NBA Sayings - Quotes from Basketball players and about Clubs

352 Quotes · 94 Collections

Kobe Bryant → If you don't believe in yourself, nobody else will.

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.

Basketball World Cup 2023 → You guys are better people than players - that means a lot!

Gordon Herbert - September 2023, about Germany winning the World Cup

Dirk Nowitzki → If you give it your all, there's nothing to blame yourself for.

Gordon Herbert → You guys are better people than players - that means a lot!

September 2023, about Germany winning the World Cup

The Last Dance → We went from a shitty team to one of the all-time best dynasties. All you needed was one little match to start that whole fire.

Michael Jordan - Episode 10

LeBron James → You're only concerned if you know you don't have it. We have it.

Olympia 2012 - nach Vorrundenspiel gegen Argentinien2

Chicago Bulls → We went from a shitty team to one of the all-time best dynasties. All you needed was one little match to start that whole fire.

Michael Jordan in The Last Dance - Episode 10

Dennis Rodman → As long as I play ball, I can get any woman I want.

Shaquille O'Neal → My kids are older now. They're kinda upset with me. They're not really upset, but they don't understand. I tell them all the time: "We" ain't rich. "I'm" rich.

October 2021

Giannis Antetokounmpo → I want to become one of the best players, so if you want to be one the best, you have to elevate all aspects of your game.

Derrick Rose → I learn from my mistakes. I did something stupid, and I'm just looking forward to the future.

after being caught speeding1

Stephen Curry → Basketball isn't just a sport. It is an art, one that must be mastered to succeed.

Phil Jackson → It's a great run, we'd had a wonderful time. Good Team. Time to go.

The Last Dance - Episode 10

John Wooden → The most important thing in the world is family and love.

Dallas Mavericks → This kid Luka is having some start to the season... let's go Mavs!

Dirk Nowitzki - November 20191

Charles Barkley → I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids.

Scottie Pippen → Most of basketball is in the mind. But it helps to have big hands.

Kyrie Irving → The only thing I command is respect.

Magic Johnson → There's winning and there's losing - and in life both will happen. What is never acceptable to me is quitting.

Isiah Thomas → If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life.

Larry Bird → I think it's just God disguised as Michael Jordan.

The Last Dance

Miami Heat → So congratulations, again, to the Miami Heat. And now we are going to take a picture that makes me look very short.

Barack Obama - January 28, 2013 - Miami Heat visit the White House1

Los Angeles Lakers → There's no debate. Pau, when he retires, he will have his number in the rafters next to mine.

Kobe Bryant1

Philadelphia 76ers → Philadelphia, baby. You're gonna love it. Best sports fans in the world. Actually the worst, but that's what makes 'em the best.

Stanley Sugerman in Hustle

Bill Russell → Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar → You can't win unless you learn how to lose.

Allen Iverson → I don't wanna be Michael Jordan, I don't wanna be Bird or Isiah. I don't wanna be any of those guys. You know when my career is over, I wanna look in the mirror and say: "I did it my way!"

Jason Terry → We wanna play like there's no tomorrow. If we do that, I have no doubt in my mind, we can be successful.

Rick Carlisle → Ten time all-star, 2007 league-MVP, 2011 finals-MVP.
One day soon we'll have a statue outside the AAC.
Without question, the greatest player in Maverick's history: Dirk Nowitzki.

(as coach for Dallas Mavericks) - NBA World Champion Ring Ceremony 2011

Reggie Miller → Welcome to your Kodak moment, Anderson Verejao!

about being dunked on by Dwayne Wade

Dwight Howard → You need a three? Give it to me!

12/2012, after 2nd 3-pointer of his career

Jeremy Lin → I'm not playing to prove anything to anybody.

Brian Scalabrine → I wonder if Bird, Magic or MJ would care about clicks or likes?

March 2019, via Twitter1

Enes Kanter → But everybody won't love you and you can’t make everybody love you.

(Basketballplayer for Oklahoma City Thunder)4

Kawhi Leonard → I'm just trying to pass Tim Duncan in championships if I can one day. That's my motivation; that's what I strive for. Tim is one of the greatest players who has ever played, so if I could get close or reach that plateau and have my name on that list.

Jerry West → I hate to say it's not a Laker but Michael Jordan. He's been the greatest player I've ever seen. And I'm probably a harsh judge of talent in the sense that I admire players that are really good defensive players and really good offensive players.

Karl Malone → I just work out hard enough that, if I'm craving something, I eat it and know I'm going to burn it off the next day with extra intensity.

Bobby Knight → When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass!

Pat Riley → Look for your choices, pick the best one, then go with it.

Jason Kidd → Each individual has got to look themselves in the mirror and try and see what they can do better. Period. Point blank.

Carmelo Anthony → I believe that you should put the right people around you, people that will not let anything go wrong.

Doug Collins → Get the ball to Michael. Everybody get the fuck out of the way!

The Last Dance - Episode 3

Todd Boyd → Hip Hop offers new ways of seeing and understanding what it means to be black at this pivotal time in history.

Brendan Malone → Let's leave him [Dennis Rodman] alone - you don't put a saddle on a mustang.

The Last Dance - Episode 3

Horace Grant → When you see your leader working extremely hard in practice, you feel like, "man, if I don't give it my all, I shouldn't be here."

The Last Dance - Episode 4

Gregg Popovich → He's not just divisive. He's a destroyer. To be in his presence makes you die. He will eat you alive for his own purposes. I'm appalled that we have a leader who can't say "black lives matter." That's why he hides in the White House basement. He is a coward. He creates a situation and runs away like a grade-schooler. Actually, I think it's best to ignore him. There is nothing he can do to make this better because of who he is: a deranged idiot.

June 20201

LaVar Ball → I told my boys this: Somebody gotta be better than Michael Jordan. Why not you?

Blake Griffin → Sometimes you just have to calm down a little bit and let the system work itself.

Gordon Hayward → One on one versus LeBron James? He would get crushed. We would all be witnesses to a straight up annihilation.

October 2014, sees himself as the better player in League of Legends

Rajon Rondo → Talk is cheap, but when you go out there and prove it - you're the first one to show up for practice, and you're the last to leave - that's how you lead by example.

DeMarcus Cousins → God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers.

Vlade Divac → To build a friendship takes so much time and so many years. To ruin it, just seconds.

Steve Kerr → In the last ten days we've had elderly black people killed in a supermarket in Buffalo. We've had Asian churchgoers killed in southern California. And now we have children murdered at school. When are we gonna do something?!

May 2022

Klay Thompson → [to Stephen Curry] All we do is shoot threes and win championships... I love you brother!

June 2022, NBA Championship win by GSW

Juancho Hernangómez → Being grateful never goes out of style.

June 2020

Detroit Pistons → You can go back to teams like Detroit, the Bad Boys. Those guys had great chemistry, that's why they won.

Dwight Howard

Los Angeles Clippers → We feel like we could have been a 60-win team. It's something to be proud of but the work doesn't stop there.

Blake Griffin

Golden State Warriors → Basketball isn't just a sport. It is an art, one that must be mastered to succeed.

Stephen Curry1

Boston Celtics → Do they think that I won some contest to be in the NBA? Or that I don’t have to fight every day? That I’m not the first guy on the floor and the first in the weight room? That I haven’t been waking up 5:30 my whole life to train? I’d have to think you’d are an idiot to think I’m a joke.

Brian Scalabrine1

Denver Nuggets → Denver is home to me, and to be recognized for my achievements in the sports community here is a great honor.

Carmelo Anthony1

San Antonio Spurs → I'm just trying to pass Tim Duncan in championships if I can one day. That's my motivation; that's what I strive for. Tim is one of the greatest players who has ever played, so if I could get close or reach that plateau and have my name on that list.

Kawhi Leonard1

Washington Wizards → The Washington Bullets are changing their name. They don't want their team to be associated with crime. From now on, they'll just be known as the Bullets.

Jay Leno

Cleveland Cavaliers → Barney: "Your challenge is accepted Lil, there is no girl too pretty
For I am Barney Stinson, Player King of New York City."
Ted: "You can't anoint yourself the king, just like that jerk, LeBron."
Barney: "He left the Cavs three years ago. Bro, give it up, move on."

Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother - Season 9 Episode 111

Utah Jazz → We just have to be better. It's going to be difficult, in the playoffs against a great team, but we have to step up.

Gordon Hayward (as player at Utah Jazz) - May 2017, before Golden State Warriors vs. Utah Jazz

Charlotte Hornets → To the city of Charlotte, I can't wait to start the next chapter in my career! I am ready to play for another incredible organization with the Charlotte Hornets. Let's get it!

Gordon Hayward - November 2020

Sacramento Kings → A lot of people didn't see me play in Sacramento. I think we had one TV game.

Rajon Rondo

Memphis Grizzlies → Those Grizzlies are more like Pandas.

Charles Barkley

Orlando Magic → My team in Orlando was a team full of people who nobody wanted, and I was the leader and I led that team with a smile on my face.

Dwight Howard

Houston Rockets → With the first pick in the 2002 NBA draft, the Houston Rockets select Yao Ming from Shanghai, China.

New York Knicks → I don't rate Heat fans like I rate Knicks fans. We are true basketball fans. No matter what - rain, sleet or snow, or even if we don't make it to the playoffs for 10 years - the Garden stands are still full.

Fat Joe

Minnesota Timberwolves → The NBA has announced that they will not be playing any games on election day and instead will encourage their fans to go and vote. I will say though, not to sound cynical but, if the Timberwolves game is what was keeping you from voting maybe... yeah.

Trevor Noah in The Daily Show - August 2022

Tony Parker → If Tim Duncan had Knicks on his jersey, he'd be a god.

Trae Young → If I'm able to get drafted by the New York Knicks, it would be a blessing.

Yao Ming → My American strength coach said he liked me better before I could speak English.

Julius Erving → I demand more of myself than anyone else could ever expect.

Tim Duncan → The time when there is no one there to feel sorry for you or to cheer for you is when a player is made.

Josh Giddey → The most valuable player is the player that makes the most players valuable.

March 2022

Oklahoma City Thunder → Here in Oklahoma, there's not a whole lot to do. So, a lot of your focus and attention is on basketball, which is a blessing in disguise. And this is where I wanted to end up, so I'm very happy I'm here.

Josh Giddey - February 2022

Damian Lillard → If your dreams don't match your actions, you can either change your dreams or change your actions.

Portland Trail Blazers → I'm loyal to Portland. I want to play my whole career here, but at any moment, they can decide we want somebody else.

Damian Lillard

Jim Nantz → Wide right. The two most dreaded words in Buffalo have surfaced again.

January 2024 during Bills v Chiefs

Sabrina Ionescu → I think a night like tonight shows a lot of young girls and young boys that if you can shoot you can shoot. It doesn't matter if you're a girl or a boy, I think it just matters the heart that you have and wanting to be the best that you can be.

February 2024

Bronny James → I just want to show them that I can play and I belong here. A lot of people don't think I should be here and I'm just here to prove that I do.

April 2023

Dwayne Wade → If you want to be honest, LeBron James is the greatest player to ever put a Miami Heat jersey on... I'm the greatest player in the history of the Miami Heat... But I'm not the greatest player to put on a Heat jersey.