quotations about basketball
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.
PHIL JACKSON
Sacred Hoops
The single most important aspect of coaching is running effective practices.
BOB KNIGHT
"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox
We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors.
WELDON DREW
The Michigan Journal, 1987
My thoughts were always that that night was the most important game in the world. Everybody in the world was watching that one game. And I had to be the best player on the court and win that game that night. That was my mentality, and it stuck with me all the way through my career.
LARRY BIRD
interview, ESPN, December 6, 2016
The only important statistic is the final score.
BILL RUSSELL
attributed, Boston Celtics IQ: The Ultimate Test of True Fandom
The real secret behind top athlete's genius, then, may be as esoteric and obvious and dull and profound as silence itself. The real, many-veiled answer to the question of just what goes through a great player's mind as he stands at the center of hostile crowd-noise and lines up at the free-throw that will decide the game might well be: nothing at all.
DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
"How Tracy Austin broke my heart"
Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up.
RED AUERBACH
attributed, It's How You Play the Game
Being hip-hoppers, we were obliged to be obsessed with basketball.
NIKESH SHUKLA
Coconut Unlimited
But that's the thing about basketball: you don't play games on paper.
BILL SIMMONS
The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy
On a good team there are no superstars. There are great players who show they are great players by being able to play with others as a team.
RED HOLZMAN
attributed, Team Work: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball
Basketball is a sport that involves the subtle interweaving of players at full speed to the point where they are thinking and moving as one.
PHIL JACKSON
Sacred Hoops
Coaching is easy. Winning is the hard part.
ELGIN BAYLOR
The Sporting News, 1977
Defense should be played with your feet and your brain, not your hands.
BOB KNIGHT
"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox
I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.
KOBE BRYANT
attributed, Team Work: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball
The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.
BILL RUSSELL
attributed, Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance
At any point during practice, call a timeout. Huddle the players and give them 4 or 5 specific instructions. Then send them back on the court. Wait 15 seconds and then ask them to write down the 4 or 5 things you asked them to do. It is scary how little they will recall.
BOB KNIGHT
"33 Basketball Coaching Points from Bob Knight", The Coaching Toolbox
Basketball is a beautiful game when the five players on the court play with one heartbeat. Passing, screening, cutting, and movement away from the ball: The game can be almost balletic in its grace and simplicity.
DEAN SMITH
The Carolina Way: Leadership Lessons from a Life in Coaching
I was all about resurrecting the lost art of the midrange jumper, but then one day I was shooting free throws--just standing at the foul line at the North Central gym shooting from a rack of balls. All at once, I couldn't figure out why I was methodically tossing a spherical object through a toroidal object. It seemed like the stupidest thing I could possibly be doing. I started thinking about little kids putting a cylindrical peg through a circular hole, and how they do it over and over again for months when they figure it out, and how basketball was basically just a slightly more aerobic version of the same exercise. Anyway, for the longest time, I just kept sinking free throws. I hit eighty in a row, my all-time best, but as I kept going, I felt more and more like a two-year-old.
JOHN GREEN
The Fault in Our Stars
I decided one day early on in high school that I wanted to be great at basketball, not just a good basketball player. I would go to the elementary school by my house and shoot thousands of shots all day, every day.
GILBERT ARENAS
Daily Texan, Mar. 29, 2001
We talk to these players a lot about a 4-count or a beat that you're playing this game at. It's just a 4-4 beat. And if you've got that ball in your hands longer than two seconds, you're holding up your team.
PHIL JACKSON
attributed, Team Work: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball