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Once you are labeled 'the best' you want to stay up there, and you can't do it by loafing around.
Sep 10, 2025
Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.
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.
I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.
Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.
I play to win, whether during practice or a real game.
They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds.
You don't have to live anybody else's story.
Everybody pulls for David, nobody roots for Goliath.
Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God's way to say nobody's perfect.
Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits.
If you get tough mentally, you can get tough physically and overcome fatigue.
Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.
Successful programs consist of people working hard, working together, while never worrying about who gets the credit.
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.
Systems win! Believe in your system, and then sell it to your players.
It's what you get from games you lose that is extremely important.
In all the research you do as a coach, studying other coaches and championship-type situations, you find that all those teams combined talent with great defense. You've got to stop other teams to win.
Not only is there more to life than basketball, there's a lot more to basketball than basketball.
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.
Basketball doesn't build character it reveals it.
The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy.
Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up.
Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals.
Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise
What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.
If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes.
The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.
When I was young, I never wanted to leave the court until I got things exactly correct. My dream was to become a pro.
We try to stress the little things because little things lead to big things.
A guy who gives you less than what he has to give is, one, telling you what he thinks of you, and two, telling you what he thinks of himself.
Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.
Compare where you are to where you want to be, and you'll get nowhere
Great teamwork is the only way we create the breakthroughs that define our careers.
People ask me if I could fly, I said, 'yeah....' for a little while.
I know I'm never as good or bad as one single performance. I've never believed in my critics or my worshippers, and I've always been able to leave the game at the arena.
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
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.
I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don't do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.
It is foolish to expect a young man to follow your advice and to ignore your example.
Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation.
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
Simplify the game as much as possible. When you add, you must subtract.
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.
I think the most important thing about coaching is that you have to have a sense of confidence about what you're doing. You have to be a salesman and you have to get your players, particularly your leaders, to believe in what you're trying to accomplish on the basketball floor.
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.
I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.