Top 100 Great Basketball Quotes
#1. My mom always tells me that ... Nobody is going to remember you for the great basketball player you are but they will remember you for the character you have off the court and how many lives you're changed.
Isaiah Austin
#2. They played exquisite basketball in this series and in particular these last three games. They are the better team. There is no other way to say it. They played great basketball, and we couldn't respond to it.
Erik Spoelstra
#3. I worked every day - Christmas Eve, birthdays - trying to become a great basketball player. Everywhere I went, I had a basketball.
Harvey Mason Jr.
#4. The Leftovers is a great basketball book that shines a light on what true competitors can overcome with a solid work ethic.
Tony Romo
#5. It's going to be crazy. All eight teams here are good teams. Hopefully the atmosphere will be great because it's going to be great basketball.
Chris Kraus
#6. I have to tell you, I'm proudest of my life off the court. There will always be great basketball players who bounce that little round ball, but my proudest moments are affecting people's lives, effecting change, being a role model in the community.
Magic Johnson
#7. I am a basketball junkie, and as a product of the great basketball state of Kansas, I have watched many a ball game between the University of Kansas Jayhawks and the Tar Heels.
Sheri L. Dew
#8. Great players never look in the mirror and think I'm a great basketball player. You ask yourself, Am I the best player I can be?
Michael Jordan
#9. Michael Jordan didn't become a great basketball player because he wanted to do product endorsements. Van Gogh didn't become a great painter because he dreamed that one day his paintings would sell for $50 million.
Jack D. Schwager
#10. There has never been a great 'silent' defense
Del Harris
#11. I need to work with great directors and actors, people who are better than me, so that I am challenged. It is like playing sports - surfing, basketball, it doesn't matter what it is, if you play with people who are better than you, then you get better too. It is the same thing with acting.
Paul Walker
#12. I think I've gotten more attention after the Olympics than any other U.S. athlete, and it's really great that people are recognizing who I am and what I do. You look at Shaq and you see a basketball player. You look at Tiger Woods and you see a golfer. But people are responding to who I am.
Johnny Weir
#13. Each moment of my life I was dreaming of how great I could be, and continued working hard. Each time I closed my eyes I could see me shining bright like a sun.
Kobe Bryant
#14. I didn't so much think I needed to address the shooting need. What we needed was somebody who could come in and play the two-three (shooting guard-small forward) spot. If he could've been a pure shooter, great. But if not, we still needed somebody to give us minutes there. I like the guys we've got.
Joe Dumars
#15. Working hard is one thing, but working hard with purpose is what separates the good from the great
Thad Matta
#16. We had more great times than bad times together, but they've moved on, I've moved on. I have a new team now and I have a new focus.
Shaquille O'Neal
#17. When people ask me what I miss most about the game, it's being in the locker room and getting to know the guys. Back in those days, we had roommates. We had to talk basketball and that was a great way to understand the game itself and form those lasting relationships.
Earl Monroe
#18. The great thing about basketball is it's a live ball. If someone's in your way, push them out of the way, go around them or over them, whatever it takes.
Dolph Schayes
#19. You have a choice to make when you're not playing. Either you're invested and a great teammate, or your not
Brad Stevens
#20. I criticize the NFL in many ways, but I think it's made great strides. I think college basketball, great strides. College football means so much to alumni, doesn't it? It sort of represents the school. It's when you go back; it's at the beginning of the school year.
Frank Deford
#21. I'm playing against great players, playing against the best in the world. The competition-that's what I've always wanted.
Kobe Bryant
#23. I had some shots that I felt like I should've made; I just didn't make them. I'm not going to shoot the ball great every night.
Kobe Bryant
#24. Bill Russell is one of the great names in basketball, an all-American ... and the only athlete to ever win an NCAA Championship, an Olympic Gold Medal, and a professional championship all in the same year-1956 ... But Bill Russell had this one problem: He threw up before every game.
John Eliot
#25. My first motion capture game was with Sony - 'NBA: The Life.' It was very ahead of its time. Brandon Akiaten, he was the writer and director. He had a real vision of what this game was meant to be; it was a basketball game where I was the Jerry Maguire sports agent type guy. And it was great!
Nolan North
#26. There's so much that I want to do. I feel like I'm the Magic Johnson of rap. You know, Magic was great on the basketball court, but he's bigger as a businessman.
Snoop Dogg
#27. Don't let talent get in way of team performance. Great players do what's outstanding for team, not what makes them stand out
Jerry West
#28. That's what I do now: I lead and I teach. If we win basketball games from doing that, then that's great, but I lead and teach. Those are the two things I concentrate on.
Mike Krzyzewski
#29. To do the right thing at the right season is a great art.
Helio Gracie
#30. 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
Jay Bilas
#31. Working with all of these kids is great. It doesn't get any better than this, to come down and inspire kids who want to play the game of basketball and put smiles on their faces.
LeBron James
#32. Discipline is the greatest form of love you can show someone. Great players crave discipline
Tom Izzo
#33. A great way to test the conditioning of your team is the two-mile run.
Bobby Knight
#34. I played in Joe Louis in a playoff game. I played there when the roof caved in for half a season. The facility is great for basketball because it goes straight up, so you feel like the fans are on top of you.
Bill Laimbeer
#35. He's very knowledgeable. That's the one advantage that I see in Kobe Bryant's career compared to Michael Jordan. Ten years into Kobe Bryant's career, we're seeing a very polished 27-year-old player who's probably got another seven or eight great years ahead of him.
Scottie Pippen
#36. The Lakers fans have been great, even folks in the supermarket are welcoming me back!
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
#37. Basketball is a game that gives you every chance to be great, and puts every pressure on you to prove that you haven't got what it takes. It never takes away the chance, and it never eases up on the pressure.
Bob Sundvold
#38. You build your program from the ideas of great coaches.
Don Meyer
#39. Standing on the court and holding up that trophy - it's so great you want to keep doing it over and over again.
Tim Duncan
#40. It's a different role for me, playing with the great Dwyane Wade.
Shaquille O'Neal
#41. I would never predict a run like that. Last season, that's beyond reality. I think we can go 25-14. I think we can play 10 games over .500, even more than (that) over .500, and that would be a great run. Any time you go 30-15 or something like that, that's pretty incredible basketball.
George Karl
#42. I understand basketball is not my entire life. It's only a part of my life. And there are a lot of other things that interest me a great deal ... other goals to seek, and this is how I have balance in life.
Yao Ming
#43. Everyone wants to do what the great ones do; but very few are willing to do what they did to become great
Jon Gordon
#44. I play a lot of basketball and racquetball, as they're both great for your feet and hand eye coordination. Other drills can help as well, such as simply catching a football in distant positions from different heights and velocities.
Antonio Cromartie
#45. On good teams coaches hold players accountable, on great teams players hold players accountable
Joe Dumars
#46. Footwork is one of the primary prerequisites to becoming a great player
Mike Krzyzewski
#47. I would never tell anybody to give up hockey - the great sports we have here - basketball, lacrosse - rugby coming into its own - we've got so many great team sports, and I say hold on to them.
George Vecsey
#48. Everyone is gonna have a bad day, everyone is gonna have a bad game. The questions are: How do you recover? What builds your character? I decided one day early on in high school that I wanted to be great at basketball, not just a good basketball player.
Gilbert Arenas
#49. 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 don't have the ball in them - is a great little old leveler.
Tom Heinsohn
#51. I had all the normal interests - I played basketball and I headed the school paper. But I also developed very early a great love for music and literature and the theater.
Carlisle Floyd
#52. Yeah, handsome, great big guy, seven feet tall! Name is Rick Miller - Portland, Oregon. And he started a business. Of course you know it was in basketball. But it wasn't in basketball! I mean, I figured he had to be in sport, but he wasn't in sport.
Mitt Romney
#53. I think we all have great opportunities individually but collectively our unit is so much bigger. Collectively our unit is something I've never seen on television. I don't look at our show as a basketball show. I look at our show as a sports and entertainment show.
Kenny Smith
#54. Competing in both track and field and basketball for the Bruins I have a lot of great memories to choose from. But my all-time favorite moment in collegiate sports has to be in 1982 when we won UCLA's first NCAA title in track.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
#55. Good players can take coaching; great players can take coaching and learn.
John Wooden
#56. I will have no problem coming to practice on time. The locker room is great, but we have to prove ourselves on the court.
LeBron James
#57. But the point of using the number was to show that sex was a great part of my life as basketball was a great part of my life. That's the reason why I was single.
Wilt Chamberlain
#58. Basketball is great; no one in Europe seems to believe just how close the spectators can sit to the players.
Michael Douglas
#60. My mom is one of 14 children. She's a great lady. She's a Taurus. Has been a profound influence in my life, still is to this day. Born in meager surroundings in rural South Carolina.
Julius Erving
#61. In all the research you do as a coach, studying other coaches and championship-type situations, you find that all those teams combined talent with great defense. You've got to stop other teams to win.
Pat Riley
#62. Go from good to great because good is the enemy of great.
Don Meyer
#63. I love fashion as much as I love basketball! It is a great joy for me to express myself through designing my own collection.
Hakeem Olajuwon
#64. I think I have the skills. I'm a great judge of talent. I just know basketball.
Tim Hardaway
#65. True basketball coaches are great teachers and you do not humiliate, you do not physically go after, you do not push or shove, you do not berate, if you are a true coach. If you humiliate or curse them, that won't do it. Coaches like that are not coaches.
Morgan Wootten
#66. In an individual sport, yes, you have to win titles. Baseball's different. But basketball, hockey? One person can control the tempo of a game, can completely alter the momentum of a series. There's a lot of great individual talent.
Kobe Bryant
#67. The great thing was my teammates really set some great screens to get me open. I just went out there and played basketball.
Holly Johnson
#68. For once in my career, I won't have to hold anybody's hand and they won't have to hold mine. I'm surrounded by veterans. We had a great battle last Thursday at HealthPoint. It was something I never had before - three, four, really great players all in one pickup game.
Shaquille O'Neal
#69. I asked them if it wasn't too much trouble, if I wasn't being too pushy, if they could execute what we were trying to do. And if it didn't make them too angry, if they also wanted to play some defense on the other end, that would be great.
Gregg Popovich
#70. Basketball Rule #6
A great team
has a good scorer
with a teammate
who's on point
and ready
to assist.
Kwame Alexander
#71. I have an incredible amount of basketball knowledge, and I think a lot of that is derived from having a Hall of Fame college basketball coach who was very knowledgeable of the game and I had a great high school coach who was also very knowledgeable.
Alonzo Mourning
#72. We cannot do great deeds unless we're willing to do the small things that make up the sum of greatness.
Theodore Roosevelt
#73. People will think there are no other great ballplayers. Look at Garnett. Look at Duncan, Shaq, Kobe. Look at the players with Sacramento. The have a really good basketball team.
Oscar Robertson
#74. I am very proud to be featured, especially when you consider the outstanding champions who have had this honor. It is great company to be in.
Julius Erving
#75. We sure didn't play great, but we played hard. And I can live with that.
Don Meyer
#76. A lot of guys go through their whole careers and don't win a championship, but are still great coaches.
Chuck Daly
#77. If you go around the league, anybody with the last name 'vich' is a great shooter. Radmanovic, Vujacic ... all those 'iches.
Shaquille O'Neal
#78. 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.
Bill Goldberg
#79. I gave everything I had to basketball. The passion is still there, but the desire to play is not. It was a great ride.
Allen Iverson
#80. I am very excited to be the head women's basketball coach at Beloit College, ... This is a great opportunity for me. I am looking forward to putting my stamp on the program. I am confident that I can and will be successful here.
Don Adams
#81. There's a disposition great defenders have - a genuine pride that scores are a problem, people that score on me is a problem
Brett Brown
#82. You learn from everybody. You learn from the players. You learn from great coaches. You learn from great teams
Tom Thibodeau
#83. It's going to be great. A lot of the players are coming. I wasn't here when they put (Jackson) up in the rafters. But to have him here as my number goes up, it brings back a lot of great memories.
Scottie Pippen
#84. Maybe my life isn't great. We don't have all the answers. Look at it from my side.
Dennis Rodman
#85. Flip's a player's coach, and I do know one thing, he motivates better than anybody I know. His system is very oriented around the point guard. He and Steph (Marbury) had a great relationship when Steph was in Minnesota.
Kevin Garnett
#86. In 2001 we didn't have all the talent in the world, we just had me on offense and just a bunch of tough ass dudes, and a great coach in Larry Brown.
Allen Iverson
#87. If you go out with a girl and they say she has a great personality, she's ugly. If they tell you a guy works hard, he can't play a lick. Same thing.
Charles Barkley
#88. Confidence shared is better than confidence only in yourself.
Mike Krzyzewski
#89. To see a player dunk in women's college basketball is just amazing. It's great to see that the game has reached that level now.
Holly Johnson
#90. A good coach improves your game. A great coach improves your life.
Michael Josephson
#91. Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We.
Phil Jackson
#92. We have a great chance to be an NCAA basketball tournament team if we take care of business night in and night out in our league. Records are deceiving. You can schedule your way into a 10-1 or 11-0 record. I have learned that you're not going to trick the NCAA tournament selection committee.
Mark Gottfried
#93. I really cherish everything that basketball brings; and I think, for me, it's been a great ride and I'm not done yet.
Stephen Curry
#94. The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy.
Jerry Tarkanian
#95. I think no one has written a history of the great coaches who were around 30 to 40 years ago who taught the fundamentals.
Oscar Robertson
#96. The East is going to be pretty easy for me. The Great Chest of the West becomes the Great Beast of the East.
Shaquille O'Neal
#97. My acting is a bit like basketball. Most females in my films come off very well. I give great assist. And if I'm lucky, I even score.
Burt Reynolds
#98. It seemed like we were losing every night for a different reason. Now we're winning a different way every time. It's a great feeling.
Blake Griffin
#99. We're going to miss Damon. He was a great shooter ... He got what he wanted, but he gave up a lot. No more night life, no more warm weather and no more a lot of media attention ... I guess this was his first shot at getting something big. I guess he had to take it.
Shaquille O'Neal
#100. You need to work as hard to be a great teammate as you do to be a great player
Jon Gordon
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