Basketball is more than just a sport.

It’s a passion, a lifestyle, a way of expressing yourself.

Whether you play it, watch it, or coach it, basketball can teach you valuable lessons about teamwork, discipline, perseverance, and leadership.

In this article, we have collected some of the most inspiring and motivational basketball quotes from famous players, coaches, and commentators.

Inspirational Basketball Quotes

Here are the best inspiring basketball quotes from some famous basketball players.

•  “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” ― Michael Jordan, ‘I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan On The Pursuit Of Excellence’.
•  “A team will always appreciate a great individual if he’s willing to sacrifice for the group.” ―  Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
•  “The important thing is that your teammates have to know you’re pulling for them and you really want them to be successful.” ―  Kobe Bryant.
•  “Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for them.” ―  Magic Johnson.
•  “You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.” ―  Jerry West.
•  “Ask me to steal, block out, sacrifice, lead, dominate, anything. But it’s not what you ask of me it’s what I ask of myself.” ―  LeBron James.
•  “A strong leader accepts blame and gives the credit. A weak leader gives blame and accepts the credit.” ― John Wooden, ‘Wooden On Leadership: How To Create A Winning Organization’.
•  “Success is a result of consistent practice of winning skills and actions. There is nothing miraculous about the process. There is no luck involved.” ―  Bill Russell.
•  “The game has its ups and downs, but you can never lose focus of your individual goals and you can’t let yourself be beat because of lack of effort.” ―  Michael Jordan.
•  “The important thing is that your teammates have to know you’re pulling for them and you really want them to be successful.” ―  Kobe Bryant.

Motivational Basketball Quotes

Quotes with the power to inspire and motivate you at your core!

https://youtu.be/uOtYl2SYURI

• “The basketball court for me, during a game, is the most peaceful place I can imagine. On the basketball court, I worry about nothing. When I’m out there, no one can bother me.” ―  Michael Jordan.

• “Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody.” ―  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
•  “In order to achieve positive results, one must work for them, not hope for them.” ―  Bob Knight.
•  “I always laugh when people ask me about rebounding techniques. I’ve got a technique. It’s called just go get ball.” ― Charles Barkley.
• “Once you are labeled the best you want to stay up there, and you can’t do it by loafing around. If I don’t keep changing, I’m history.” ―  Larry Bird.
•  “Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.” ― Larry Bird.
•  “Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God’s way to say nobody’s perfect.” ―  Shaquille O’Neal.
•  “As a professional athlete a lot is going to be said about you – but I just try to move forward and try to achieve my goals.” ― LeBron James, interview with Donald McRae, Guardian.
•  “Don’t let winning make you soft. Don’t let losing make you quit. Don’t let your teammates down in any situation.” ― Larry Bird.
• “The eight laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.” ―  John Wooden.

Famous Basketball Quotes

Some of the best basketball quotes from great basketball players and coaches are right here, from basketball game to screen. Read on to find out Stephen Curry’s famous quote.

•  “The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.” ― Bill Russell.
•  “Everybody pulls for David, nobody roots for Goliath.” ―  Wilt Chamberlain.
• “I think that my God-given physical attributes, big hands, and big feet, the way that I’m built, proportion-wise, just made basketball the most inviting sport for me to play.” ―  Julius Erving, interview with The Academy Of Achievement.
• “The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play ‘drop the handkerchief’.” ―  James Naismith.
•  “I’ve never lost a game, I just ran out of time.” ―  Michael Jordan, ‘For The Love Of The Game’.
•  “I’ve never been afraid of big moments. I get butterflies… I get nervous and anxious, but I think those are all good signs that I’m ready for the moment.” ―  Stephen Curry.

•  “The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy.” ―  Jerry Tarkanian.
•  “I can’t stand a ballplayer who plays in fear. Any fellow who has a good shot has got to take it and keep taking it. So he misses – so what?” ―  Red Auerbach.
• “Winning is about having the whole team on the same page.” ―  Bill Walton.
•  “Everything negative — pressure, challenges — are all an opportunity for me to rise.” ―  Kobe Bryant.

Confidence Basketball Quotes

• “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” –  Michael Jordan
•  “If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear.” –  Kobe Bryant

• “To be the best, you have to work the hardest. You have to chase what seems impossible over and over and over again, because giving up is not an option, and when you feel like you’ve reached your limit, it’s only the beginning, that’s when it’s time to dig deep, to find the courage to push some more.” –  LeBron James
•  “Poise and confidence are not possible unless you have prepared correctly. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Poise and confidence are a natural result of proper preparation.” –  John Wooden
•  “If you don’t fall how are you going to know what getting up is like.” –  Steph Curry
•  “The only person who can really motivate you is you.” –  Shaquille O’Neal 
• “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.” –  Tim Duncan
•  “You don’t have to be Magic to be special. You’re already special, you’re you.” –  Magic Johnson
•  “Confidence is everything in this game, if you don’t think you can, you won’t.” –  Jerry West

•  “What is so fascinating about sitting around watching a bunch of pituitary cases stuff a ball through a hoop?”—Woody Allen
• “They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they’d make up their minds.”—Wilt Chamberlain
•  “Fans never fall asleep at our games, because they’re afraid they might get hit by a pass.”—George Raveling
•  “If I weren’t earning $3 million a year to dunk a basketball, most people on the street would run in the other direction if they saw me coming.”—Charles Barkley
•  “The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play “Drop the Handkerchief.”—James Naismith
•  “These are my new shoes. They’re good shoes. They won’t make you rich like me, they won’t make you rebound like me, they definitely won’t make you handsome like me. They’ll only make you have shoes like me. That’s it.”—Charles Barkley
•  “I knew I was dog meat. Luckily, I’m the high-priced dog meat that everybody wants. I’m the good-quality dog meat. I’m the Alpo of the NBA.”—Shaquille O’Neal
•  “There are really only two plays: Romeo and Juliet, and put the darn ball in the basket.”  – Abe Lemons
•  “We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors.”—Weldon Drew
•  “Any time Detroit scores more than a hundred points and holds the other team below a hundred points, they almost always win.”—Doug Collins
•  “I haven’t been able to slam-dunk the basketball for the past five years. Or, for the thirty-eight years before that, either.”—Dave Barry
• “The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy.” – Jerry Tarkanian
•  “Any American boy can be a basketball star if he grows up, up, up.”—Bill Vaughn
•  “You don’t play against opponents, you play against the game of basketball.”—Bobby Knight

Short Basketball Quotes

• “Basketball is a beautiful game when the five players on the court play with one heartbeat.” – Dean Smith
• “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.” – Tim Duncan
• “The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play ‘Drop the Handkerchief.'” – James Naismit

Famous Love and Basketball Quotes

• “All’s fair in love and basketball.” – Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) in the movie “Love and Basketball” (2000)
• “I’ve been in love with you since I was eleven, and the shit won’t go away.” – Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) in the movie “Love and Basketball” (2000)

• “Basketball is just a game. Love and basketball are two entirely different things.” – Coach Hiserman (Alfre Woodard) in the movie “Love and Basketball” (2000)
• “Love is temporary but basketball is forever.” – Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes) in the movie “White Men Can’t Jump” (1992)

• “When you love someone and you’ve lost that one, then nothing really matters.” – Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Morgan Freeman) in the movie “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)

Basketball Quotes Wallpaper

Here are basketball quotes with their authors that can be turned into wallpapers.

• “The only way to get better is to play against somebody who’s better than you.” – Magic Johnson
• “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
• “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson
• “I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.” – Michael Jordan

I hope you enjoyed reading these basketball quotes and found some inspiration from them.

If you want to read more quotes like these, check out my other content on this topic.

Thank you for your time and attention.?

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