Inspirational basketball quotes

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.
- Michael Jordan

You don't know how special something is until you pour all your heart into it.

If you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a stranght.
- Michael Jordan

Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses.
- Kobe Bryant

Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
- John Wooden

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

The most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success, then let go of the outcome. The ride is a lot more fun that way.
- Phil Jackson

Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits.
- Mike Krzyzewski

It takes three things to be a ‘special’ player: talent, character, and competitive fire.
- Kevin Eastman

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

I think the reason why I’m the person who I am today is because I went through those tough times when I was younger.
- LeBron James

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

If I walk in a home and a kid disrespects a woman, his mother or grandmother, then I am out… I wont recruit them.
- John Calipari

1. Be on time. 2. Never criticize a teammate. 3. Never use profanity.
- John Wooden

Use different basketball offensive alignments to cause confusion for the other team.
- Hubie Brown

The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.
- Michael Jordan

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.
- Michael Jordan

You can pick captains, but you can’t pick leaders. Whoever controls the locker room controls the team.
- Don Meyer

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

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

My goal is to win the next game one possession at a time. That’s it. I don’t have any other goals.
- Brad Stevens

Everything negative, pressure, challenges are all an opportunity for me to rise.
- Kobe Bryant

Players must be able to carry out simple instructions from the bench to the court. If they can’t, then they can’t play.
- Bob Knight

Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.
- Scottie Pippen

There’s a great quote by Julius Irving that went, ‘Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don’t feel like doing them.
- David Halberstam

The only important statistic is the final score.
- Bill Russell