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People say it was the greatest individual rivalry they’ve ever seen. I agree with that. Let me assure you that if either Wilt’s or Russ’ coach had ever told one of them he couldn’t guard the other guy, he would have lost that player forever.

Bill Russell

What distinguishes a great player is his presence. When he goes on to the court, his presence dominates the atmosphere.
BILL RUSSELL

Atmosphere Dominate Greatness Player Presence
Friendship is a full-time job.
BILL RUSSELL

Friendship Job One Liner Time
You can do anything you want to do if you want it bad enough.
BILL RUSSELL

Bad Enough Yourself
To me, the most important part of winning is joy. You can win without joy, but winning that’s joyless is like eating in a four-star restaurant when you’re not hungry. Joy is a current of energy in your body, like chlorophyll or sunlight, that fills you up and makes you naturally want to do your best.
BILL RUSSELL

Happiness Hungry Light Natural Restaurant Sun Win Yourself
What’s more important than who’s going to be the first black manager is who’s going to be the first black sports editor of the New York Times.
BILL RUSSELL

Black Important Manager
I think that David Stern is probably the greatest commissioner that any sport has ever had in the history of this country.
BILL RUSSELL

Commission Country Greatness Thinking
Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.
BILL RUSSELL

Focus Mental Tough Victory
We couldn’t sustain it. And they got a lot of kids that can shoot. We just couldn’t close out well enough.
BILL RUSSELL

Children Close Enough Sustainable
The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.
BILL RUSSELL

Believe Block Ideas Opponent Yourself
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

Action Luck Miracle Practice Result Skill Success
On females officiating in the NBA -Incompetence should not be confined to one sex.
BILL RUSSELL

Female Oneself Sex
I’ve been fortunate to meet and work with a lot of really smart people. The thing that strikes me most about them is how they continue to explore and learn every day. I have tried to apply that approach in my modest career as well.
BILL RUSSELL

Career Fortunate Learning Myself People Smart Work
The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.
BILL RUSSELL

Important Measurement Myself Play Team
The morale and the camaraderie that we had for one another earlier in the year is starting to come under duress because of all the losses. Some of the guys are feeling the pressure now from the last year when they were not successful.
BILL RUSSELL

Command Early Loss Moral Pressure Success
If a guy pays you five dollars, you give him seven dollars worth of work.
BILL RUSSELL

Man Pay Work Worth Yourself
My most prized possession was my library card from the Oakland Public Library.
BILL RUSSELL

Library Myself Possession Prize

People say it was the greatest individual rivalry they’ve ever seen. I agree with that. Let me assure you that if either Wilt’s or Russ’ coach had ever told one of them he couldn’t guard the other guy, he would have lost that player forever.

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People say it was the greatest individual rivalry they’ve ever seen. I agree with that. Let me assure you that if either Wilt’s or Russ’ coach had ever told one of them he couldn’t guard the other guy, he would have lost that player forever.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Bill Russell Quotes