Quotes on Nba

I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay. I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand.

No player in the NBA was born wanting to play basketball. The desire to play ball or to read must be planted. The last 25 years of research show that reading aloud to a child is the oldest, cheapest and must successful method of instilling that desire. Shooting baskets with a child creates a basketball player; reading to a child creates a reader.

Winning games, titles and championships isn't all it's cracked up to be, but getting there, the journey, is a lot more than it's cracked up to be.

You should always want your coach to be critical. It gives you an opportunity to learn and to overcome adversity

It always amazes me that spectators want to coach, coaches want to officiate, and officials just want to watch the game

It's not about the number of hours you practice, it's about the number of hours your mind is present during the practice

Mental Toughness is doing the right thing for the team when it's not the best thing for you.

You can easily separate 'team guys' from 'me guys' by how they accept coaching. The guys that accept it are about winning

Set higher standards for your own performance than anyone else around you, and your only competition will be with yourself

Great players and great teams want to be driven. They want to be pushed to the edge. They don't want to be cheated. Ordinary players and average teams want it to be easy

We communicate all the time, even when we don't realize it. Be aware of body language

Effort is fully replenishable. There is no need to save any of it. Leave every bit you have on the playing field

Coaches win practices, players win games

In developing teams, I don't believe in rules. I believe in standards. Rules don't promote teamwork, standards do

Success doesn't stop when you get there

The best competition I have is against myself to become better

My philosophy of defense is to keep the pressure on an opponent until you get to his emotions

The more concerned we become over the things we can't control, the less we will do with the things we can control

The true athlete should have character, not be a character

I do not judge success based on championships; rather, I judge it on how close we came to realizing our potential

We believe in people executing their role and caring about the team more than anything individually