Basketball quotes
3.4K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside basketball — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"The morale and the camaraderie that we had for one another earlier in the year is starting to come under duress because of all the losses. Some of the guys are feeling the pressure now from the last year when they were not successful."
"So, the next time you're out working on your game and they pass you the rock, don't just take it to the hole. Take it to the next level. Don't just bend rims. Bend expectations. Let them see you and feel you and by the very virtue of your love, the truth in your game, they will hear you. Let your game speak."
"My heroes are and were my parents. I can't see having anyone else as my heroes."
"Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you're in a fight."
"If you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."
"I could run 200 yards at a stretch, I could duck between players, I felt free to make plays that suited me best. It wasn't like football then and basketball today, where coaches tell you what foot to put down."
"No one is bigger than the team. You're going to be on time, you're going play hard, you're going to know your job and you're going to know when to pass and shoot. If you can't do those four things you're not getting time here and we don't care who you are."
"We learn to make a shell for ourselves when we are young and then spend the rest of our lives hoping for someone to reach inside and touch us. Just touch us—anything more than that would be too much for us to bear."
"If you want it you must obtain it by great labor."
"And when other people see me play basketball...the way I treat my teammates, the opponents, the refs, that's all a reflection of God's image and God's love so that's the stuff I try to focus on."
"Confidence is a lot of this game or any game. If you don't think you can, you won't."
"People ask me if I could fly, I said, 'yeah....' for a little while."
"Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
"I'm reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose."
"People think that I'm some tough renegade, black-hearted being, evil, but that ain't me."
"When I was young, I had to learn the fundamentals of basketball. You can have all the physical ability in the world, but you still have to know the fundamentals."
"Basketball is my refuge, my sanctuary. I go back to being a kid on the playground. When I get here, it's all good."
"Great genetics are not necessarily a precursor for success in the game. Brazilian Legend Pelé has often said that soccer stars are not born. Without proper soccer training a player will never reach his full potential. It is true that great speed would benefit someone who plays as a winger but would not be as useful for a goalkeeper. The greatest advantage of soccer is that it is not as discriminating as basketball or volleyball. There are no limitations when it comes to physique and it all comes down to individual soccer skills."
"The most important thing in good leadership is truly caring."
"I'm not afraid of nothing, I just like the challenge, and I love being here."
