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80 Greatest Basketball Quotes of all Times (Revisiting Past)

One of the most popular sports worldwide is basketball. Basketball places a lot of emphasis on teamwork and the combined efforts of all players. Basketball players, with their freak athleticism, unending stamina, and unwavering dedication to the game, are the ideal illustrations of how far anyone could push the human body. A basketball can be used to entice a basketball player to join you in a game!

80 Famous Basketball Quotes

These basketball quotes should serve as a helpful reminder to constantly work with the team, share, and collaborate. Did you like these quotations about basketball? Which quote stood out to you the most?

Here are some of the greatest basketball quotes from legendary basketball players and coaches, taken from both the court and the screen. These basketball Quotes help one understand the importance of teamwork.

25 Motivational Basketball Quotes

Images of basketball Quotes

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

2. “Everybody pulls for David, nobody roots for Goliath.” ― Wilt Chamberlain.

3. “I think that my God-given physical attributes, big hands, and big feet, the way that I’m built, proportion-wise, just made basketball the most inviting sport for me to play.” –Julius Erving.

4. “The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play ‘Drop the handkerchief’.”― James Naismith.

5. “I’ve never lost a game, I just ran out of time.”― Michael Jordan

6. “Every memory I had growing up was involving a basketball. I didn’t go to the prom and stuff like that. It was always basketball for me.”― Kevin Durant.

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7. “Champions never complain, they are too busy getting better.”― John Wooden.

8. “Sometimes a player’s greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.”― Scottie Pippen.

9. “When you’re not practicing, someone else is getting better.”— Allen Iverson.

10. “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” ― Kevin Durant.

11. “Winning is more related to good defense than good offense.”― Dr Jack Ramsay.

12. “All the successful teams I’ve ever seen have three characteristics: they play unselfish, they play together, and they play hard.”― Larry Brown.

13. “He who controlled the backboard, controlled the game.”― Adolph Rupp.

14. “The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy.” ― Jerry Tarkanian.

15. “I can’t stand a ballplayer who plays in fear. Any fellow who has a good shot has got to take it and keep taking it. So he misses – so what?”― Red Auerbach.

Images of basketball Quotes

16. “Winning is about having the whole team on the same page.”― Bill Walton.

17. “Everything negative — pressure, challenges — are all an opportunity for me to rise.”― Kobe Bryant.

18. “I’ve never been afraid of big moments. I get butterflies… I get nervous and anxious, but I think those are all good signs that I’m ready for the moment.” ― Stephen Curry.

19. “The basketball court for me, during a game, is the most peaceful place I can imagine. On the basketball court, I worry about nothing. When I’m out there, no one can bother me.” ― Michael Jordan.

20. “Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody.”― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Basketball Quotes

21. “In order to achieve positive results, one must work for them, not hope for them.”― Bob Knight.

22. “I always laugh when people ask me about rebounding techniques. I’ve got a technique. It’s called Just Go Get the Ball.”― Charles Barkley.

23. “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.

Basketball Quotes

24. “Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.”― Larry Bird.

25. “Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God’s way to say nobody’s perfect.”― Shaquille O’Neal.

25 Inspirational Basketball Quotes

26. “As a professional athlete a lot is going to be said about you – but I just try to move forward and try to achieve my goals.”― LeBron James.

27. “Don’t let winning make you soft. Don’t let losing make you quit. Don’t let your teammates down in any situation.”― Larry Bird.

28. “The eight laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.” ― John Wooden.

29. “Every time I feel tired while I am exercising and training, I close my eyes to see that picture, to see that list with my name. This usually motivates me to work again.”― Michael Jordan.

30. “Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits.”― Mike Krzyzewski.

31. “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.

32. “I really get motivated when I have doubters.”— Shaquille O’Neal.

33. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”― Michael Jordan.

34. “You don’t play against opponents, you play against the game of basketball.”― Bob Knight.

35. “Confidence is a lot of this game or any game. If you don’t think you can, you won’t.”― Jerry West.

36. “Never give up. Failure and rejection are just the first steps to succeeding.” ― Jim Valvano.

37. “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.”― Michael Jordan

38. “A team will always appreciate a great individual if he’s willing to sacrifice for the group.” –Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

39. “The important thing is that your teammates have to know you’re pulling for them and you really want them to be successful.”― Kobe Bryant.

Basketball Quotes

40. “Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for them.”― Magic Johnson.

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

42. “Ask me to steal, block out, sacrifice, lead, dominate, anything. But it’s not what you ask of me it’s what I ask of myself.” – LeBron James.

43. “A strong leader accepts blame and gives the credit. A weak leader gives blame and accepts the credit.”― John Wooden.

44. “Success is a result of consistent practice of winning skills and actions. There is nothing miraculous about the process. There is no luck involved.” ― Bill Russell.

45. “The game has its ups and downs, but you can never lose focus of your individual goals and you can’t let yourself be beaten because of lack of effort.”― Michael Jordan.

46. “The important thing is that your teammates have to know you’re pulling for them and you really want them to be successful.”― Kobe Bryant.

Basketball Quotes

47. “It’s ok to make mistakes. That’s how we learn. When we compete, we make mistakes.”― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

48. “I believe you win games by what you do from your first practice until your first game.” ― Dr Jack Ramsay.

49. “Be a dreamer. If you don’t know how to dream, you’re dead.”― Jim Valvano.

50. “There are only two options regarding commitment… you’re either in or you’re out. There’s no such thing as life in-between.”―Pat Riley.

30 Quotes about Basketball Coaching

51. “If you are afraid of failure you don’t deserve to be successful!”― Charles Barkley.

52. “Winning is overemphasized. The only time it is really important is in surgery and war.”― Al McGuire.

53. “A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.”― Larry Bird.

54. “My whole life, people have doubted me. My mom did. People told me in high school I’m too short and not fast enough to play basketball. They didn’t know my story. Because if they did, they’d know that anything is possible.”― Jimmy Butler.

Basketball Quotes

55. “If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.”— John Wooden.

56. “Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.”— Bill Russell.

57. “What do you do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.”― Dean Smith.

58. “You have a choice to make when you’re not playing. Either you’re invested and a great teammate or you’re not.”― Brad Stevens.

59. “Defense is one man guarding the ball and four others helping him.”― Mike Krzyzewski.

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

61. “Good players want to be coached… Great players want to be told the truth.”― Doc Rivers.

62. “There is a lot of basketball beyond our control, but a player should never let anyone try harder than he does.”― Dean Smith.

63. “‘Play the right way’ means play unselfishly, respect each other’s achievements, play hard, fulfill your role.”― Gregg Popovich.

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64. “Your best player has to set a tone of intolerance for anything that gets in the way of winning.”― Jeff Van Gundy.

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

66. “Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We.”― Phil Jackson.

67. “Coaches shouldn’t have to push you to work hard, you should push yourself because you want to be a great player.”― Bob Knight.

68. “No one is bigger than the team. If you can’t do things our way, you’re not getting time here and we don’t care who you are.”― Gregg Popovich.

69. “No one plays this or any game perfectly. It’s the guy who recovers from his mistakes who wins.”― Phil Jackson.

70. “Some say you have to use your five best players, but I found out you win with the five that fit together best as a team.”― Red Auerbach.

71. “Discover your gift, develop your gift, and then give it away every day.”― Don Meyer.

72. “With the absence of pressure, it’s hard to do great things.”― Geno Auriemma.

73. “Evaluate wins and losses objectively, focusing more on effort and execution than on the outcome of the game.”― Morgan Wootten.

74. “Bottom line – if you want success of any kind; you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”― Tim Grover.

75. “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.”― Tim Duncan.

76. “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is a success.”― Henry Ford.

Basketball image with quotes

77. “The two ingredients in success in basketball are playing hard and playing intelligently.”― Pete Carroll.

78. “Keep practicing. Never let anyone tell you’re too small or too slow.”― Chris Paul.

79. “There’s a lot of room to grow, and the women who believe they’re worth it are the ones who are going to make good things happen during the next period of WNBA growth.”― Sue Wicks.

80. “It’s harder to stay on top than it is to climb. Continue to seek new goals.”― Pat Summitt.

Top 7 Best Basketball Matches of All Time

Here are some inspiring top seven best basketball matches of all time to accompany the basketball quotes:

1. Lakers vs Celtics, NBA Finals 2010: This was a highly competitive series that saw the Lakers come back from being down 3-2 to eventually take the title in a thrilling Game 7.

2. USA vs Spain, Beijing Olympics 2008: The USA held off Spain’s charge in the closing minutes and took home the gold medal in a thrilling final.

3. Indiana Pacers vs New York Knicks, Eastern Conference Finals 1994: A thrilling seven-game series that saw the Pacers come back from 2-0 down to win 4-3.

4. Miami Heat vs San Antonio Spurs, NBA Finals 2013: An intense series that saw the Heat come back from being down 3-2 to take home the title in a thrilling Game 7.

5. Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz, NBA Finals 1998: An epic six-game series that saw the Bulls come from behind to win their sixth championship.

6. Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trail Blazers, 2000 Western Conference Finals: A thrilling seven-game series that saw the Lakers come back from two games down to take the series 4-3.

7. Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors, NBA Finals 2016: One of the most memorable NBA Finals of all time, this seven-game series saw the Cavaliers become the first team in history to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a championship.

Aditya
Aditya

Hello Readers, I'm Aditya! A Blogger and SEO expert with an MBA Degree in Marketing and Operations. I love sharing content that develops the mindset of people and makes life better.

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