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 RUSSELLThe most important thing to me is the friends that I’ve made.
More Bill Russell Quotes
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My most prized possession was my library card from the Oakland Public Library.
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If a guy pays you five dollars, you give him seven dollars worth of work.
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If you can take something to levels that very few other people can reach, then what you’re doing becomes art.
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Durability is part of what makes a great athlete.
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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.
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The only important statistic is the final score.
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I think that David Stern is probably the greatest commissioner that any sport has ever had in the history of this country.
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The magic to a great meeting is all of the work that’s done beforehand.
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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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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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If you really have integrity, there are very few people who can insult you, or honor you.
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Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.
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Friendship is a full-time job.
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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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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.
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On females officiating in the NBA -Incompetence should not be confined to one sex.
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The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.
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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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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.
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Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission. I truly believe in the saying “We work to become, not to acquire.”
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We overreached our decision power. Sometimes our decisions have to fit the reality of the outside world.
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The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.
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Most people have a harder time letting themselves love than finding someone to love them.
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To love someone is nothing, to be loved by someone is something, to love someone who loves you is everything.
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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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You can do anything you want to do if you want it bad enough.
BILL RUSSELL