Top Basketball Quotes

365 Basketball Quotes

  1. “All the successful teams I’ve ever seen have three characteristics: They play unselfish, they play together, and they play hard.“ Larry Brown
  2. “Winning teams at the NBA level, the college level, and the high school level all play team basketball. Championship teams have five players on the same page at all times.“ Hubie Brown
  3. “You have a choice to make when you’re not playing. Either you’re invested and a great teammate, or your not” Brad Stevens
  4. “Everyone is born with a certain potential. You may never achieve your full potential, but how close you come depends on how much you want to pay the price.“ Red Auerbach
  5. “Everything negative — pressure, challenges — are all an opportunity for me to rise.“ Kobe Bryant
  6. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.“ Michael Jordan
  7. “I don’t know if I practiced more than anybody, but I sure practiced enough. I still wonder if somebody – somewhere – was practicing more than me.” Larry Bird (Larry Bird Quotes)
  8. “Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates.“ Magic Johnson
  9. “I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.“ Michael Jordan
  10. “I’ve got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.” Larry Bird “The Hick from French Lick” (Larry Bird Quotes)
  11. “Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.” Bill Russell (Top 6 Bill Russell Quotes)
  12. “The key is not the ‘will to win’… everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” Bob Knight (Bob Knight Quotes)
  13. “Preparation will be my separation.” Kevin Eastman
  14. “If you are afraid of failure you don’t deserve to be successful!“ Charles Barkley “The Round Mound of Rebound”
  15. “I’m still waiting for perfection. In the meantime, I’ll settle for persistence.” Bo Ryan
  16. “Shooting percentage is just as much about decision making as it is about technique” Jeff Van Gundy Post: How to Be a Great Basketball Shooter
  17. “Young men need more models, not critics.” John Wooden (John Wooden Quotes)
  18. “Teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one.” Mike Krzyzewski
  19. “If all I’m remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I’ve done a bad job with the rest of my life.” Isiah Thomas
  20. “What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player” John Wooden (John Wooden Quotes)
  21. “Winners are not people who do not fail, but people who never quit.“ Anonymous
  22. “When a gifted team dedicates itself to unselfish trust and combines instinct with boldness and effort–it is ready to climb.“ Pat Riley
  23. “We believe in people executing their role and caring about the team more than anything individually.” Gregg Popovich
  24. “A key basketball skill is imagery. The best players “see” situations before they happen so they can be prepared.” Dr. Jack Ramsay
  25. “The one thing I learned about myself going back and watching tapes of all the losses that we’ve had is that I’m physically capable of doing this and dominating the game, but the mental part was not there. I don’t know if it comes with age, but I had to learn to be mentally tough.” Lisa Leslie
  26. “Be led by your dreams not by your problems.” Roy Williams
  27. “You don’t play against opponents, you play against the game of basketball.” Bobby Knight (Bob Knight Quotes)
  28. “Sometimes a player’s greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the Slide1team.” Scottie Pippen
  29. “If you’re not talking, you’re not playing defense.” Doc Rivers
  30. “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” Ann Landers
  31. “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.“ Tim “The Big Fundamental” Duncan
  32. “My goal is to win the next game one possession at a time. That’s it. I don’t have any other goals.” Brad Stevens
  33. “I have a plan of action, but the game is a game of adjustments.” Mike Krzyzewski
  34. “There is a direct correlation between the number of ball reversals and defensive breakdowns.” Kevin Eastman
  35. “If it turns out that my best wasn’t good enough, at least I wont look back and say that I was afraid to try.” Michael Jordan
  36. “Some say you have to use your five best players, but I found out you win with the five that fit together best as a team.” Red Auerbach
  37. “Bottom line, you’re either a risk taker, or your not, and if you don’t take risks, you’ll never win big.” Geno Auriemma “
  38. If you’re going to have to beg them to play, it’s not going to work.” Chuck Daly
  39. “I think, team first. It allows me to succeed, it allows my team to succeed.“ Lebron James
  40. “Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise.” Michael Jordan
  41. “When I walked into the gym, I fell in love with the game. I didn’t fall in love with it just because it was me playing. I fell in love with it because I’ve got guys like this – like these guys every single day that push me to be the best that I can be.” Kevin Durant
  42. “I can’t relate to lazy people. We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.” Kobe Bryant
  43. “There is a lot of pressure put on me, but I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself. I feel if I play my game, it will take care of itself.” Lebron James
  44. “In developing teams, I don’t believe in rules. I believe in standards. Rules don’t promote teamwork, standards do” Mike Krzyzewski
  45. “Admit to and make yourself accountable for mistakes. How can you improve if you’re never wrong?” Pat Summitt
  46. “Bad shooters are always open” Pete Carril
  47. “Not only is there more to life than basketball, there’s a lot more to basketball than basketball.” Phil Jackson
  48. “You can’t always be the most talented or gifted person in the room, but you can be the most competitive.“ Pat Summit
  49. “The greatness of Michael Jordan is his competitive drive. The weakness of Michael Jordan is his competitive drive.” Phil Jackson
  50. “I can’t stand a ballplayer who plays in fear. Any fellow who has a good shot has got to take it and keep taking it. So he misses – so what?” Red Auerbach
  51. “Those to whom defense is not important will have the best seat in the game” Rick Majerus
  52. “I know that I’m never as good or bad as any single performance. I’ve never believed my critics or my worshippers, and I’ve always been able to leave the game at the arena.” Charles Barkley