89 Basketball Quotes

Let these basketball quotes encourage and inspire you to always give your best. Words said by players, coaches and others to motivate you. You will find the quotes apply to life situations as well as to sports.

Inspiring Basketball Quotes to Apply to Life

Be inspired by these quotes said by basketball players and coaches. While they may have been talking about the game their words are inspiring and encouraging and can be applied to life.

Do your best when no one is looking. If you do that, then you can be successful in anything that you put your mind to.Bob Cousy, Basketball Player
Best

Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise. Kobe Bryant, Basketball Player
Challenge

I believe that good things come to those who work. Wilt Chamberlain

I believe that good things come to those who work.Wilt Chamberlain, Basketball Player
Good

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

There is nothing wrong with dedication and goals, but if you focus on yourself, all the lights fade away and you become a fleeting moment in life.Pete Maravich
Focus

We try to stress the little things because little things lead to big things.Steve Alford, Basketball Coach
Greatness

Successful programs consist of people working hard, working together, while never worrying about who gets the credit.Don Meyer
Worry

Good, better, best. Never let it rest.
Until your good is better and your better is best. Tim Duncan
Motivational Poems

If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.Michael Jordan
Giving Up

If something works for another school, use it. Don’t act like you are too good to use other ideas. Hubie Brown, Basketball Coach
Ideas

What I do is listen and pay attention. I listen to words and I can tell if they’re trustworthy or if they’re honest. Moses Malone
Listening

In order to achieve to achieve positive results, one must work for them, not hope for them.Bob Knight
Hope

Love never fails; Character never quits; and with patience and persistence; dreams do come true.Pete Maravich, Basketball Player
Dream

Never give up. Failure and rejection are just the first steps to succeeding. Jim Valvano, Basketball Player
Short Graduation Quotes

Acknowledge the difficult spot you’re in and commence digging out of it. Don’t point fingers, don’t recriminate, and don’t make excuses. Stay positive and get to work.Rick Pitino, Rebound Rules: The Art of Success 2.0
Positive Attitude

Hard work does pay, and you just have to continue to work ... Jason Kidd

Hard work does pay, and you just have to continue to work …Jason Kidd
Work

Don’t let what other people think decide who you are.Dennis Rodman, Basketball Player
Believe In Yourself

You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.Jerry West, Basketball Player
Motivational Quotes for Work

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

There’s no such thing as coulda, shoulda, or woulda. If you shoulda and coulda, you woulda done it.Pat Riley, Basketball Coach
Encouraging

I seek to leave the world a little better place than I found it.James Naismith, Inventor of Basketball
Change The World

I really get motivated when I have doubters. Shaquille O'Neal

I really get motivated when I have doubters.Shaquille O’Neal
Motivational Quotes About Life

I just want to grow spiritually with God. I’m keeping strong at it, just trying to make my walk with faith a little better.Kevin Durant
Spiritual

If you are not intent about what you are doing, you aren’t able to resist the temptation to do something else that might be more fun at the moment.John Wooden, Coach
Inspirational Quotes

If you are afraid of failure you don’t deserve to be successful. Charles Barkley
Cute Quotes

Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.John Wooden, Coach
Quote of The Day

What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.John Wooden, Basketball Coach
Being Yourself

When it comes to team dynamics . . . maintaining a positive atmosphere is crucial.Rick Pitino, Rebound Rules: The Art of Success 2.0
Team

Discipline is not a nasty word. Pat Riley

Discipline is not a nasty word.Pat Riley
Discipline

Have the humility to use your limited knowledge as a starting point for further learning.Don Meyer, Basketball Skills & Drills
Knowledge

Basketball quotes To Make You Smile

Funny quotes about basketball, ones that will bring a smile to your face, but also ones that contain wisdom.

In basketball, distributing shots among teammates is like dispersing cars across different roadways.Ben Taylor, Thinking Basketball
Funny

Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God’s way to say nobody’s perfect.Shaquille O’Neal, Basketball Player
Funny Quotes about Life

Failure is good. It’s fertilizer. Everything I’ve learned about coaching I’ve learned from making mistakes.Rick Pitino, Basketball Coach
Failure

Basketball is like photography, if you don’t focus, all you have is the negative.Dan Frisby
Negativity Quotes

The best thing to do after a poor performance is to bounce back with another great game.Johnny Osaki, NBA’s 50 Greatest Basketball Players of All-Time
Moving Forward

Any American boy can be a basketball star if he grows up, up, up.Bill Vaughn
Growing Up

It’s discouraging to make a mistake, but it’s humiliating when you find out you’re so unimportant that nobody noticed it. Chuck Daly
Discouragement

One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Basketball Player
Top Ten Quotes

The only difference between a good shot and a bad shot is if it goes in or not. Charles Barkley
Cool

Encouraging Quotes About the Game of Basketball

Use these basketball quotes to motivate and encourage those playing the game.

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

Research has shown that people who meditate and think about every aspect of the game in their heads are better prepared for the game environment when the moment of truth arrives. Jame Wilson, How to Be Better At Basketball in 21 days
Thinking

Playing basketball calls for every part of your body, and every ability to move possessed by the human body.Dre Baldwin, Basketball: The 9 Essential Game Skills
Ambition

Basketball gave me the confidence to speak out and it gave me the platform to be heard.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Basketball Player
Self Esteem

Coach McCormick now believes that playing pickup games is better for player development. He’s seen that players become aware of their weaknesses.Keith Rumjahn, Coaching from the base up
Personal Development

In fact, it is the success of the entire team that brings home a championship title.Johnny Osaki, NBA’s 50 Greatest Basketball Players of All-Time
Encouraging Poems

I grew up watching basketball played the right way. Guys looking for the open man. Guys making the extra pass. Guys giving their best and coming through in big moments.Bill Simmons, The Book of Basketball
Best Motivational Quotes

Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.Larry Bird
Never Quit

Inspiring Quotes About and By Basketball Players

Find quotes from successful basketball players and quotes about them. Keys to success can be found in these quotes.

Despite being lavished with all the attention, Michael Jordan never lost his sense of humility.Charlton Best, Michael Jordan: The Amazing Story of the Greatest Basketball Playerï¿½Ever
Michael Jordan Quotes

Watching Nash from his early years in Dallas to his prime in Phoenix, it was unbelievable to see a man who many thought would never last in the National Basketball Association, prove all of his doubters wrong.Calyton Geoffreys, Steve Nash: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball’s Greatest Point Guards
Words of Encouragement

There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I don’t believe there is only one greatest player either. Everyone plays in different eras. I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else’s talent. I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era.Michael Jordan
Change

Durability is part of what makes a great athlete. Bill Russell

Durability is part of what makes a great athlete. Bill Russell, Basketball Player
Sports

The time when there is no one there to feel sorry for you or to cheer for you is when a player is made. Tim Duncan, Basketball Player
Great Quotes about Life

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

The best teams have chemistry. They communicate with each other and they sacrifice personal glory for the common goal. Dave DeBusschere, Basketball Player
Teamwork

Instead, he (Michael Jordan) re-directed all of his energies to sports, playing basketball and baseball with the same drive and determination as his siblings and parents had with their work.Charlton Best, Michael Jordan:The Amazing Story of the Greatest Basketball Playerï¿½Ever
Determination

As the game has evolved, the demands upon players have evolved, and practices must evolve to meet these changing demands.Brian McCormick, The 21st Century Basketball Practice
Stress

Michael Jordan is the greatest player ever because he has the best individual contributions to the team’s success in the regular season and postseason to go along with winning 6 NBA Championships.Johnny Osaki, NBA’s 50 Greatest Basketball Players of All-Time
Success

Preparation is critical, but sometimes in such moments, the best thing you can do has nothing to do with what’s happening on the court but what is going on inside the players’ heads.Jay Triano, Open Look
Mindset

One of the ways to improve creativity is to force players to think.Keith Rumjahn, Coaching from the base up
Creativity

A lot of late nights in the gym, a lot of early mornings, especially when your friends are going out, you’re going to the gym, those are the sacrifices that you have to make if you want to be an NBA basketball player.Jason Kidd, Basketball Player
Motivational

It was the loss of the varsity spot that caused things to turn around as Jordan took the bad news and made it his motivation to improve for next year and work harder on his basketball skills with the goal to make the varsity team.Clayton Geoffreys, Michael Jordan: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball’s Greatest Players
Willpower

Talent does all of the hard work on the court, but a player’s character and demeanor on and off of it are what defines his future as a superstar.Clayton Geoffreys, Kawhi Leonard: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball’s Best All-Around Players
Character

Hall of Fame player and coach John Wooden stated that all players mustlearn to execute the fundamental skills properly and quickly in order to be successful.Don Meyer, Basketball Skills & Drills
Successful

Basketball Quotes that Relate to Winning and What It Takes

Quotes that describe what it takes to win in basketball. Many of the thoughts can also be applied to winning in life.

I’ve learned what it feels like to lose, believe me. But I think, in the end, that is just going to make winning that much better. Kevin Durant, Basketball Player
Winning

Your best player has to set a tone of intolerance for anything that gets in the way of winning. Jeffrey Van Gundy, Basketball Coach
Tolerance

Your program must have an overriding purpose which is clearly visible and which teaches lessons beyond winning. Don Meyer
Purpose

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, Basketball Player
Goals

You have to earn your right to win the game with effort and togetherness.Brad Stevens
Effort

I believe you win games by what you do from your first practice until your first game. Dr. Jack Ramsay
Practice

You have no choices about how you lose, but you do have a choice about how you come back and prepare to win again.Pat Riley
Choices

I try to do the right thing at the right time. They may just be little things, but usually they make the difference between winning and losing. Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Make A Difference

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. Mike Krzyzewski, Basketball Coach
Example

I would tell players to relax and never think about what’s at stake. Just think about the basketball game. If you start to think about who is going to win the championship, you’ve lost your focus. Michael Jordan, Basketball Player
Stay Focused

They say that a successful basketball team is one where: … Defeat is accepted with dignity and lessons are learned from mistakes.Jame Wilson, How to Be Better At Basketball in 21 days
Defeat

The key is not the ‘will to win’ï¿½ everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important. Bob Knight
Dedication

Basketball Quotes about Coaching

Being a coach in basketball or in any other sport requires many attributes and skills. Here find quotes from coaches and others that will assist you if you are coaching a team.

Please be aware that if you volunteer to coach youth basketball, you’re taking on a very important role. How you approach the season and how you interact with the kids will affect how they feel about themselves, the sport of basketball, and you. Greg Bach, Coaching Basketball For Dummies
Volunteer

Basketball, like all sports, is predicated on the execution of fundamentals. The coach is a teacher. His subject: fundamentals. Dr Jack Ramsay, Basketball Coach
Teacher

Coach Wooden’s most important lesson was that we should never focus on the outcome but on the activity itself.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me
Life Lesson

Good players want to be coached. . . . Great players want to be told the truth. Doc Rivers, Basketball Coach
Truth

To have long term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way. Pat Riley
Coaching

Sometimes you will hate me because I will tell you the truth about your game. And the truth can hurt/humble you. Doc Rivers
Hate

Coaches can talk and talk and talk about something, but if you get it on tape and show it to them, it is so much more effective. Larry Bird
Action Speaks Louder Than Words

The coach should be the absolute boss, but he still should maintain an open mind. Red Auerbach
Open Minded

The key to coaching is not what you do, but the way you do it. The intangibles, the motivational parts of the game are the most important facets of it. Rick Pitino
Positive

I didn’t get into teaching and coaching for the number of wins or the money. It was a passion for trying to help young people. Bo Ryan
Passion

A bad day coaching basketball is better than a good day doing almost anything else. Bob Hurley
Good Day

Winning coaches look for opportunities to praise. Anything that reflects a commitment to the team is praiseworthy. Bill Parcells
Opportunity

Helping kids get a handle on the basics of the game – from dribbling and shooting to rebounding and defending – is crucial for their long-term enjoyment of the sport.Greg Bach, Coaching Basketball For Dummies
Joy