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 RUSSELLWhat’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.
More Bill Russell Quotes
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If a guy pays you five dollars, you give him seven dollars worth of work.
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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’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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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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Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.
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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 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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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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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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Commitment separates those who live their dreams from those who live their lives regretting the opportunities they have squandered.
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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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The most important thing to me is the friends that I’ve made.
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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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The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.
BILL RUSSELL