Popular quotes about Basketball! Wisdom and inspiration are here! | page 39
Every memory I had growing up was involving a basketball. I didn't go to the prom and stuff like that. It was always basketball for me.
Kevin DurantI thought basketball was a game for women. My mother played basketball, and so did my sister.
Dirk NowitzkiPlay more than one sport in high school. If you play, say, football and basketball, you can learn to be physical and you can take those physical aspects of both sports and become better in both sports. Basketball players use some of the same skills football players do and vice versa.
Antonio GatesBasketball, in America, is like a culture. It is like a foreigner learning a new language. It is difficult to learn foreign languages and it will also be difficult for me to learn the culture for basketball here.
Yao MingHe loves basketball. And I said Obama loves basketball. Let's start there, all right. Start there.
Dennis RodmanBasketball is at its best when you have athletes in space making plays. It's the same for soccer, you have great athletes in space making plays and that's when the game becomes beautiful. You have spacing and skill and coaching. It's all synergetic. You don't have to be a basketball fan to appreciate that. You can be a person who appreciates movement. It's almost like a ballet at that point.
Shane BattierEveryone thought I was going to die like a year later, they didn't know. So I helped educate sports, and then the world, that a man living with HIV can play basketball. He's not going to give it to anybody by playing basketball.
Magic JohnsonAnd from the first time I picked up a basketball at age eight - I had a lot of difficulty when I first picked up a basketball, because I was a scrub - there were things that I liked about it.
Julius ErvingPerhaps basketball and poetry have just a few things in common, but the most important is the possibility of transcendence. The opposite is labor. In writing, every writer knows when he or she is laboring to achieve an effect. You want to get from here to there, but find yourself willing it, forcing it. The equivalent in basketball is aiming your shot, a kind of strained and usually ineffective purposefulness. What you want is to be in some kind of flow, each next moment a discovery.
Stephen DunnI enjoy basketball. I enjoy coaching basketball. It's the out-of-season stuff I didn't handle well.
Dean SmithYou don't have to be best friends as basketball players but I do believe in chemistry. I think it makes everything different if a team is really together and they're all on that same page. They might not like each other, per se, but if you're on the same page and the chemistry is there, you can play great basketball. You can go back to teams like Detroit, the Bad Boys. Those guys had great chemistry, that's why they won.
Dwight HowardI played softball and basketball growing up. I really wanted to play football but both parents said no. I was mad for a second, then got over it. Now, just because I'm tall doesn't mean I can play basketball. I was waaaaay better at swinging a bat.
Jordin SparksIf I don't get five [titles], I won't be happy with myself as a basketball player. I don't know how you guys will feel about me.
Shaquille O'NealBasketball was always a game to me. One of the greatest things in life for me was to be able to play what I loved dearly and get paid for it. So it was always a game to me and that's how I perceived everything.
Larry BirdWe make a living playing basketball. You don't have to be a tough guy or a hard-ass to play this sport. You can be tough but you don't have to have that bravado. Sometimes it's good. But I'm not going to be someone I'm not. It's just me being me.
Chris BoshIt's a really weird mindset to kind of try to take my mentality on the basketball court and bring it here on to the golf course. I don't want to have too high of expectations on, like, each hole, just try to enjoy the process, but hopefully get out to a good start tomorrow and be in the conversation and see what happens.
Stephen CurryI probably would have no capability of absorbing a 60-defeat season as a coach. It would be a foreign experience. My whole career, even as a player, has been on winning basketball clubs and it just seems to have been a part of the make-up of whatโs been given me. Thatโs what Iโve been given and thatโs what Iโve had to deal with. Some people can make fun of it or some people can have a good time with it, or some people can resent it. Itโs just what it is.
Phil JacksonBasketball also helps you learn to move your feet by playing defense and guarding guys, and that all carries over to playing football with staying square and having good footwork.
Calvin PryorMe as a person, I'm not the president of the NBPA (National Basketball Players Association). I don't even know what to say. I'm not like this perfect, buttoned-up, suit-and-tie guy.
Kevin DurantI discovered early on that the player who learned the fundamentals of basketball is going to have a much better chance of succeeding and rising through the levels of competition than the player who was content to do things his own way. A player should be interested in learning why things are done a certain way. The reasons behind the teaching often go a long way to helping develop the skill.
John WoodenMr. Watras asked me whether I was practicing, and I told him I was practicing my tissue basketball skills.
Jordan SonnenblickIn 1948, I began coaching basketball at UCLA. Each hour of practice we worked very hard. Each day we worked very hard. Each week we worked very hard. Each season we worked very hard. Four fourteen years we worked very hard and didn't win a national championship. However, a national championship was won in the fifteenth year. Another in the sixteenth. And eight more in the following ten years.
John WoodenI'm not comfortable being preachy, but more people need to start spending as much time in the library as they do on the basketball court.
Kareem Abdul-JabbarI 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 LaimbeerAdam [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 GoldbergThere are only so many hours you can sit on the bus and watch TV or play basketball or whatever we do to pass the time before we go out onstage.
Kenny ChesneyMy 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 ReynoldsI just love the game of basketball so much. The game! I don't need the 18,000 people screaming and all the peripheral things. To me, the most enjoyable part is the practice and preparation.
Bobby KnightI 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 AdamsAnd it blew my mind when I started to get wind of the fact that they actually liked me being around. That was humbling, because Kentucky basketball is a big deal, and I am not the biggest fan - I am just the most notorious one.
Ashley JuddI disobeyed a basic basketball rule and never boxed out. I figured that if I had the inside position I had enough of an advantage to just go get the ball. And coaches left me alone because I got it.
Dolph SchayesAmong other things, neuroplasticity means that emotions such as happiness and compassion can be cultivated in much the same way that a person can learn through repetition to play golf and basketball or master a musical instrument, and that such practice changes the activity and physical aspects of specific brain areas.
Andrew WeilIn the tennis world, there weren't a whole lot of Asians playing. You see it a little bit more now. The same can really be said for basketball.
Michael ChangI have always been very comfortable behind a microphone. I love talking about basketball, I love being around people, I love being around the game, the travel and the excitement around the arena.
Steve KerrMy goal is to let people see who I am as a person, not just a basketball player. Many people see athletes in a certain way - flat and one dimensional. I want to change that view.
Blake GriffinI'm a Christian first. I'm a family guy second. As much as I like coaching, as much as I like basketball, it's third, fourth, or fifth down the line.
Steve AlfordBaseball players quit playing and they take up golf. Basketball players quit, take up golf. Football players quit, take up golf. What are we supposed to take up when we quit?
George ArcherI've always been a workout type guy. So if I'm feeling down or I'm not happy with something, I go to the gym and I get a shot of energy. If things don't go well in any aspect of my life, I'm going to the gym and I'm going to shoot. That's my one type of place that's a safe haven where I go and it's just me, the basketball and the hoop, and I'm just doing something I love to do.
LaMarcus AldridgeI 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.
Jim BrownIt's important for the young players to practice other ball games as well, basketball or table tennis. On the tennis court, you can improve your eye through a kind of overexertion.
Rafael NadalReggie when I first met you, You didn't say two words to me, I didn't know who you were, But we instantly clicked, And you became one of my best friends man... Words can't express how much I care about you, Your well-being, How you feeling, Not even just basketball man, But off the court, I always make sure you're alright. You're such a humble person man. You do everything for the team. You always put yourself last. And I learned a lot from you. Thank you man, thank you.
Kevin Durant