basics are off, nothing else is really going to help you improve.

GREG DUTCHER

Killing Calvinism


Any American boy can be a basketball star if he grows up, up, up.

BILL VAUGHN

attributed, 20,000 Quips & Quotes


Coaching is easy. Winning is the hard part.

ELGIN BAYLOR

The Sporting News, 1977


As I got better and better, there were a lot of double teams, and I drew a lot of defenders, so I had to learn how to pass the ball, and get it off to my teammates, because the more people that came to defend me, that means there are more openings for other players.

YAO MING

interview, Nov. 14, 2003


The only important statistic is the final score.

BILL RUSSELL

attributed, Boston Celtics IQ: The Ultimate Test of True Fandom


The single most important aspect of coaching is running effective practices.

BOB KNIGHT

"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox


My thoughts were always that that night was the most important game in the world. Everybody in the world was watching that one game. And I had to be the best player on the court and win that game that night. That was my mentality, and it stuck with me all the way through my career.

LARRY BIRD

interview, ESPN, December 6, 2016

Tags: Larry Bird


Being hip-hoppers, we were obliged to be obsessed with basketball.

NIKESH SHUKLA

Coconut Unlimited


Basketball is a sport that involves the subtle interweaving of players at full speed to the point where they are thinking and moving as one.

PHIL JACKSON

Sacred Hoops


I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.

KOBE BRYANT

attributed, Team Work: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball


The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.

BILL RUSSELL

attributed, Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance


I just love the game of basketball so much. The game! I don't need the 18,000 people screaming and all the peripheral things. To me, the most enjoyable part is the practice and preparation.

BOB KNIGHT

attributed, Coach Yourself: A Motivational Guide for Coaches and Leaders


The real secret behind top athlete's genius, then, may be as esoteric and obvious and dull and profound as silence itself. The real, many-veiled answer to the question of just what goes through a great player's mind as he stands at the center of hostile crowd-noise and lines up at the free-throw that will decide the game might well be: nothing at all.

DAVID FOSTER WALLACE

"How Tracy Austin broke my heart"


But that's the thing about basketball: you don't play games on paper.

BILL SIMMONS

The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy


Teams share the burden and divide the grief.

DOUG SMITH

attributed, Teamwork and Teamplay: Games and Activities for Building and Training Teams


We talk to these players a lot about a 4-count or a beat that you're playing this game at. It's just a 4-4 beat. And if you've got that ball in your hands longer than two seconds, you're holding up your team.

PHIL JACKSON

attributed, Team Work: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball


On a good team there are no superstars. There are great players who show they are great players by being able to play with others as a team.

RED HOLZMAN

attributed, Team Work: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball


Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up.

RED AUERBACH

attributed, It's How You Play the Game


You can't win without the ball.

RED AUERBACH

ESPN, Jun. 2005


Basketball allowed me to revere my father without him knowing what I was up to. I took up basketball as a form of homage and mimicry.

PAT CONROY

My Losing Season: A Memoir