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 only important statistic is the final score.
More Bill Russell Quotes
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Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.
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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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Don’t knock the ball in the stands, keep it in your hands!
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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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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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The only important statistic is the final score.
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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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Durability is part of what makes a great athlete.
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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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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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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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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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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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I think what has happened to our basketball team, we’ve been badly distracted. They’re not reading too many positive things in the paper.
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The magic to a great meeting is all of the work that’s done beforehand.
BILL RUSSELL