Quotes on Basketball

When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.

Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath; that's the essence of yoga, too. So, I consciously began using yoga techniques in my practice and playing. I think yoga helped reduce the number and severity of injuries I suffered. As preventative medicine, it's unequaled.

Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.

Basketball, a game which won't be fit for people until they set the basket umbilicus-high and return the giraffes to the zoo.

On the best tactic when playing alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar- Just give him the ball.

The worst moment from all of this was driving from that doctor's office, to tell my wife that I was HIV positive.

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.

I want to thank the NBA and U.S.A. Basketball. Words can't describe my feeling. I was a small town kid from Hamburg, Arkansas, and you provided me a platform to live out my passion, the game of basketball, on the world's grandest stage.

Parents, what are your children learning from your worship? Do they see the same excitement as when you go to a basketball game? Do they see you prepare for worship as you do for a vacation? Do they see you hungry to arrive, seeking the face of the Father? Or do they see you content to leave the way you came?.....They are watching. Believe me. They are watching.

The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done.

Everybody pulls for David, nobody roots for Goliath.

Everyone needs a coach. It doesn't matter whether you're a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast or a bridge player.

Attitude is a choice. What you think you can do, whether positive or negative, confident or scared, will most likely happen.

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.

When I look at the system here and look at my position - not just as a basketball player, but when I look around me at the values of the people and the culture and compare them with the values of where I came from - I feel so blessed to be from Africa.

My dad told me, 'If you're going to go out there and play baseball, or you're going to play basketball or football, work hard at it no matter what. I want you to have fun with your buddies, but you have to put in the time because this is your craft.' He didn't just want me to be good. He pushed me to that next level.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.

Every sound in the gym is so fantastic. The screams of the fans, the whistle of the ref, the teammates calling to each other, the sounds of the ball touching the wooden floor, the sneakers touching the floor, and the sounds of the fight, the muscle and the sweat. Oh, and the last one-when the ball goes through the net. Don't laugh at my sensitivity and romanticism - those sounds really attract me.