Bill Russell Basketball Quotes & Sayings

Bill Russell helped make my dream a better dream because when you play with the best, you know you have to play your best. — Wilt Chamberlain

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. — Bill Russell

On females officiating in the NBA -Incompetence should not be confined to one sex. — Bill Russell

The only important statistic is the final score. — Bill Russell

Remember that basketball is a game of habits. If you make the other guy deviate from his habits, you've got him — Bill Russell

The most important thing to me is the friends that I've made. — Bill Russell

I hope I epitomize the American dream. For I came against long odds, from the ghetto to the very top of my profession. I was not immediately good at basketball. It did not come easy. It came as the result of a lot of hard work and self-sacrifice. The rewards, where they worth it? One thousand times over. — Bill Russell

We learn to make a shell for ourselves when we are young and then spend the rest of our lives hoping for someone to reach inside and touch us. Just touch us - anything more than that would be too much for us to bear. — Bill Russell

I had orders from the great Bill Russell. Me and him were talking in Seattle the other day, and he was telling me how rivalries should be. I asked him if he ever disliked anybody he played against, and he told me, 'No, never,' and he told me that I should shake Kobe Bryant's hand and let bygones be bygones and bury the hatchet. — Shaquille O'Neal

The last five or six days, I've been running. The last two days, I've been running pretty hard. Everybody's got to be someplace. — Bill Russell

Who could better motivate Bill Russell than Bill Russell? — Red Auerbach

After I played him for the first time, I said 'Let's see. He's four or five inches taller. He's 40 or 50 pounds heavier. His vertical leap is at least as good as mine. He can get up and down the floor as well as I can. And he's smart. The real problem with all this is I have to show up. — Bill Russell

I think that David Stern is probably the greatest commissioner that any sport has ever had in the history of this country. — Bill Russell

Commitment separates those who live their dreams from those who live their lives regretting the opportunities they have squandered. — Bill Russell

I lived to play basketball. Growing up as a kid, Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics were my favorite team. The way they played, the teamwork, the sacrifice, the commitment, the joy, the camaraderie, the relationship with the fans. — Bill Walton

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 Russell

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

Don't knock the ball in the stands, keep it in your hands! — Bill Russell

Bill Russell is one of the great names in basketball, an all-American ... and the only athlete to ever win an NCAA Championship, an Olympic Gold Medal, and a professional championship all in the same year-1956 ... But Bill Russell had this one problem: He threw up before every game. — John Eliot

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

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. — Bill Russell

I would have loved to play against Bill Russell. He was such a force. — Tim Duncan

What distinguishes a great player is his presence. When he goes on to the court, his presence dominates the atmosphere. — Bill Russell

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

Wilt Chamberlain had a great deal to do with the success of the NBA. His dominance, power, demeanor and the rivalry with Bill Russell says it all. He will be sorely missed by myself and everyone in the basketball community. Wilt was a great performer and a great athlete. — Red Auerbach

Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute. — Bill Russell

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