quotations about 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
The only important statistic is the final score.
BILL RUSSELL
attributed, Boston Celtics IQ: The Ultimate Test of True Fandom
The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy.
JERRY TARKANIAN
attributed, Winning Words
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
Don't complicate winning.
BOB KNIGHT
"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox
Coaching is easy. Winning is the hard part.
ELGIN BAYLOR
The Sporting News, 1977
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
Any American boy can be a basketball star if he grows up, up, up.
BILL VAUGHN
attributed, 20,000 Quips & Quotes
Don't let winning make you soft. Don't let losing make you quit.
LARRY BIRD
attributed, 1001 Motivational Messages and Quotations for Athletes and Coaches
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"
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
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
You can't win without the ball.
RED AUERBACH
ESPN, Jun. 2005
At any point during practice, call a timeout. Huddle the players and give them 4 or 5 specific instructions. Then send them back on the court. Wait 15 seconds and then ask them to write down the 4 or 5 things you asked them to do. It is scary how little they will recall.
BOB KNIGHT
"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox
Teams share the burden and divide the grief.
DOUG SMITH
attributed, Teamwork and Teamplay: Games and Activities for Building and Training Teams
Basketball is a beautiful game when the five players on the court play with one heartbeat. Passing, screening, cutting, and movement away from the ball: The game can be almost balletic in its grace and simplicity.
DEAN SMITH
The Carolina Way: Leadership Lessons from a Life in Coaching
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
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
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