The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.
BILL RUSSELLYou can do anything you want to do if you want it bad enough.
More Bill Russell Quotes
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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.
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Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.
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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.
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We couldn’t sustain it. And they got a lot of kids that can shoot. We just couldn’t close out well enough.
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Success is a result of consistent practice of winning skills and actions. There is nothing miraculous about the process. There is no luck involved.
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Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.
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On females officiating in the NBA -Incompetence should not be confined to one sex.
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The only important statistic is the final score.
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Remember that basketball is a game of habits. If you make the other guy deviate from his habits, you’ve got him.
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My most prized possession was my library card from the Oakland Public Library.
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You got to have the killer instinct. If you do not have it, forget about basketball and go into social psychology or something. If you sometimes wonder if you’ve got it, you ain’t got it. No pussycats, please.
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If Shakespeare can compare all of life to a stage, maybe it’s not odd to believe that part of the play can take place on a basketball court.
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What distinguishes a great player is his presence. When he goes on to the court, his presence dominates the atmosphere.
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Commitment separates those who live their dreams from those who live their lives regretting the opportunities they have squandered.
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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