“I really don’t like talking about money. All I can say is that the Good Lord must have wanted me to have it.”

Leadership is getting players to believe in you. If you tell a teammate you’re ready to play as tough as you’re able to, you’d better go out there and do it..

I used to love the feeling of running, of running too far. It made my skin tingle.

I was always making decisions and they were easier decisions because I had control of the game.

When it gets down to it, basketball is basketball.

You’ve got to have them down before you can even think about playing.

I’ve been around a while. I kinda know these things.

My coach told me, “Larry, no matter how much you work at it, there’s always someone out there who’s working just a little harder – if you take 150 practice shots, he’s taking 200.” And that drove me.

Strength is not nearly as important as desire. I don’t think you can teach anyone desire. I think it’s a gift. I don’t know why I have it, but I do.

It makes me sick when I see a guy just stare at a loose ball and watch it go out of bounds.

The best player I ever played with was Dennis Johnson.

There are many times when you are better off practicing than playing; but most people just don’t understand that

I’ve got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.

The one thing that always bothered me when I played in the NBA was I really got irritated when they put a white guy on me.

You can make all the excuses you want, but if you’re not mentally tough and you’re not prepared to play every night, you’re not going to win.

Who in their right mind wouldn’t listen to what Larry Bird tells them? He knows what it takes to be a successful player, and he’s letting us do the things to have the success.

First master the fundamentals.

I feel that God wants me to coach; otherwise, he wouldn’t have put the desire in me.

When you’ve lived the life that I have, you should always expect something like that to crop up. I was not a good boy.

First of all, you’ve got to have a vision of ‘What kind of program do I want to have?’ Then you’ve got to have a plan to implement it. Then you’ve got to set the example that you want, develop the principles and values that are important, and get people to buy into it.

If anything could have pulled me out of retirement, it would have been an Indiana Jones film.

Having been an actor and a writer for so long – 20 years or so – I felt that it would be daft to go to one’s grave without having directed. It’s a natural extension of writing and acting, and so I knew it would happen one day.

If America had been discovered as many times as I have, no one would remember Columbus.

When you have box-office results, Hollywood treats you different. Hollywood stands up. Once you get to the point where Hollywood sees that you create results, then the demand for you becomes higher.

I don’t really have the voice for love songs, do I?