Quotes About Basketball

I have two definitions of success - one on the basketball court and one in my personal life. In basketball, success means making my teammates better, winning basketball games and winning championships. In my personal life, success means being a good father to my sons and raising them to be strong men; taking care of my family and being a good friend; and using my influence to make a difference in the community.

Baseball is like cricket, and I grew up in a country where they had cricket. So I understand cricket, soccer and basketball. I played basketball at the club level and a little bit in college, so thats why Im a basketball fanatic.

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.

To represent the United States in international competition is special recognition that not many players receive and I am really looking forward to helping USA Basketball regain its status in international basketball.

Anybody involved in sports in Missouri knows it's a great sports state. It is a great sports state, particularly in basketball and baseball. Particularly. Not to demean football, but it's a baseball state and a basketball state.

Perhaps 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.

I enjoy basketball. I enjoy coaching basketball. It's the out-of-season stuff I didn't handle well.

I grew up in a small town in Illinois, and my dad was a basketball coach. Thanks to him, I have excellent fundamentals in both basketball and baseball.

Basketball isn't my job.

I know I'm a good person. I know I can play basketball.

Football can stand parity better than any of the other sports, I think. Baseball, basketball and hockey need a defining team, in essence to frame the season. Football? Not so much.

I try to never lose sight of what a special time it is to be a women's basketball player.

Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up.

Basketball is a game that gives you every chance to be great, and puts every pressure on you to prove that you haven't got what it takes. It never takes away the chance, and it never eases up on the pressure.

The biggest thing that I felt basketball could do for me was help me get a good education.

My dad taught me that you have to work hard for anything you want in life, and I wanted to be good at playing basketball.

Whatever I lack in size and strength and speed, I kind of make up for in being grittier. When it comes to something like basketball I'm definitely not the best guy on the court, but I love elbowing and pushing people out or boxing them out.

Singers always have an advantage. You know, everyone can connect to a song in a way that they cannot do to a basketball act or a magician act or whatever.

I got into running because I was too uncoordinated to play baseball, too small for basketball, and too tiny for football. I lived in a broken home and had looked to those sports as a way of staying away from my home.

I'm pretty fundamental when it comes to running. A basketball player doesn't practice his free throw shooting by doing slam dunks all over the place. He does it by practicing free throws. That's the attitude I take: You don't get better at running by doing everything but running. You get better by running.

I was a much better writer than I was an athlete. My college coach told me flat out, he said, "Deford, you write basketball better than you play it."

My grandchild has taught me what true love means. It means watching Scooby-Doo cartoons while the basketball game is on another channel.

If you're playing basketball with someone who's better than you, you have to get better or else it's no fun

You can't not be into basketball and grow up in Chicago or live in L.A., because people are so fanatical about the teams. You know what's going on with the games even if you don't watch.

Football, you can go out and buy a football and play it in your backyard. Basketball, you can go out and play it in the schoolyard or in your driveway. Baseball, you get a glove and a bat and a ball and you go out and play in the neighborhood. You can't do that in hockey.

Part of the charm of basketball lies in the fact that it's a simple game to understand. Players race up and down a fairly small area indoors and stuff the ball into a ring with Madonna's dress hanging on it.

I love teaching I think more than anything. It's the opportunity to just teach young people and teach the game. You teach more than basketball. You teach life skills. The teaching part of it is something that I am passionate about. I look forward to every practice. A lot of people say well, I enjoy coaching, but I see myself as more as a teacher.

I started playing professional basketball in 1971, and I played professionally for five seasons before going to Philadelphia.

You know what's fun about basketball? It keeps evolving, and it keeps changing a little bit. And the older guys want to try to hold it back to how they grew up, and it's not the same. You've got to change with the times, and some of the guys you've got to drag across the finish line.

It wasn't until late high school and early college that I gained enough size and skill to make me welcome on intramural basketball teams.

I don't feel like basketball is the only way to make a living.

I play fantasy basketball and fantasy football, soccer.

I want every day to be the most boring news day ever. I want every day to be about spelling bee champions and baby basketball. It's better to have no comedy material than a horrific news day.

I was starting out in the business, there was only one path to playing professionally - graduate, or go four years. With the creation of the ABA [American Basketball Association] in the early 1970s, the sanctity of having to go to college was broken. The ABA took anyone, starting with Spencer Haywood.

I tried to make a point of doing things outside the box, of not having basketball consume me.

I love various sports, including basketball, tennis and billiards.

I don’t watch a lot of other basketball away from the gym. But I do look at LeBron’s box score. I want to see how many points, rebounds and assists he had, and how he shot from the field. If he had 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, I can tell you exactly how he did it, what type of shots he made and who he passed to.

I've got to make some decisions just like any other player that has ever played this game, that eventually the clock stops, their basketball clock stops.

I don't really want to go into my problems with the team at the time except to say that no one's ever had to pay me to play basketball.

Basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport.

I could've played basketball, but my mind was on baseball. I didn't know what I was in for. In high school it was a matter of talent. No one told you what to do.

I would rather go to Baghdad than go to a professional basketball game.

I experienced a lot of spiritual growth when I started traveling to Europe and playing basketball. I saw that just because I was away from home didn't mean Jesus wasn't with me. He is everywhere and you can see signs of Him in the most remote places in the world through people who don't even speak your language. Jesus is universal.

The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need.

As a kid, I always idolized entrepreneurs. I thought they were cool people in the way that I thought basketball players were cool people. It's cool that some people get paid to dunk basketballs, but I'm not one of those people.

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.

Good basketball always starts with good defense!

In basketball - as in life - true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when things are going your way. Of course, it's no accident that things are more likely to go your way when you stop worrying about whether you're going to win or lose and focus your full attention on what's happening right this moment.