Basketball Changes Lives

It’s that glorious time of year again! Basketball season is coming to a climax, as we’ve survived the March Madness and moved into May Mayhem, hold on to your seats… Basketball touches so many lives in so many great ways, we thought we would share some inspirational quotes from some of the best players and coaches in the game:

John Wooden is the most respected and successful college basketball coach of all time. His accomplishments at UCLA will forever be unmatched. Even more incredible than his achievements on the scoreboard is his approach to basketball and life. He still influences the game and the players and he hasn’t coached in over thirty years!

• “A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.”
• “Ability is a poor man’s wealth.”
• “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.”
• “Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.”
• “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
• “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”
  

Bobby Knight may be one of the most famous college basketball coaches, especially noted for his boiling temper, but he had a phenomenal basketball mind.

• “Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.”
• “Everyone wants to be on a winning team, but no one wants to come to practice.”
• “Mental toughness is to physical as four is to one.”
• “The key is not the “will to win” . . . everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.”

Phil Jackson, one of the best coaches in the NBA, inspired his players to look beyond the self to find the Gestalt of the team: the team is larger and more important than any individual player or group of players.

• “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. Of course, it’s no accident that things are more likely to go your way when you stop worrying about whether you’re going to win or lose and focus your full attention on what’s happening right this moment.”
• “Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We.”
• “Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.”
• “Like life, basketball is messy and unpredictable. It has its way with you, no matter how hard you try to control it. The trick is to experience each moment with a clear mind and open heart. When you do that, the game–and life–will take care of itself.”

Pat Riley was amazingly effective at getting the most out of his players, regardless of the situation.

• “There are only two options regarding commitment. You’re either IN or you’re OUT. There’s no such thing as life in-between.”
• “There’s always the motivation of wanting to win. Everybody has that. But a champion needs, in his attitude, a motivation above and beyond winning.”
• “There’s no such thing as coulda, shoulda, or woulda. If you shoulda and coulda, you woulda done it.”
• “To have long term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way.”
• “When you’re playing against a stacked deck, compete even harder. Show the world how much you’ll fight for the winner’s circle. If you do, someday the cellophane will crackle off a fresh pack, one that belongs to you, and the cards will be stacked in your favor.”
• “You have no choices about how you lose, but you do have a choice about how you come back and prepare to win again.”
• “A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.”
• “Being a part of success is more important than being personally indispensable.”
• “Being ready isn’t enough; you have to be prepared for a promotion or any other significant change.”
• “Discipline is not a nasty word.”
• “Don’t let other people tell you what you want.”
• “People who create 20% of the results will begin believing they deserve 80% of the rewards.”

Coach Don Meyer was the fastest coach to 800 wins in the history of College Basketball. Heading Northern State University, he’s the 3rd winningest active coach in college basketball today.

• “Successful programs consist of people working hard, working together, while never worrying about who gets the credit.”
• “Shout praise and whisper criticism.”
• “To be a team, you must be a family.”
• “Discipline and demand without being demeaning.”
• “Recognize and reward players who put the team first, not just the gifted ones.”
• “Shared suffering: one guy messes up and everyone runs. One guy does well and everyone benefits.”
• “Players who are late say that their time is more important than the team.”
• “It is not what you teach, but what you emphasize.”
• “Good shooters take the shots; best shooters take most of the shots.”
• “You build your program from the ideas of great coaches.”
• “Play off your great player… great teams have a go-to player and they play off of him.”
• “Prepare for every practice like you just loss your last game.”
• “When you watch the game, be a student of the game.17. “The team is an extension of the coach.”

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