Basketball Life Quotes:

In basketball - as in life - true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when things are going your way.

- Phil Jackson

topic: Basketball, Joy, True Life, True Joy, Basketball And Life

What to do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.

- Dean Smith

topic: Inspiring, Basketball, Sports, Inspirational Coach, Inspirational Coaching

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.

- Michael Jordan

source: "I Can't Accept Not Trying : Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence". Book by Michael Jordan (p. 129), 1994.

topic: Motivational, Change, Basketball, Favorite Sports, Young Entrepreneurs

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.

- Michael Jordan

topic: Inspirational, Life, Basketball, Motivational Work, Famous Basketball

Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.

- Michael Jordan

topic: Basketball, Sports, Fun, Sports Competition, Enjoy Your Life

Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise

- Michael Jordan

topic: Basketball, Down And, Fundamentals, Basketball And Life, Basketball Is Life

I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it is an illusion to me . . . Failure always made me try harder next time.

- Michael Jordan

topic: Basketball, People, Trying, Sports Competition, Motivational Basketball

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

- Michael Jordan

topic: Basketball, Sports, Hero, Famous Basketball, Basketball And Life

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.

- Michael Jordan

source: Michael Jordan (1994). “I can't accept not trying: Michael Jordan on the pursuit of excellence”

topic: Basketball, Practice, Eight, Motivational Basketball, Chairman

If you make every game a life and death proposition, you're going to have problems. For one thing, you'll be dead a lot.

- Dean Smith

topic: Inspirational, Funny, Basketball, Best Coaches, Basketball Leadership

There is no such thing as life in-between.

- Pat Riley

topic: Motivational, Sports, Inspirational Athlete, Inspirational Coaching, Inspirational Commitment

I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot... when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result.

- Michael Jordan

topic: Inspirational, Positive, Basketball, Sports Mental Toughness, Basketball Player

Remember this, the choices you make in life, make you.

- John Wooden

topic: Basketball, Choices, Coaching, Inspirational Coaching, Sports Coach

Everyting negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise.

- Kobe Bryant

topic: Basketball, Opportunity, Challenges, Basketball And Life, Basketball Is Life

I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.

- Kobe Bryant

source: "Terrell Owens answers your questions". "Dateline" with Stone Phillips, www.nbcnews.com.

topic: Basketball, Attitude, Winning, Winning Basketball, Basketball And Life

If you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.

- Michael Jordan

source: Michael Jordan (1994). “I can't accept not trying: Michael Jordan on the pursuit of excellence”

topic: Teamwork, Winning, Thinking, Individual Goals, Individual Performance

You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.

- Michael Jordan

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Happiness, Improve Self Esteem, Just Believe In Yourself

You can't get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.

- Jerry West

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Leadership, Famous Basketball, Motivational Basketball

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

source: "Nike Culture : The Sign of the Swoosh". Book by Robert Goldman, Stephen Papson (p. 49), 1998.

topic: Inspirational, Life, Motivational, Favorite Sports, Best Success

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

- Michael Jordan

topic: Motivational, Basketball, Loyalty, Loyal And Faithful, Basketball And Life

I don't need too much. Glamour and all that stuff don't excite me. I am just glad I have the game of basketball in my life.

- LeBron James

source: The InsideHoops Interview, www.insidehoops.com. June 14, 2003.

topic: Motivational, Basketball, Nba, Basketball And Life, Basketball Is Life

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

- Wayne Gretzky

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Fitness, Thought Of The Day, Self Determination

If you do the work you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life.

- Michael Jordan

topic: Inspirational, Nba, Shortcuts, Short Cuts, Basketball Is Life

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

- Dean Smith

topic: Basketball, Team, Mean, Basketball Leadership, Winning Basketball

Not only is there more to life than basketball, there's a lot more to basketball than basketball.

- Phil Jackson

topic: Basketball, Hockey, More To Life, Motivational Basketball, Good Basketball

Be true to the game, because the game will be true to you. If you try to shortcut the game, then the game will shortcut you. If you put forth the effort, good things will be bestowed upon you. That's truly about the game, and in some ways that's about life too.

- Michael Jordan

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Nba, Like Mike, Basketball Is Life

I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.

- Kobe Bryant

topic: Motivational, Basketball, Want, Basketball And Life, Basketball Is Life

I always mean what I say, but I don't always say what I'm thinking.

- Dean Smith

topic: Basketball, Mean, Thinking, Basketball Leadership, Basketball And Life