Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.
BILL RUSSELLPeople 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.
More Bill Russell Quotes
-
-
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 -
Heart in champions has to do with the depth of our motivation and how well your mind and body react to pressure – that is, being able to do what you do best under maximum pain and stress.
BILL RUSSELL -
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 -
Friendship is a full-time job.
BILL RUSSELL -
If you can take something to levels that very few other people can reach, then what you’re doing becomes art.
BILL RUSSELL -
If you really have integrity, there are very few people who can insult you, or honor you.
BILL RUSSELL -
You can do anything you want to do if you want it bad enough.
BILL RUSSELL -
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 -
Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission. I truly believe in the saying “We work to become, not to acquire.”
BILL RUSSELL -
The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.
BILL RUSSELL -
We learn to make a shell for ourselves when we are young and then spend the rest of our lives hoping for someone to reach inside and touch us. Just touch us-anything more than that would be too much for us to bear.
BILL RUSSELL -
The only important statistic is the final score.
BILL RUSSELL -
To love someone is nothing, to be loved by someone is something, to love someone who loves you is everything.
BILL RUSSELL -
If a guy pays you five dollars, you give him seven dollars worth of work.
BILL RUSSELL -
Durability is part of what makes a great athlete.
BILL RUSSELL