Basketball Champions Quotes
Greatest Motivational, Inspirational Quotes / Quotations / Sayings / Phrases from Famous NBA Basketball Champions

Many people think sports are totally physical, that you don't have to think, everything is done for you and you're catered to, I found that to be so far removed from the truth that it's almost a joke. The ones who become stars are the ones who have a head on their shoulders and know how to use it.
Julius Erving, NBA Basketball

Your mind is what makes everything else work.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

When you can't play physically sometimes, you have to use your mind a little bit more to compete and to achieve certain things.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go. Don't ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

There are only two options regarding commitment. You're either IN or you're OUT. There is no such thing as life in-between.
Pat Riley, NBA Basketball Coach

One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates.
Magic Johnson, NBA Basketball / All Magic Johnson Books, DVDs and Products

I have one thing to say to those non-believers. Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.
Rudy Tomjanovich, NBA Basketball Coach

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

Once Michael gets up there he says, ‘Well, maybe I’ll just hang up here in the air for a while, just sit back.’ Then all of a sudden, he says, ‘Well, maybe I’ll 360. No I changed my mind. I’ll go up on the other side.’ He’s just incredible.
Magic Johnson, NBA Basketball / All Magic Johnson Books, DVDs and Products

Basketball can serve as a metaphor for ultimate cooperation. It is a sport where success ... requires that the dictates of community prevail over selfish impulses.
Bill Bradley, NBA Basketball

A lot of late nights in the gym, a lot of early mornings, especially when your friends are going out, you're going to the gym, those are the sacrifices that you have to make if you want to be an NBA basketball player.
Jason Kidd, NBA Basketball

A team will always appreciate a great individual if he's willing to sacrifice for the group.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

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.
Larry Bird, NBA Basketball

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

All kids need is a little help, a little hope and somebody who believes in them.
Magic Johnson, NBA Basketball / All Magic Johnson Books, DVDs and Products

All of those things had been talked about, suggested, rumored, as a manager and as a member of the Knicks organization, I couldn't allow myself to think that way or believe that.
Isiah Thomas, NBA Basketball

All these boundaries - Africa, Asia, Malaysia, America - are set by men. But you don't have to look at boundaries when you are looking at a man - at the character of a man. The question is: What do you stand for? Are you a follower, or are you a leader?
Hakeem Olajuwon, NBA Basketball

Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals.
James Naismith, Creator of Basketball

Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.
Scott Pippen, NBA Basketball

You don't play against opponents, you play against the game of basketball.
Bobby Knight, NBA Basketball

And finally, I am proud that for the most part, I spent my entire career with one team.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

I always know what's happening on the court. I see a situation occur, and I respond.
Larry Bird, NBA Basketball

And I think one of the reasons why I've been able to maintain it for so long is I've never rested on it because I really don't think I'm that good.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

And then lastly, it's always been a personal goal of mine to be able to walk away and not play just for the money and be at the top of my game.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

As far as carrying the torch for the years to come, I don't know. I just want to be the best basketball player I can be.
Kobe Bryant, NBA Basketball / All Kobe Bryant Books, DVDs and Products

Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates.
Magic Johnson, NBA Basketball / All Magic Johnson Books, DVDs and Products

Being selected Most Improved was a special individual award because when I speak to young people I always try to tell them the importance about it's not where you start but where you end up.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

But when I did it (the triple-double), I didn't even know it until someone told me.
Oscar Robertson, NBA Basketball

But, hey I did everything the right way and earned my spot in this game, nothing was given to me.
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA Basketball / All Shaquille O'Neal Books, DVDs and Products

Do your best when no one is looking. If you do that, then you can be successful in anything that you put your mind to.
Bob Cousy, NBA Basketball

The only important shot you take is the next one. Because no matter how hard you try, that is the only one you can still have an effect on.
Jason Bumblis, NBA Basketball

Durability and longevity are very important as it relates to carving your name alongside some of the great point guards to ever play the game.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

Even when I'm old and grey, I won't be able to play it, but I'll still love the game.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

Every time you compete, try harder to improve on your last performance. Give nothing short of your very best effort.
Elgin Baylor, NBA Basketball

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.
Larry Bird, NBA Basketball

Everything happens for a reason. I'm used to it, I prepare for it. Like I say, at the end of the day, those in charge of their own destiny are going to do what's rights for them and their family.
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA Basketball / All Shaquille O'Neal Books, DVDs and Products

Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise.
Kobe Bryant, NBA Basketball / All Kobe Bryant Books, DVDs and Products

Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

Fundamental preparation is always effective. Work on those parts of your game that are fundamentally weak.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

Goals determine what you're going to be.
Julius Erving, NBA Basketball

Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

I always know what's happening on the court. I see a situation occur, and I respond.
Larry Bird, NBA Basketball

Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

I always try to keep a pretty conservative demeanor on the court.
Julius Erving, NBA Basketball

I am a businessman. This is what I do each and every day. I love it. I love coming to work. I never have a bad day.
Magic Johnson, NBA Basketball / All Magic Johnson Books, DVDs and Products

I am a huge believer in giving back and helping out in the community and the world. Think globally, act locally I suppose. I believe that the measure of a person's life is the affect they have on others.
Steve Nash, NBA Basketball

I am the number one Ninja and I have killed all the Shoguns in front of me.
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA Basketball / All Shaquille O'Neal Books, DVDs and Products

I believe in the players and what I've put together and we'll make it work.
Isiah Thomas, NBA Basketball

I believe that good things come to those who work.
Wilt Chamberlain, NBA Basketball

I believe that whatever we have, regardless of a trade being done or not, I feel we have a shot. I've just got to believe that we're going to be all right. I've got to just play basketball.
Allen Iverson, NBA Basketball

I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

I can score 20 points if I want to, but that's not my desire.
Dennis Rodman, NBA Basketball / All Dennis Rodman Books, DVDs and Products

I didn't want to become a reserve player, or a bench player, and it was time to move on and take on another challenge.
Julius Erving, NBA Basketball

I do believe that one way to bring cultures together, to develop trust between people and countries and religions, is through education. And through music and art and basketball and activities and joys that people share worldwide, regardless of ethnic background or religious orientation.
Steve Kerr, NBA Basketball

I don't believe that I personally have been changed by the money. The bad thing is people assume you've changed because now you have money.
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA Basketball / All Shaquille O'Neal Books, DVDs and Products

I don't get nervous in any situation. There's no such thing as nerves when you're playing games.
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA Basketball / All Shaquille O'Neal Books, DVDs and Products

I don't know hardly any of the players who have the in-between game like me, who can go to any position on the court.
Oscar Robertson, NBA Basketball

I don't need too much. Glamour and all that stuff don't excite me. I am just glad I have the game of basketball in my life.
LeBron James, NBA Basketball

The best teams have chemistry. They communicate with each other and they sacrifice personal glory for the common goal.
Dave DeBusschere, NBA Basketball

First master the fundamentals
Larry Bird, NBA Basketball

I don't sleep much. I'm on the go. My mind is racing. My wife says my mind is like the rolling dials on a slot machine. So, yeah, I think about everything.
Bill Walton, NBA Basketball

I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

I dont want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.
Kobe Bryant, NBA Basketball / All Kobe Bryant Books, DVDs and Products

I guess people think the taller you are the more dominant you have to be.
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA Basketball / All Shaquille O'Neal Books, DVDs and Products

I had endured six years of frustration so I think winning it all meant more to me than most of the others on the team.
Bob Cousy, NBA Basketball

I had to spend countless hours, above and beyond the basic time, to try and perfect the fundamentals.
Julius Erving, NBA Basketball

I just want to catch that first ball, get it out of the way, and move forward.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

I know I'm never as good or bad as one single performance. I've never believed in my critics or my worshippers, and I've always been able to leave the game at the arena.
Charles Barkley, NBA Basketball

I learned at a young age to dribble with both hands, and that allows me to be more creative when I go against bigger and stronger opponents.
Steve Nash, NBA Basketball

I learned that people everywhere are basically the same and have similar goals that we do. They want health and happiness and the opportunity to provide for their families.
Steve Kerr, NBA Basketball

I mean, sometimes I look to shoot threes, sometimes I don't. It's basically what the team needs and I think it's just another added weapon, for not only my game, but our team.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

I owe all of this to the guys I've played with and all the coaches that have helped me get to where I'm at right now. I'm honored to be here.
Allen Iverson, NBA Basketball

I played basketball to try to get my parents from working so hard.
James Worthy, NBA Basketball

I really don't like talking about money. All I can say is that the Good Lord must have wanted me to have it.
Larry Bird, NBA Basketball

I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

I think it's imperative to follow your heart and choose a profession you're passionate about, and if you haven't found that spark yet, if you're not sure what you want to do with your lives - be persistent until you do.
Steve Kerr, NBA Basketball

I think it's important that people stand up for what they believe in.
Steve Nash, NBA Basketball

I think someone should explain to the child that it's OK to make mistakes. That's how we learn. When we compete, we make mistakes.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

I was a skinny, scrawny guy. I stuttered horrendously, couldn't speak at all. I was a very shy, reserved player and a very shy, reserved person. I found a safe place in life in basketball.
Bill Walton, NBA Basketball

I would like to somehow make the community I live in a better place to live.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

If I don't believe it, then they don't need me on the court. I've just got to believe that in my heart.
Allen Iverson, NBA Basketball

If somebody says no to you, or if you get cut, Michael Jordan was cut his first year, but he came back and he was the best ever. That is what you have to have. The attitude that I'm going to show everybody, I'm going to work hard to get better and better.
Magic Johnson, NBA Basketball / All Magic Johnson Books, DVDs and Products

If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

If you don't do what's best for your body, you're the one who comes up on the short end.
Julius Erving, NBA Basketball

If you get depressed about being the second-best team in the world, then you've got a problem.
Julius Erving, NBA Basketball

If you're a competitive person, that stays with you. You don't stop. You always look over your shoulder.
Magic Johnson, NBA Basketball / All Magic Johnson Books, DVDs and Products

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, NBA Basketball / All Kobe Bryant Books, DVDs and Products

I'm hungrier than those other guys out there. Every rebound is a personal challenge.
Dennis Rodman, NBA Basketball / All Dennis Rodman Books, DVDs and Products

I'm playing against great players, playing against the best in the world. The competition - that's what I've always wanted.
Kobe Bryant, NBA Basketball / All Kobe Bryant Books, DVDs and Products

In 1981, at age 31, I was voted the best player in basketball, and the most valuable player in the league.
Julius Erving, NBA Basketball

I realize that I'm black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and this is everybody's wish.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

In a lot of areas of my life, particularly in my teenage years, I began to think about the world, and to think about the universe as being a part of my conscious everyday life.
Julius Erving, NBA Basketball

Instead of me telling them what they need to work on, I wanted to hear from them what they needed to work on.
Isiah Thomas, NBA Basketball

It was important to me to believe, because if I don't believe, how can I expect them to believe?
Isiah Thomas, NBA Basketball

I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

It wasn't about the X's and the O's and the strategy; it was more about keeping 12 guys focused and committed to a task. That group dynamic, and then helping them to grow as people and basketball players.
Isiah Thomas, NBA Basketball

It's all about what they can get out of me.
Dennis Rodman, NBA Basketball / All Dennis Rodman Books, DVDs and Products

It's like all guys want to do is make a dunk, grab their shirt and yell out and scream - they could be down 30 points but that's what they do. Okay, so you made a dunk. Get back down the floor on defense!
Oscar Robertson, NBA Basketball

It's not tough at all as long as the fans are yelling, screaming and hollering.
Bill Laimbeer, NBA Basketball

I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don't do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

I've been in pressure situations before. All my life it's been about pressure and having to get it done. Just because you say it publicly, it does not make me afraid of it or make me shy away from it.
Isiah Thomas, NBA Basketball

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

I've had enough success for two lifetimes, my success is talent put together with hard work and luck.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

I've never been afraid to fail.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

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.
Larry Bird, NBA Basketball

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.
Larry Bird, NBA Basketball

Michael was a rare breed. There's no question about that. He did things that a lot of players could never do, and still to this day players can't do those things, so the honors that he's had are definitely deserved.
Dominique Wilkins, NBA Basketball

Most people who are healthy, and I'm healthy, can't even live my life. Trust me. I get up 530-6 every morning. I'm in the gym. I run a couple miles. I lift weights, and then I'm at work until 8-9 o'clock at night.
Magic Johnson, NBA Basketball / All Magic Johnson Books, DVDs and Products

My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

My greatest gift that I have in life is basketball.
Isiah Thomas, NBA Basketball

My role model was my grandfather. He instilled in me the feeling that no matter how successful you are you have a responsibility to help others.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

Not only do I admire Jordan's accomplishments and his phenomenal basketball ability, but also the way he has conducted himself on and off the court. I don't think there will ever be another player to have the same impact on the game of basketball as Michael Jordan.
Elgin Baylor, NBA Basketball

Once you are labeled the best you want to stay up there, and you can't do it by loafing around. If I don't keep changing. I'm history.
Larry Bird, NBA Basketball

Our offense is like the pythagorean theorem: There is no answer!
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA Basketball / All Shaquille O'Neal Books, DVDs and Products

People have always doubted whether I was good enough to play this game at this level. I thought I was, and I thought I could be. What other people thought was really always irrelevant to me.
Steve Nash, NBA Basketball

Push yourself again and again. Don't give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.
Larry Bird, NBA Basketball

Research your idea. See if there's a demand. A lot of people have great ideas, but they don't know if there's a need for it. You also have to research your competition.
Magic Johnson, NBA Basketball / All Magic Johnson Books, DVDs and Products

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

Sometimes I'm not even satisfied when I got 6 points and 22 rebounds, because I'm always looking to do more.
Dennis Rodman, NBA Basketball / All Dennis Rodman Books, DVDs and Products

That doesn't bother me because if I won a championship, which is my goal, then no matter what kind of recognition you get or don't get, it wouldn't really matter.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

That's the key to our team. We have so many weapons. You can just pick your poison.
Steve Nash, NBA Basketball

The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

The one thing I do that nobody else does is jump three and four times for one rebound.
Dennis Rodman, NBA Basketball / All Dennis Rodman Books, DVDs and Products

There is a lot of pressure put on me, but I don't put a lot of pressure on myself. I feel if I play my game, it will take care of itself.
LeBron James, NBA Basketball

There is no 'i' in team but there is in win.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

These are my new shoes. They're good shoes. They won't make you rich like me, they won't make you rebound like me, they definitely won't make you handsome like me. They'll only make you have shoes like me. That's it.
Charles Barkley, NBA Basketball

This is a tough game. There are times when you've got to play hurt, when you've got to block out the pain.
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA Basketball / All Shaquille O'Neal Books, DVDs and Products

This life is like a swimming pool. You dive into the water, but you can't see how deep it is.
Dennis Rodman, NBA Basketball / All Dennis Rodman Books, DVDs and Products

To all the positions, I just bring the determination to win. Me being an unselfish player, I think that can carry on to my teammates. When you have one of the best players on the court being unselfish, I think that transfers to the other players.
LeBron James, NBA Basketball

To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don't isolate.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

We lived in Yorkville, which is located on the East End of Manhattan. It's further east than Hell's Kitchen, and back then it was the kind of place where the roaches and cockroaches were big enough to carry away small children.
Bob Cousy, NBA Basketball

We're just going to come out and play. We know that we're supposed to win all the games, but if we don't, we just have to take the next game and focus on what we did wrong in the game before and just try to do better at the next game.
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA Basketball / All Shaquille O'Neal Books, DVDs and Products

What I'm doing right now, I'm chasing perfection.
Kobe Bryant, NBA Basketball / All Kobe Bryant Books, DVDs and Products

When I hit bottom, I can attack the problem and get to where I want to be.
Dennis Rodman, NBA Basketball / All Dennis Rodman Books, DVDs and Products

When I started playing, I wasn't fast, I was gangly, my jumpshot was terrible.
Oscar Robertson, NBA Basketball

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

When you get to that level, it's not a matter of talent anymore - because all the players are so talented - it's about preparation, about playing smart and making good decisions.
Hakeem Olajuwon, NBA Basketball

You can't win unless you learn how to lose.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Basketball

You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products

You realize you can't change the world but it shouldn't stop you from trying.
Kevin Johnson, NBA Basketball

When I step onto the court, I don't have to think about anything. If I have a problem off the court, I find that after I play, my mind is clearer and I can come up with a better solution. It's like therapy. It relaxes me and allows me to solve problems.
Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball / All Michael Jordan Books, DVDs and Products