Top 102 Quotes & Sayings by Mike D'Antoni

There's always things we could have done better, and it's easier with hindsight.

Nash was a purist. Steve's a Hall of Fame point guard. He was unbelievably good.

I think any criticism bothers anybody. I get my back up when I hear stuff that I think the people don't know what they're talking about - understanding that I can improve in a lot of different areas and the team can improve.

I was blessed to have a lot of good point guards throughout.

I like Utah, but they don't have a Starbucks.

Every ship gets rocked sometimes.

I don't know of anybody not trying on offense when they're upset.

You coach long enough, you're gonna get fired.

Players have to do what they think is best for them.

A champion has a heart.

Well, I don't know one coach in the NBA who doesn't have high blood pressure.

Chemistry on the floor - without it, you can't win.

You don't get many second chances in life.

I'm going to do everything I can do to win a championship.

Kobe is a unique individual and he is very headstrong.

Well, at different points of people's careers or lives or circumstances, things are different.

It's basketball. This is great. How do you get scars from something you love? You can get some regrets, 'I wish I would've done that.' But there's no scars. This is too good.

Being rested and playing bad is not going to be a good formula going into the playoffs. That's not good.

I will always be in basketball some way or another.

When you go into a high-pressure game, and you've got a guy that's fearless, it helps you.

Every coach should be under scrutiny.

Some of the hard part of coaching is to be able to drag people over to the next side. People are comfortable with doing business a certain way. When that business kind of shifts to get people to change, it's not easy. It's a process.

You don't have to be the greatest of friends off the floor. But on the floor you have to be able to play without any kind of hesitation for all your teammates. Whether you like the guy or not, you can still do what's right.

To take a team to win a championship, there's so many things that have to happen.

When you don't make the playoffs, or you're not producing a product that you're proud of, then, yeah, it's tough on everybody... it's tough on the fans all the way down.

When his football and baseball careers ended, my dad became an accomplished marbles player. Then dad got really good at pitching horseshoes. And to show you how athletic our bloodlines really were, my mom was a wonderful tennis player.

Some coaches get fired even after the best years they've ever had.

I've got a motto. When the posse's chasing you out of town, you just act like you're the head of a parade.

I know who I am: the Forrest Gump of basketball.

I think we'll get to the point where every 5 can shoot threes. I think we'll get to the point where a lot of people can handle the ball and fastbreak and bring it up.

I don't actually like coffee. But I'm addicted to Starbucks.

You know what's fun about basketball? It keeps evolving, and it keeps changing a little bit. And the older guys want to try to hold it back to how they grew up, and it's not the same. You've got to change with the times, and some of the guys you've got to drag across the finish line.

I shouldn't have left Nash in the sense that he's special as a player. You've got to nurture that. But New York was great for me.

When you open up the court, now the point guards can see, they can score, and they're not afraid to take shots. Before it was like, 'No, don't take that shot. That's a bad shot. Pound it inside. Pound it inside.' And the philosophy has gone a little bit away from that, because it makes sense to do it the other way.

You talk about winning championships, well championships are won by 12 guys, the organization, being in the right spot at the right time.

The three-point line changed everything and the players' ability to be able to make three-pointers changed how you attacked the basket.

Things don't always go smoothly.

If you think something's right and the numbers prove it's right, then go all-in. You can't muddy the waters. You can't just go halfway.

I try to stick to who I am and try to make it work.

I don't care who guards him. He's still going to be Anthony Davis.

Some people say, with my name, they call me Antoni and no D.

I think the thing is you always play with what you have in high school. It was always very fastbreaky-type basketball. And then when I went to Marshall, we did the same thing. We had a weird team. Our center was 6'5' and the forward was about 6'10', but he shot from the outside.

Pau's a great guy.

Having Steve Nash running your team makes you a lot smarter.

Some of the best times are training camp and getting your ideas in how you'd like them.

Every coach in the league does an unbelievable job, and they're prepared and think you're going to outcoach people, or you think that you're going to surprise, but you don't.

Kobe woks harder than anybody I've seen.

It was reported that I said I wouldn't, shouldn't have gone to New York. No. I said I shouldn't have left Steve Nash. It's a little bit different on the meaning.

I think the bottom line, even though there are some bumps and bruises here and there, is Kobe will lead you to victories.

Give me one coach in any sport that's not always on the hot seat. You're just as good as your last game... You're always on a hot seat.

I think about any season, you remember your relationships.

It's a tough league.

James Harden has been and is one of the top players in the league, and he's been that way. He can defend, he's strong, and offensively, he might be the best in the league.

Teams win championships.

The more energy you bring to the game, the more you're going to get the ball. That's always been the case, and if you don't have the energy, then you probably won't get the ball much.

I don't buy it is all about the rings because there are a lot of guys that got rings that can't play a lick. They happened to be on the bench with some great players, so I don't buy into that totally.

That's the challenge you take as a player, coach, whatever... executive... that you're gonna have to perform at a high level, whether that's by luck or whatever, by design, it has to get up there, otherwise it's not gonna be the most pleasant experience, but it's a challenge. And I think everybody would love a challenge like that.

Basketball has changed, and the way the game is played has changed.

If the best that we have is an iso, or if my personnel on my team dictates that that is really good, then that's what we're going to do.

Old coaches, I think everybody will tell you, you got to be who you are, because you try to be somebody you are not and it'll get you. It might work for five minutes but it's not going to work in the long run.