Top 1200 Good Basketball Quotes & Sayings - Page 8

I thought those three years when we won championships, I really was good enough to play in the All-Star game. I felt I deserved to be in the top whatever that would be, the top 20-some players in the league. Really felt that comfortable and confident on the basketball court.

Once people couldn't trust the college game, some checked out the pro game, but that was in big trouble, too. We had no clock and a lot of faults. People looked at the slow pace and at big guys like George Mikan and said pro basketball was just for overgrown pituitary cases. Baseball and football were numbers one and two and pro basketball wasn't even in the same universe.

My dad was a huge basketball influence in my life on and off the court. Playing for him and having him around, having him push me harder than maybe another coach would have was a huge blessing for me. Getting to play with my brother was an unreal experience at Oklahoma, in college, it's some of the funnest times I've had in basketball, and I'll cherish those memories forever.

I think every basketball player I know loves ping pong. Everyone played in on the Dream Team. I played Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullin and even David Stern once. David Stern saw I was pretty good.

You don't have to be best friends as basketball players but I do believe in chemistry. I think it makes everything different if a team is really together and they're all on that same page. They might not like each other, per se, but if you're on the same page and the chemistry is there, you can play great basketball. You can go back to teams like Detroit, the Bad Boys. Those guys had great chemistry, that's why they won.

I don't think anyone could be the next Dick Vitale. I mean that in a good way. More than an announcer, Dick is an ambassador for the game. Dick is in class by himself. Like what he does or not, what he has done to expand the popularity of college basketball is phenomenal.

Basketball has brought me a lot of joy, brought me a lot of good things. Just that side of it has really affected me.

A football player is often bigger than a basketball player - more massive, that is. The basketball player is taller and more slender. So it is with redwoods. The tallest redwoods are often slender, and so they aren't the largest ones.

My whole family likes to play basketball. George II plays for his high school team and George III and George IV and George V are going to be good players. One day we're going to have a team and call it Georgetown.

I tried out for my basketball team every year and I never made it. You had to buy the shoes before you knew if you were on the team because it took a few weeks for them to ship. I bought the shoes every year, never once made the team, had a ton of high school basketball shoes.

I think when I moved to the United States and saw how serious basketball was and how good I was compared to everyone else. You just came from Canada and you're top five in the country; you're young and everyone says you can be a pro. That's when I started thinking: if I work hard, the dream can come true.

I hear that players tend to burn out of basketball, but I absolutely never had that experience myself. There were many times in my life where I got cut from a team I wanted to make, or didn't get playing time in high school, and even into college. But setbacks always inspired me to work harder, spend more time in the gym, play more, learn more, and watch more basketball.

It's humbling to know that you have fans all over America and all over the world and they want you to play on their respective basketball team. It's very humbling that they respect the way I play the game of basketball. I can't discredit that. I can't say I don't enjoy it because you put in a lot of hard work to have fans. And for me to be a role model and for me to have fans all over is great. It's very humbling.

We didnt come out with any energy. We know were not good enough to let the game come to us. We have to come with high energy, play hard team basketball and do everything the right way. Coming into the season, we all knew we didnt have too much room for error.

I started to think I could do just as much by playing basketball and setting a good sporting example than I could by going on the mission. But in the end I realized the mission was what was expected of me and was what would be better for me in the end.

My brother one time after a little league basketball game, I think he messed up or something had happened in the game, ends up getting in an argument with my dad. Ultimately he gets pushed down and he ends up cutting the back of his head. He had six or seven stitches over a 10-year-old basketball game. That was tough to watch.

There's a lot of people that think I'm a terrible basketball player, so it's just gonna piss me off. And if it's people who think I'm good, I'll be happy. I'm just not gonna read it at all and stay content in my own mind.

Obviously the thing that's cool about games - a basketball game is just a basketball game. The thing about video games is that each different video game can be in a completely different genre.

The best part of basketball, for those people on the inside, is the bus going to the airport after you've won a game on an opponent's floor. It's been a very tough battle. And preferably, in the playoffs. And that feeling that you have, together as a group, having gone to an opponent's floor and won a very good victory, is as about as high as you can get.

I got on the scale and I weighed around 203. I'm only 5'7. I was about to turn 30, and I wasn't active anymore. So I started working with a nutritionist and a trainer. I played basketball twice a week. And soon it all just became a habit for me. I became addicted to something good for a change.

But basketball was always something I was good at, that I was passionate about. I just didn't have the confidence to play in front of people at the time, at that early age. Now, I feel like I'm ready to play in front of people and play on the big stage.

At the end of the day, we're here to play basketball but to help the community, too. It's something that makes me feel good and I do it more for me than for the others, but at the end of the day helping others helps yourself, too.

You really watch basketball and study basketball, the more you realize, the pass really is beautiful. I'm not just talking about the pass where you look away or anything. Just the right pass at the right time to get somebody open is just beautiful. There is nothing better than that. It's contagious - it makes everybody happy.

It's going to be crazy. All eight teams here are good teams. Hopefully the atmosphere will be great because it's going to be great basketball.

Perhaps basketball and poetry have just a few things in common, but the most important is the possibility of transcendence. The opposite is labor. In writing, every writer knows when he or she is laboring to achieve an effect. You want to get from here to there, but find yourself willing it, forcing it. The equivalent in basketball is aiming your shot, a kind of strained and usually ineffective purposefulness. What you want is to be in some kind of flow, each next moment a discovery.

I think it's very important for every player after a long season, whether it's good or bad, to get total rest. Not just physically and mentally from basketball and the pressure on the court, but the pressures outside, too. Then, when you come back, everything's exciting again.

The way I've always approached it is if we're winning and people want to talk about me, it's fine. If we're losing, then you really get on me, and I'll definitely try to be better to help us win. But I'm fine with it, as long as we're winning and we're playing good basketball.

People will say you should quit running if you're a slow runner. Or you should quit basketball if you can't dribble with your left hand. I don't agree with that. If you're not a very good reader at 14, nobody thinks you should stop reading.

My parents were willing to spend time and invest time in my hobbies, no matter how odd they seemed. When I was really young, I collected rocks and minerals. But mostly I would hang out with friends, playing basketball. It was not the most eventful childhood, but I think that's good.

The NBA (National Basketball Association) is never just a business. It's always business. It's always personal. All good businesses are personal. The best businesses are very personal.

I attempt to create a world that hypnotizes me as I make it. I hope others can get lost in it in the same way, but to be honest, I don't care that much. It isn't like a basketball player is out on the court hoping that people like the game of basketball as the game goes on. If people don't see it, they don't see it. It is a fragile thing and most people recognize that and respect it. Even if for whatever reason, they don't like the painting.

I hope I epitomize the American dream. For I came against long odds, from the ghetto to the very top of my profession. I was not immediately good at basketball. It did not come easy. It came as the result of a lot of hard work and self-sacrifice. The rewards, where they worth it? One thousand times over.

The way my dad set things up was for me to oversee the business side and for my brother to oversee the basketball side. I know my dad felt that was a good system, and that's the system we're trying to make work.

I had a basketball net that my dad had put up outside. I went out there and dribbled all day long. I wanted to play basketball. Then Id go baseball, and then Id go to football. I remember playing football in a plowed field. I grew up going from one thing to the next wanting to play something.

Like a versatile baller, George Dohrmann swings seamlessly from position to position: investigative journalist, social critic, gifted storyteller. The result is a gem of a book that addresses THE question central to contemporary basketball: how does such an unseemly culture spring from such an essentially beautiful game? You'll come away rooting harder than ever for the kids and harder than ever against the basketball profiteers.

I love being a pavement artist; seriously, I do. It's like when guys who would normally hate being freakishly tall discover basketball, or when girls with abnormally long fingers sit down at a piano. Blending in, going unseen, being a shadow in the sun is what I'm good at. Seeing the shadows, it turns out, is not my natural gift.

It's a really weird mindset to kind of try to take my mentality on the basketball court and bring it here on to the golf course. I don't want to have too high of expectations on, like, each hole, just try to enjoy the process, but hopefully get out to a good start tomorrow and be in the conversation and see what happens.

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.

The thing is 3,900 out of 4,000 college basketball players are very happy to have a scholarship. They're happy. They've got a $70,000 scholarship and they've got money in their pocket. It's the other hundred guys and they're all going to make money playing basketball and the top guys are going to make a lot of money.

You should never want to be a one position player. If you're a real basketball player, you should be able to play any position. That's the difference between really good players and average players.

I am really competitive. I take my basketball very seriously, even though I'm not really that good. I take it very seriously.

Nowadays children look at everyone in the magazines and they want to be a basketball star or on a television show, but there is only so many people who can do those things and not that you shouldn't aim or dream for these things, but there are so many other fantastic jobs. So it's good to talk about how to get there and how difficult it is to get there.

Sports have always been a big part of my life. At school, I played a lot of different sports, and I was competing with other schools. I did everything: running, volleyball, basketball, soccer, Olympic-style gymnastics, and more! My history with sports gave me good concentration, focus, strength, and motivation to stay healthy.

My father was always pushing me to become a basketball player. In Africa, when you're a kid, every kid loves to play soccer, and I loved playing soccer. But my dad didn't want me playing soccer. He would joke, 'C'mon, man, you're too tall!' Then he promised me, 'If you start playing basketball, I'm going to give you my jersey.'

The NBA is all about winning, but at this level (college basketball) winning doesn't make you happy. You can win, and play lousy, and in my program, feel lousy. To me it's about: How good can we be.

I had a basketball net that my dad had put up outside. I went out there and dribbled all day long. I wanted to play basketball. Then I'd go baseball, and then I'd go to football. I remember playing football in a plowed field. I grew up going from one thing to the next wanting to play something.

I played one year of competitive basketball, actually. I don't remember what grade I was in, maybe middle school or something. I was the point guard - I was the smallest one always. I did my best; I thought I did pretty good. I was always a little bit better at soccer, so I had to make the decision.

I just feel like there's a lot of things more important than just basketball, and I love basketball. It's what I want to do for the longest time possible. It's what I eat, it's what I sleep about, it's what I breathe, it's in my lifestyle. I just really feel like there's more important things than just putting the ball in the hoop.

I've tried to handle winning well, so that maybe we'll win again, but I've also tried to handle failure well. If those serve as good examples for teachers and kids, then I hope that would be a contribution I have made to sport. Not just basketball, but to sport.

I got hurt my senior year of college. I ended up breaking my fifth metatarsal after I pulled out of the Draft. That was a good experience for me to kind of find myself, figure out a plan for post-basketball because obviously it doesn't last forever.

Anybody involved in sports in Missouri knows it's a great sports state. It is a great sports state, particularly in basketball and baseball. Particularly. Not to demean football, but it's a baseball state and a basketball state.

I know people know how good I am playing basketball... All I do is just use it as motivation: keep getting better, keep doing the same stuff and doing it even better.

I have to give credit to the NBA, because they've done an unbelievable job of taking our game global and putting us in a position to be able to come here and other places in the world and see how big the game of basketball is. If you have never been here, you might not really understand how amazing and how big basketball is. These fans in China love the sport, and they have more players playing than we have people living in the US.

We never played ball for money. We played because it was fun and I was good at it. But a lot of guys get paid big money to play this game, and I have a family I want to help out. But basketball will always be a game to me.

I was from a town called Manhasset, very nice town out on the North Shore of Long Island, New York, but there was a little area, predominantly black population, and it was a small school. I played on the basketball team when I was a junior, and I was the only white guy on the starting five, the top seven actually, and we were really good.

It's always good to have people from my school accomplish great things. It doesn't necessarily have to be just basketball. I want to see more people do other things from my school.

I don't look at myself as a basketball coach. I look at myself as a leader who happens to coach basketball.

It was my mom who pushed me. My mom actually pushed my dad to train me. My dad knows what it takes to play at this level and be a really good basketball player, and he just wanted me to make the choice for myself.

I tried golf for a while, but I wasn't very good at it, so I didn't play a lot of golf. I enjoy all sports, not just football. I like basketball, baseball, and I got into the World Cup. So really, sports in general are my life, and football specifically.

I've been No. 12 my entire career. My cousin Nikki Haerling was a good basketball player, she wore No. 12 in high school and college, and my dad, he was No. 12 as well. I actually just started wearing it when I got to high school my freshman year.