Top 30+ Inspirational Basketball Quotes

Inspirational Basketball Quotes

“The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play” – Bill Russell

“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.” — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” ― Phil Jackson

What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player. – John Wooden

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in determination” — Tommy Lasorda

“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

Inspirational Basketball Quotes

“Remember that basketball is a game of habits. If you make the other guy deviate from his habits, you’ve got him” – Bill Russell

“When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” –Alexander Graham Bell

“I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot… when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result.” – Basketball Quote by Michael Jordan

“Commitment separates those who live their dreams from those who live their lives regretting the opportunities they have squandered” – Bill Russell

You must expect great things of yourself, before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan

“The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot” – Bill Russell

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” – Michael Jordan

Basketball Quotes

“Where’s the point in trying if you keep telling yourself you’re going to lose?”

I’m not a role model… Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids. – Charles Barkley

You can’t take anything away from a champion.

“Basketball is a game with winners and losers, but if you play this game with your heart, you’re always a winner.”

― C.M.

Basketball is a beautiful game when the five players on the court play with one heartbeat. – Dean Smith

” You can’t get much done in life if you only work in the days when you feel good.” – Jerry West

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

“Use different basketball offensive alignments to cause confusion for the other team” – Hubie Brown

The first time I shot the hook, I was in fourth grade, and I was about five feet eight inches tall. I put the ball up and felt totally at ease with the shot. I was completely confident it would go in. I’ve been shooting it ever since.” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

It is far better to shoot an airball than to not shoot at all for fear of missing. – Tony Alfonso

“Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute” – Bill Russell

“Basketball doesn’t build character it reveals it.”

“I always designed my practice plans the night before and then made tweaks a few hours before practice began” – Bob Knight

“Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up.” – Red Auerbach

“It doesn’t matter where you coach, it’s why you coach” – Don Meyer

The best teams have chemistry. They communicate with each other and they sacrifice personal glory for a common goal. – Dave DeBusscher

“The star player must slay his ego and learn teamwork and communication skills before he can achieve the ultimate in sport”

― Walt Frazier

The moment you give up is the moment you let someone else win.”

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

“Discipline is doing what has to be done, when it has to be done, as well as it can be done, and doing it that way all the time” – Bob Knight

All the successful teams I’ve ever seen have three characteristics: They play unselfish, they play together, and they play hard. – Larry Brow

“Players draw confidence from a poised, alert coach who anticipates changing in game conditions” – Dr. Jack Ramsay

“Consistency is what counts; you have to be able to do things over and over again.”

You can’t win unless you learn how to loose.” – Kareem Abdul Jabar

“Offense is not equal opportunity” – Bob Knight

“If basketball was going to enable Bradley to make friends, to prove that a banker’s son is as good as the next fellow, to prove that he could do without being the greatest-end-ever at Missouri, to prove that he was not chicken, and to live up to his mother’s championship standards, and if he was going to have some moments left over to savor his delight in the game, he obviously needed considerable practice, so he borrowed keys to the gym and set a schedule for himself that he adhereded to for four full years—in the school year, three and a half hours every day after school, nine to five on Saturday, one-thirty to five on Sunday, and, in the summer, about three hours a day.”

― John McPhee

    I’m not against taking shots, but I am against taking bad shots.

    — Hank Iba

“Don’t try to imitate other coaches. Be your own person with your own style and do your own thing” – Hubie Brown

You got to have the killer instinct. If you do not have it, forget about basketball and go into social psychology or something. If you sometimes wonder if you’ve got it, you ain’t got it. No pussycats, please. – Bill Russell

“You never make any of the shots you never take. 87% of the ones you do take, you’ll miss too. I make 110% of my shots.” – Larry Bird

“Use different basketball offensive alignments to cause confusion for the other team” – Hubie Brown

“A winner is somebody who goes out there every day and exhausts himself trying to get something accomplished.” – Joe Torre

“Perform drills that force your players to think” – Bob Knight

“If you think practice is boring, try sitting on the bench.”

Nervous means you want to play. Scared means you don’t want to play.- Sherman Alexie

A basketball team is like the five fingers on your hand.

If you can get them all together, you have a fist.

That’s how I want you to play.

    Players know how to dribble, shoot and pass. The challenge is to teach them why they should do it a certain way, and when they should do it. – Marv Harshman

“Possession of the ball is the key to winning in football, basketball, and the game of life.”

You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise. – Micheal Jordan

Not only is there more to life than basketball, there’s a lot more to basketball than basketball. – Phil Jackson

“You have to earn your right to win the game with effort and togetherness” – Brad Stevens

“I would never recruit a player who yells at his teammates, disrespected his high school coach, or scores 33 points a game and his team goes 10-10” – Dean Smith

There are really only two plays: Romeo and Juliet and put the darn ball in the basket. – Abe Lemon

When in doubt pass it back out.”

“I can teach you how to dribble, pass and shoot the right way, but I cannot make you do it the right way.” – Jeff Tufford

The key to being a good shooter is balance. Everything follows balance.

“Prepare for every game like you just lost your last game.”

“The key is to maintain an evenness. Try to play one possession at a time, regardless of what happened on the last possession” – Brad Stevens

In life, winning and losing will both happen. What is never acceptable is quitting.” – Magic Johnson

“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 motivational quote

“The difference between a good defensive team and a bad defensive team is as little as three possessions” – Brad Stevens

Basketball Quotes

“I always mean what I say, but I don’t always say what I’m thinking” – Dean Smith

Everybody is different. Everybody has different styles. Just do it the best way you know how.” – Vince Carter

What to do with a mistake – recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.

I started out as a football player. I liked to inflict pain. In basketball, it was the same thing. – Shaquille O’Neal

I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.

“Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.”

Basketball Quotes

“One player’s selfish attitude can poison a locker room and make it hard, if not impossible, to establish team work” – Dean Smith

When you miss a shot, never think of what you did wrong. Take the next shot thinking of what you must do right.

Whirlyball is only the most awesome sport on the planet! It’s like bumper cars plus lacrosse meets basketball. – St. Vincent

“Praise behaviour that you want repeated” – Dean Smith

I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot … When you think about the consequences, you always think of a negative result.

Trying to take money out of politics is like trying to take jumping out of basketball. – Bill Bradley

Not only is there more to life than basketball, there’s a lot more to basketball than basketball.

“Good players want to be coached… Great players want to be told the truth” – Doc Rivers

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

You don’t play against opponents, you play against the game of basketball. – Bobby Knight

Our goal is not to win. It’s to play together and play hard. Then, winning takes care of itself.

I always wanted to be a basketball player. Nothing more, nothing less. – Dirk Nowitzki

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