Quotes on Basketball

Talent sets the floor, character sets the ceiling

Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.

Don't give up. Don't ever give up.

I'm not sure that an athlete is prepared to be a role model. He has a lot of attention paid to him that he shouldn't have, and then the athletes tend to think of themselves as better than they are.

And if you see me, smile and maybe give me a hug. That's important to me too.

Other people go to the office. I get to coach. I know I've been blessed.

Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.

The day I stopped worrying about stats is the day I started winning

But, hey I did everything the right way and earned my spot in this game, nothing was given to me.

I played six to 10 hours a day, every day, 90 days during the summer, and I'd do incredible things. I would dribble blindfolded in the house. I would take my basketball to bed with me, I'd lay there after my mother kissed and tucked me in, and I'd shoot the ball up in the air and say, 'Finger tip control, backspin, follow through.

You don't stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.

You have to lose yourself in the team and you have to lose yourself in the game

As coaches we talk about two things: offense and defense. There is a third phase we neglect, which is more important. It's conversion from offense to defense and defense to offense.

A quick way for any player to make himself better is to think about what he himself doesn't like to play against

The goal is to make practice more difficult, physically/mentally, than anything your players will face during a game.

Playing in the playoffs is the best basketball in the world, and if you can learn under that pressure, succeed under that pressure, it gives you more confidence the next year.

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

I realize that I'm black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and this is everybody's wish.

There is no 'i' in team but there is in win.

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. They have the ability to be superstars, but if they fit into a good team, they make sacrifices, they do things necessary to help the team win. What the numbers are in salaries or statistics don't matter; how they play together does.

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.