Shoot for the Stars: 50 Inspirational Basketball Quotes

July 30, 2025

The Top 50 Inspirational Basketball Quotes

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” – Tim Notke
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.” – St. Jerome
“The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” – Ernie Banks
“Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up.” – Rocky Balboa

“Success is no accident. It’s hard work, perseverance, learning, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing.” – Pelé
“It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around; figure out how to climb it.” – Michael Jordan
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” – Michael Jordan
“A successful team beats with one heart.” – Unknown
“Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you.” – Eddie Robinson
“Basketball is a team game. Whoever’s got the ball has to find the open man.” – Mike Krzyzewski
“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Champions keep playing until they get it right.” – Billie Jean King
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” – Buddha
“Confidence is preparation. Everything else is beyond your control.” – Richard Kline
“Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what you’re doing.” – Chuck Noll

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are.” – Robert Kiyosaki
“You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps
“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” – Pat Riley
“Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.” – Vince Lombardi

“If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.” – Carl Lewis
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan
“If you believe it’ll work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you don’t, you’ll see obstacles.” – Wayne Dyer
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“Success isn’t owned, it’s rented—and rent is due every day.” – Rory Vaden
“Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but nonetheless doing it like you love it.” – Mike Tyson
“Hard work compounds like interest.” – Sam Altman
“You don’t get what you wish for; you get what you work for.” – Unknown
“Dream big. Start small. Act now.” – Robin Sharma

“Don’t let your success go to your head or your failure to your heart.” – Will Smith
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.” – Vince Lombardi
“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” – Steve Martin
“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you run into a wall, don’t turn around. Figure out how to climb it.” – Michael Jordan
“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong
“I can accept failure, but I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan
“You can’t stop a player who never gives up.” – Unknown
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker