Basketball Players Quotes: top 98 famous quotes about Basketball Players

Basketball Players Quotes & Sayings

Happy to read and share the best inspirational Basketball Players quotes, sayings and quotations on Wise Famous Quotes.

I wasn't as critical during games as I was at practice. Players needed confidence during games more than criticism. — Dean Smith

Players will never do more than you demand. — Jimmy Tillette

I continually stress to my players that all I expect from them at practice and in the games is their maximum effort. — John Wooden

Mick Jagger is in better shape than far too many NBA players. It's up in the air whether the same can be said of Keith Richards. — Bill Walton

The more honor and self-respect among players, the greater the team. — Frosty Westering

If you're straight with your players, they'll be straight with you. — Al McGuire

Although I wanted my players to work to win, I tried to convince them they had always won when they had done their best. — John Wooden

Good players want to be coached ... Great players want to be told the truth — Doc Rivers

Always have your players go and pick-up the guy who draws the charge. — Dean Smith

A key basketball skill is imagery. The best players "see" situations before they happen so they can be prepared — Jack Ramsay

What you specifically teach is what your players will do best. — Dick Bennett

The highest level of achievement is attained by the teams with the best conditioned players — Jack Ramsay

You need your best players to play their best when their best is needed — Jeff Van Gundy

Perform drills that force your players to think — Bobby Knight

They said you have to use your five best players but I found you win with the five who fit together the best. — Red Auerbach

The players have no real self-esteem when it comes to putting the best image out there in a real competitive fashion. — Oscar Robertson

To be successful you need to have good, happy Players. — Norm Sloan

We want men here, not just players. Players are a dime a dozen — Tom Izzo

I love basketball players for what they do for their size - so graceful. — Warren Moon

Regard your team as a family. Give the same attention to the bottom guy as you do the top guy. You have a responsibility to all of your players. — Pete Newell

Players have to buy into your system and be willing to accept the role, you, as the coach, have assigned to them — Chuck Daly

Basketball is not a collection of jams, but a social relation among players, mediated by Michael Jordan. — Guy Debord

Basketball is my passion, and I love it, and I love to see my players succeed. I'm here for them and my children. That's my passion. — Rick Pitino

I'm playing against great players, playing against the best in the world. The competition-that's what I've always wanted. — Kobe Bryant

Kobe's an incredibly talented athlete, and there are many more like him among today's players. — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I'm looking for players who make their teammates better. You do that with enthusiasm and passion. — Mike Krzyzewski

Look for players with character and ability. But remember, character comes first. — Joe Gibbs

Players with high character get better. Players with a serious approach get better. The fools never get better — Jeff Van Gundy

I don't recruit players who are nasty to their parents. I look for players who realize the world doesn't revolve around them. — Pete Carril

You learn from everybody. You learn from the players. You learn from great coaches. You learn from great teams — Tom Thibodeau

Recognize and reward players who put the team first, not just the gifted ones. — Don Meyer

As players see themselves getting better through skill sessions, they will want to get in the gym more — Billy Donovan

Players must do what you want them to do in pressure situations. — Don Meyer

The players I respected most were the toughest players, not those who talked a good game or blocked a shot and acted like a fool. — Jay Bilas

What I learned in my time isn't necessarily being taught now, and I'd like to help impart that knowledge to a new generation of players. — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Help your players to control their emotions - do this through example. — Norm Sloan

Players who are late say that their time is more important than the team. — Don Meyer

In all my years one thing has never changed; You win with serious, tough-minded players. That never changes — Tom Thibodeau

A team is a group of players who support one another on court and who think of the group before they think of themselves — K. C. Jones

Only run special plays for special players; find plays that fit your players. — Don Meyer

Great players never look in the mirror and think I'm a great basketball player. You ask yourself, Am I the best player I can be? — Michael Jordan

Plays are not as important as players, and players are not as important as teammates — Don Meyer

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

Put your two best players away from the ball and bring it back to them. — Don Meyer

Discipline is the greatest form of love you can show someone. Great players crave discipline — Tom Izzo

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

Few players have cast a spell across the game like Yao Ming, before or since. — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Five players on the floor functioning as a single unit: team, team, team-no one more important than the other. — Gene Hackman

Players act like the floor is slanted; they run downhill on fast breaks and jog uphill when getting back on defense — Tates Locke

If you want team play, you must stress defense. Defense makes players unselfish. — John Brady

I think that basketball players should get the job done no matter how it looks on the screen. — Oscar Robertson

I played when I played, and played, I think, against the greatest players in the greatest time in the history of basketball. — Oscar Robertson

The young Obama's lack of playing time on the high school basketball team was due more to his ability than the coach's preference for white players. — David Maraniss

We stop practice every time we see one of our players not blocking out. — Jim Calhoun

What we do at LSU is to develop players and make them better. — John Brady

The greatest compliment to any player is he is a great teammate. We can't all be great players, but we can all be great teammates — Jay Bilas

I want to be one of the best players in the game. — Kevin Durant

Name 12 players better than me. — Jalen Rose

The more your players have to think on the basketball court, the slower their feet get. — Jerry Tarkanian

Teams that play together beat those with superior players who play more as individuals. — Jack Ramsay

Players draw confidence from a poised, alert coach who anticipates changing in game conditions — Jack Ramsay

The guy said NBA players are one in a million, ... I said, 'Man, look, I'm going to be that one in a million. — Kobe Bryant

Basketball is a team game. But that doesn't mean all five players should have the same amount of shots. — Dean Smith

You don't win games as a coach during games. You win games as a coach before games. Players win during games, not coaches — Red Auerbach

Systems win! Believe in your system, and then sell it to your players. — Billy Donovan

The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy. — Jerry Tarkanian

Basketball is great; no one in Europe seems to believe just how close the spectators can sit to the players. — Michael Douglas

My players on defense must have a hand-up on every shot. If not, they run sprints. — Rick Majerus

Basketball is a sport that involves the subtle interweaving of players at full speed to the point where they are thinking and moving as one. — Phil Jackson

Coaches win practices, players win games — Pete Carril

Practices should be for the players and not the coach. Practices should be fun for the players, positive in nature, and last no more than two hours. — Norm Sloan

Your best players have to unite and inspire the group ... otherwise, they'll divide the group — Jeff Van Gundy

Don't let talent get in way of team performance. Great players do what's outstanding for team, not what makes them stand out — Jerry West

I think coaches sometimes foul their own players out of game by benching them too long when in foul trouble — Jeff Van Gundy

On good teams coaches hold players accountable, on great teams players hold players accountable — Joe Dumars

I don't need my players to like me. I need them to play for me — Jerry Sloan

Players must be able to carry out simple instructions from the bench to the court. If they can't, then they can't play — Bobby Knight

I'm looking for activity. I put players in and take them out based on effort and defense, not making or missing shots — Doc Rivers

I do not want players who do not have a keen desire to win and do not play hard and aggressively to accomplish that objective. — John Wooden

What I've talked about the entire series and throughout this playoffs is about intensity and effort, desire and will of our players. — Bill Laimbeer

Men own basketball teams. Every year cheerleaders' outfits get tighter and briefer, and players' shorts get baggier and longer. — Rita Rudner

I also wanted my basketball players to know that I really cared about them. Forget basketball; as a person, I cared, I cared about their family. — John Wooden

I'm a lot better coach when I have really good players — Chuck Daly

Good players can take coaching; great players can take coaching and learn. — John Wooden

Even the greatest players accept coaching and value the need for discipline and the order that it brings to the team — Jack Ramsay

The goal is to make practice more difficult, physically/mentally, than anything your players will face during a game. — Bobby Knight

There was nothing magical that the coaching staff did. This is about the players. — Bill Laimbeer

I think one of the most immoral things is college football and basketball, where everybody is making money except the players. — Frank Deford

I never let our players get satisfied, I never let our Coaches get satisfied, I was never satisfied. We can always do it better. — John Wooden

Don't be afraid to let your players know how much you care about them — Thad Matta

Just remember, their fans think their players are supermen. We'll we're the kryptonite, and we're going to win. — Jim Larranaga

I don't know hardly any of the players who have the in-between game like me, who can go to any position on the court. — Oscar Robertson

In practice, don't just run basketball drills, teach the players how to play basketball. — Don Meyer

My mother was a champion high-jumper. My three brothers are basketball players. We've all been very athletic. — Grace Jones

We may not be the best conditioned team in the country, but our players think they are. — John Wooden

You have to teach now - tell a kid how to box out, tell him how to pass, teach him footwork. Players don't understand that anymore. — Oscar Robertson

It's not what you tell your players that counts. It's what they hear. — Red Auerbach

Stand up for your players. Show them you care on and off the court. — Red Auerbach