Basketball Player Quotes

“I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”

“I never thought a role model should be negative.”

“If you don't back it up with performance and hard work, talking doesn't mean a thing.”

“You're an idiot. You've screwed up every play we ever ran. You're too stupid to even remember the plays. We ought to get rid of you.”

“learning 's a gift, even when "pain" ,s your teacher!”

“Even though, physically, I can't do it, the mind says, 'Yeah, I can still do it,' and I still think I can do it better than most in the NBA, … Driven From Within.”

“The best come from the worst”

“The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.”

“It is nerve-wracking watching my kids' games.”

“If you quit ONCE it becomes a habit.Never quit!!!”

“When I was playing before I retired, I never really understood the appreciation and the respect that people gave me. People had treated me like a god or something, and that was very embarrassing.”

“I was aware of my success, but I never stopped trying to get better.”

“I just feel that at this particular time in my career, I've reached the pinnacle of my career, I've achieved a lot in that short amount of time, if you want to call it short, but I just feel that I don't have anything else to myself to prove.”

“There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I don't believe there is only one greatest player either.”

“You know what I think? Very few people play because they love the game. Most of them play because they make good money. They keep playing because of the money. I could care less about it. If I don't love the game, no check is going to keep me playing.”

“To learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail.”

“If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them”

“My advice is find fuel in failure. Sometimes failure gets you closer to where you want to be.”

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

“I went to a bookstore to try to find a book. The bottom line is, it all comes by trial and error. It was scary and exciting at first you don't know what to expect. But once you look into your child's eyes, you forget about that.”

“My heroes are and were my parents. I can't see having anyone else as my heroes.”

“When I step onto the court, I don't have to think about anything. If I have a problem off the court, I find that after I play, my mind is clearer and I can come up with a better solution. It's like therapy. It relaxes me and allows me to solve problems.”

“Other than my parents, no one had a bigger influence on my life than Coach Smith. He was more than a coach – he was my mentor, my teacher, my second father. Coach was always there for me whenever I needed him and I loved him for it. In teaching me the game of basketball, he taught me about life. My heart goes out to Linnea and their kids. We've lost a great man who had an incredible impact on his players, his staff and the entire UNC family.”

“It's always been said that when I can't find a way to do anything, I will find a way to do it.”

“I heave the basketball; I know it sails in a parabola, exhibiting perfect symmetry, which is interrupted by the basket. It's funny, but it is always interrupted by the basket.”