Top 40 Basketball Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “If nobody will help you, do it alone.”

— Michael Jordan

Also featured in: Helping Quotes

2. “A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.”

— Larry Bird

Also featured in: Quotes About Skills

3. “If you’re afraid to fail, then you’re probably going to fail.”

— Kobe Bryant

4. “Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.”

— Michael Jordan

Also featured in: Fun Quotes, Sports Quotes

5. “It doesn’t matter if you fall down, it’s whether you get back up.”

— Michael Jordan

6. “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.”

— Unknown

7. “Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.”

— Larry Bird

Also featured in: Quotes About Giving

8. “Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.”

— Kobe Bryant

Also featured in: Opportunity Quotes, Challenges Quotes

9. “Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.”

— Michael Jordan

Also featured in: Positive Quotes, Sports Quotes, Resilience Quotes

10. “The price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is disappointment.”

— William Arthur Ward

Also featured in: Discipline Quotes

11. “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

— Dwight D. Eisenhower

12. “To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don’t isolate.”

— Michael Jordan

13. “People ask me if I could fly, I said, ‘yeah... for a little while.’”

— Michael Jordan

14. “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”

— John F. Kennedy

15. “There is no ‘i’ in team but there is in win.”

— Michael Jordan

Also featured in: Teamwork Quotes

16. “Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise”

— Michael Jordan

17. “You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.”

— Michael Jordan

Also featured in: Happiness Quotes

18. “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.”

— Michael Jordan

Also featured in: Inspirational Quotes

19. “You’re never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you’re never as bad as they say when you lose.”

— Lou Holtz

Also featured in: Confidence Quotes

20. “Don't mistake activity with achievement.”

— John Wooden

Also featured in: Business Quotes

21. “I want to do for rebounds what Michael Jordan did for dunks.”

— Dennis Rodman

22. “I would tell players to relax and never think about what’s at stake. Just think about the basketball game. If you start to think about who is going to win the championship, you’ve lost your focus.”

— Michael Jordan

Also featured in: Winning Quotes

23. “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”

— Jim Valvano

Also featured in: Attitude Quotes, Father's Day Quotes, Family Quotes

24. “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.”

— Michael Jordan

Also featured in: Determination Quotes

25. “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

— Michael Jordan

Also featured in: Wisdom Quotes

26. “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”

— Vince Lombardi

Also featured in: Motivational Bodybuilding Quotes

27. “Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.”

— John Wooden

Also featured in: Character Quotes

28. “Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game.”

— Michael Jordan

29. “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

Also featured in: Quotes About Trying

30. “I’ve never been afraid to fail.”

— Michael Jordan

31. “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

Also featured in: Crazy Quotes

32. “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

— Abraham Lincoln

Also featured in: Peace Quotes

33. “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

Also featured in: Practice Quotes

34. “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”

— Jim Valvano

Also featured in: Giving Up Quotes, Sports Quotes

35. “These young guys are playing checkers. I’m out there playing chess.”

— Kobe Bryant

Also featured in: Sports Quotes

36. “A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.”

— John Wooden

Also featured in: Teamwork Quotes

37. “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Also featured in: Perseverance Quotes

38. “Everything happens for a reason. I’m used to it, I prepare for it. Like I say, at the end of the day, those in charge of their own destiny are going to do what’s right for them and their family.”

— Shaquille O'Neal

Also featured in: Destiny Quotes

39. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

— John C. Maxwell

Also featured in: Leadership Quotes, Attitude Quotes

40. “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”

— Jackie Robinson