Quotes About Basketball

As a kid, my favorite subject was recess. Why? Because I could go play basketball.

Playing in the playoffs is the best basketball in the world, and if you can learn under that pressure, succeed under that pressure, it gives you more confidence the next year.

Basketball is my passion, and I love it, and I love to see my players succeed. I'm here for them and my children. That's my passion.

I played for the best coach who ever lived, Henry Iba. I wasn't intimidated by Adolph Rupp.

Pat Riley is the best coach I've ever had...

Brandon Rush is not just one of the best freshmen in the league, he's one of the best players.

Confidence allows you to progress in something you're attempting to accomplish, whether it's playing basketball or baseball or whether it's trying to succeed in business.

How do you build a successful organization or culture? It's the people. The people part, in business and basketball, is huge.

I viewed it as a business, but I always viewed it as a game. An opportunity to show my skills, my basketball skills, amongst the best in the world.

If there wasn't any business and it was just strictly basketball, then there would be no issue, it would probably be done by now. But the team has to protect.

TRUSTING THE MOMENT Most of us spend the bulk of our time caught up in thoughts of the past or the future—which can be dangerous if your job is winning basketball games. Basketball takes place at such a lightning pace that it's easy to make mistakes and get obsessed with what just happened or what might happen next, which distracts you from the only thing that really matters—this very moment.

Here's a typical list: Song of Solomon (for Michael Jordan), Things Fall Apart (Bill Cartwright), Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (John Paxson), The Ways of White Folks (Scottie Pippen), Joshua: A Parable for Today (Horace Grant), Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (B.J. Armstrong), Way of the Peaceful Warrior (Craig Hodges), On the Road (Will Perdue), and Beavis & Butt-Head: This Book Sucks (Stacey King). Some players read every

the best way to get players to coordinate their actions was to have them play the game in 4/4 time. The basic rule was that the player with the ball had to do something with it before the third beat: either pass, shoot, or start to dribble. When everyone is keeping time, it makes it easier to harmonize with one another, beat by beat.

Basketball is a great mystery. You can do everything right. You can have the perfect mix of talent and the best system of offense in the game. You can devise a foolproof defensive strategy and prepare your players for every possible eventuality. But if the players don't have a sense of oneness as a group, your efforts won't pay off. And the bond that unites a team can be so fragile, so elusive.

His fearless attack on both ends of the court galvanized the team.

He was good at coming off the bench and igniting the attack with his quickness and speed.

The Celtics were so dominant in the 1960s that Jerry West stopped wearing anything green because it reminded him of the frustration the Lakers had endured during that decade.

They were a tough, fiery team led by guard Allen Iverson who that year at six feet, 165 pounds, became the smallest player ever to win the MVP award. Iverson dismissed talk of a sweep, pointing to his heart and saying, "Championships are won here.

JC was good for me. I had a coach who kept me into things and thinking positive. It was good basketball, but more than that it prepared me for the academic scene at a university.

I've played basketball most of my life, so it will probably be a little hard adjusting to life without it.

I have a huge admiration for fans in China. I think they're some of the greatest basketball fans in the world. I think they're passionate and love the game, almost second to none.

I always admired the Celtics from afar.

Alabama's a football state and you really don't get too many basketball players out there.

Basketball's fun; it really is. Because I've done it all my life.