Basketball can serve as a kind of metaphor for ultimate cooperation. It is a sport where success, as symbolized by the championship, requires that the dictates of community prevail over selfish impulses.
People tell me, “I’m glad you said that.” But this is not a spectator sport. This is an activity that requires daily moral awakening as well as a commitment that leads to real change.
A good coach must celebrate in private. He cannot gloat to the press after a victory or criticize heavily after defeat… His game is of such motivation and strategy that only a few people understand his craft.
A lot of people want to change the world, but only a few people want to change themselves. When it comes to the issue of race in America, we have to do both.
I like the rough impersonality of New York … Human relations are oiled by jokes, complaints, and confessions-all made with the assumption of never seeing the other person again.
For a long time, I operated under the Chinese proverb that there are four kinds of leaders: those who you laugh at, those who you hate, those who you love and those who you don’t even know that they’re leaders.
The point of the game is not how well the individual does, but whether the team wins. That’s the beautiful heart of the game, the blending of personalities, the mutual sacrifices for the group success.
The Boy Scouts of America stands for a set of principles. These principles have a lot of staying power. The values you learn as a Scout are like a compass. They can help you find your way through difficult and sometimes unchartered terrain.
