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Don’t knock the ball in the stands, keep it in your hands!

Bill Russell

We overreached our decision power. Sometimes our decisions have to fit the reality of the outside world.
BILL RUSSELL

Decision Power Reality World
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.
BILL RUSSELL

Black Important Manager
If you really have integrity, there are very few people who can insult you, or honor you.
BILL RUSSELL

Insult Integrity People Respect Yourself
If a guy pays you five dollars, you give him seven dollars worth of work.
BILL RUSSELL

Man Pay Work Worth Yourself
What distinguishes a great player is his presence. When he goes on to the court, his presence dominates the atmosphere.
BILL RUSSELL

Atmosphere Dominate Greatness Player Presence
The only important statistic is the final score.
BILL RUSSELL

Final Importance Score Statistics
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.
BILL RUSSELL

Instinct Kill Social Wonder Yourself
Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.
BILL RUSSELL

Attribute Creation Important Selfish Team
We couldn’t sustain it. And they got a lot of kids that can shoot. We just couldn’t close out well enough.
BILL RUSSELL

Children Close Enough Sustainable
Success is a result of consistent practice of winning skills and actions. There is nothing miraculous about the process. There is no luck involved.
BILL RUSSELL

Action Luck Miracle Practice Result Skill Success
Don’t knock the ball in the stands, keep it in your hands!
BILL RUSSELL

Hands Stand Yourself
Durability is part of what makes a great athlete.
BILL RUSSELL

Athlete Durability Endurance Greatness Inspirational One Liner
The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.
BILL RUSSELL

Believe Block Ideas Opponent Yourself
Friendship is a full-time job.
BILL RUSSELL

Friendship Job One Liner Time
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.
BILL RUSSELL

Paper Positive Team Thinking
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.
BILL RUSSELL

Command Early Loss Moral Pressure Success

Don’t knock the ball in the stands, keep it in your hands!

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Don’t knock the ball in the stands, keep it in your hands!

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