Here are some great basketball quotes to motivate and inspire you. As you may already know, basketball is a team sport. It’s great to aim to be the star player but individuals don’t win games and championships, teams do. Work on your individual game as best as you can but remember, your teammates are your allies who have the same goal as you do, to win the game.
You’ll find a few team related bball quotes as well as ones about putting the time and practice to become the best basketball player you can be. To be one of the best, you must practice and train like your life depended it on because if you don’t the many who do will wipe the court with you when you play them.
Let’s start off with a motivational basketball video:
“A basketball team is like the five fingers on your hand, if you can get them all together, you have a fist. That’s how I want you to play!” – Mike Krzyzewski
“When you miss a shot, never think of what you did wrong. Take the next shot thinking of what you must do right.” – Tony Alfonso
“Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.” – John Wooden
“I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.” – Michael Jordan
“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.” – Michael Jordan
“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” – John Wooden
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson
“Players with fight never lose a game, they just run out of time.” – John Wooden
“It’s what you get from games you lose that is extremely important.” – Pat Riley
“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.” – Micheal Jordan
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.” – Tim Duncan
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because character is what you really are, while reputation is what others think you are.” – John Wooden
“Basketball is a game that gives you every chance to be great, and puts every pressure on you to prove that you haven’t got what it takes. It never takes away the chance, and it never eases up on the pressure.” – Bob Sundvold
“The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.” – Bill Russell
“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
“You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise.” – Micheal Jordan
“Conditioning is crucial. No matter how good you are, you won’t be able to do much if you can’t even get yourself down the court.” – Tipss.org
“One reason I was able to do well in college was that I mastered the fundamentals. You’ve got to have them down before you can even think about playing.” – Larry Bird
“All the successful teams I’ve ever seen have three characteristics: They play unselfish, they play together, and they play hard.” – Larry Brown
“I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.” – Michael Jordan
“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
“You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.” – Jerry West
“I’m always hungry. I want to be the best.” – Kevin Durant
“It is far better to shoot an airball than to not shoot at all for fear of missing.” – Tony Alfonso
“Practice to beat the best.” – Dick Bennett
“Basketball is like photography, if you don’t focus, all you have is the negative.” – Dan Frisby
“Sometimes a player’s greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.” – Scottie Pippen
“Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.” – Larry Bird
“I’m hungrier than those other guys out there. Every rebound is a personal challenge.” – Dennis Rodman
“Basketball, more than any other sport, is a team game…about the thousands of small, unselfish acts, the sacrifices on the part of the players that result in team building.” – Dean Smith
“If you practice with emotion and purpose you’ll play with passion and confidence.” – Unknown
“Don’t be afraid of failure. This is the way to succeed.” – LeBron James
“If you are going to take it to the bank, then you better cash it in.” – Shannon Fish
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” – Michael Jordan
“These young guys are playing checkers. I’m out there playing chess.” – Kobe Bryant
“I can accept failure, but I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan
“Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits.” – Mike Krzyzewski
“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” – Pat Riley
“You always have to give 100% because if you don’t someone, somewhere will give 100% and they will beat you when you meet.” – Ed Macauley
“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.” – Michael Jordan