Larry Bird Quotes

I just shoot until I feel good.

A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.

But it is a black man's game, and it will be forever.

My goal was just to try and be the best player on my high school team, and look where I am now. And that was still my goal as a young kid, just to try and be a little better than my brother was.

If there was a payment to the bank due, and we needed shoes, she'd get the shoes, and then deal with them guys at the bank. I don't mean she wouldn't pay the bank, but the children always came first.

It's been a journey, the NBA. It's taken me a lot farther than I ever expected.

Eminem. My son was listening to that and I was like, “What is that junk?” Then I started listening and I thought, You know, that kid is pretty good. It's the storytelling.

I have always been confident in my skills and once the game got going I knew I was probably the best player on the floor most of the time whether it was junior high, high school or college. I knew I had control of the game.

The best basketball announcer is one who allows you to close your eyes.

I learned what my weaknesses were and I went out the next day to turn those weaknesses intro strengths.

I've got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.

My name's been on this check for a week now.

When I was young, I never wanted to leave the court until I got things exactly correct. My dream was to become a pro.

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.

Leadership is diving for a loose ball, getting the crowd involved, getting other players involved. It's being able to take it as well as dish it out. That's the only way you're going to get respect from the players.

I like being by myself.

You know when I played, you had me and Kevin (McHale) and some others throughout the league. I think it's good for a fan base because as we all know the majority of the fans are white America. And if you just had a couple of white guys in there, you might get them a little excited.

When I go to the line I'm thinking 'All net.' When I don't think that, I'm likely to miss.

I wasn't real quick, and I wasn't real strong. Some guys will just take off and it's like, whoa. So I beat them with my mind and my fundamentals.

Push yourself again and again. Don't give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.

What's better? Dogs or broomsticks? I mean will the world really ever know?

First master the fundamentals.

My opinion about basketball, the way I was taught, was when you step on the court, you play to win.

Practice habits were crucial to my development in basketball. I didn't play against the toughest competition in high school, but one reason I was able to do well in college was that I mastered the fundamentals. You've got to have them down before you can even think about playing.

While day by day the overzealous student stores up facts for future use, he who has learned to trust nature finds need for ever fewer external directions. He will discard formula after formula, until he reaches the conclusion: Let nature take its course.

Coaches can talk and talk and talk about something, but if you get it on tape and show it to them, it is so much more effective.

I mean, the greatest athletes in the world are African-American.

Basketball has been my life and I worked at it so hard because I enjoyed it so much.

Strength is not nearly as important as desire. I don't think you can teach anyone desire. I think it's a gift. I don't know why I have it, but I do.

The one thing that always bothered me when I played in the NBA was I really got irritated when they put a white guy on me.

The nature of competition is such that any number of people invariably have their eyes on the same prize you do. Recognize your assets and employ them to the best of your ability.

There are many times when you are better off practicing than playing; but most people just don't understand that

Leadership is getting players to believe in you. If you tell a teammate you're ready to play as tough as you're able to, you'd better go out there and do it. Players will see right through a phony. And they can tell when you're not giving it all you've got.

In the closing seconds of every game, I want the ball in my hands for the last shot - not in anybody else's, not in anybody else's in the world.

Anytime you've got an opportunity to play for your country and win a gold medal, I think that takes it all. That's the greatest thing you could ever achieve in your sport. So, I have been very fortunate to play on great teams, but the gold medal was probably the best.

The best players will play. That's the way it will always be.

Before every game I used to go out and shot the same shots over and over and over. In the summer time I spent a lot of time just shooting. So really it just came natural. Whether it's a tie game or down by 1 or up by five, it was always the same shot. So I always felt comfortable with the ball in my hands because it was in there a million times before.

I'm a firm believer in that you play the way you practice.

The best player I ever played with was Dennis Johnson.

My coach told me, "Larry, no matter how much you work at it, there's always someone out there who's working just a little harder - if you take 150 practice shots, he's taking 200." And that drove me.

When I was a kid, like 14 or 15, I played with the waiters from the hotel, 'cause that was the best game. And these guys, they'd let me play. And they were black guys.

Michael Jordan is God disguised as a basketball player.

You never make any of the shots you never take. 87% of the ones you do take, you'll miss too. I make 110% of my shots.

I used to love the feeling of running, of running too far. It made my skin tingle.

If you tell a teammate you're ready to play as tough as you're able to, you'd better go out there and do it.

As far as playing, I didn't care who guarded me - red, yellow, black. I just didn't want a white guy guarding me, because it's disrespect to my game.

You can make all the excuses you want, but if you're not mentally tough and you're not prepared to play every night, you're not going to win.

When it gets down to it, basketball is basketball.