You have to be wired a certain way to be a professional basketball player, and the way my body grew, something happened genetically that allowed me to become a lot more explosive. – Jeremy Lin
I’ve got a basketball signed by all the greats from Julius Irving to Oscar Robinson. It was at an All Star game I got them all to sign it. So that ain’t going nowhere. I’m going to die with that in my casket. – Ice Cube
The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play ‘Drop the Handkerchief.’ – James Naismith
The only reason I went to college was to play basketball. I injured my knee and couldn’t play. – Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Anything you can do to help someone, I just think it’s so important because there’s a lot of kids that look up athletes of all size and shapes in a lot of different fields, not necessarily in the basketball field. They get involved emotionally with those people because there’s something about certain athletes that people rally around. – Jerry West
I am ambidextrous. I write with my right hand but played basketball in high school with my left. – Julia Stiles
I grew up watching Dr. J, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this guy is the greatest basketball player I ever saw.’ – John McEnroe
I think I’ve gotten more attention after the Olympics than any other U.S. athlete, and it’s really great that people are recognizing who I am and what I do. You look at Shaq and you see a basketball player. You look at Tiger Woods and you see a golfer. But people are responding to who I am. – Johnny Weir
I get scared of a lot of attention. I get scared of the spotlight. And I’m not talking about on the basketball court. – Jeremy Lin
You look at a guy like Michael Jordan: I can’t believe there will be other basketball players like him. – John McEnroe
I don’t think people can watch University of Texas basketball or football games with me – really, anything Texas is playing – without wanting to punch me in the face. I’m as big a Longhorn fan as you’ll find. – Jordan Spieth
We talk about players of yesteryear, guys who could play or couldn’t play, and I think it’s ridiculous to try to even compare people… The things that you can do in basketball today that you couldn’t even do then… you can carry the ball; you walk all over the place. – Jerry West
As all of us with any involvement in sports knows, no two umpires or no two referees have the same strike zone or call the same kind of a basketball game. – Herb Kohl
Every little kid that steps on the court or the field has aspirations to go pro. I think being a pro basketball player is the best job. The thing I had to realize was that I can’t do every dream that I have. – Brian McKnight
The league is changing, and we don’t have many back-to-the-basket players. We now have a game that requires skill and versatility. A lot of that is about being able to think. It makes all the difference in the world to have a player in there with a high basketball IQ who can make the right decision. – Jerry West
If we can take young people who excel at the highest levels, put them on the same kind of pedestal as the all-state basketball player and the all-state football player, and begin to get the same kind of recognition, it will have a profound effect, and we are finding that it does. – Ben Carson
I was a very passionate basketball player, really enjoyed the sport. I played it my entire life. – Brock Osweiler
By delivering a wide array of programming to YouTube, the NBA will be able to connect with its existing worldwide fan base and reach a vast new audience that is passionate about basketball. – Chad Hurley
I’m not gonna be bad at anything, and I want to actually be the best at anything I’m doing. So if I’m playing basketball, if I’m taking the SATs, like, there’s a competitive spirit behind it. With production, it’s the same thing. – J. Cole
What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player. – John Wooden
I’ve always felt that, you know, the Almighty has a lot of things to do other than help my basketball team. – Bobby Knight
I’ve always made weird sounds with my mouth. I’ve always been fascinated by the sound design, what you can do with your mouth. I was the kid dancing around in third grade on the basketball court. While everyone would be playing sports, I would be jumping around. – Charlie Puth
Millions of guys play millions of basketball games every day of the week at the playground or the YMCA. But LeBron James gets $20 million a year because he can jam on all of those guys. We’re always going to want to see LeBron and Kobe go at it. – Adam Carolla
I had concussions as a kid playing football and basketball, and know what it feels like and to have someone say ‘Just rub some dirt on it, and get back in there.’ – Billy Corgan
I was recruited by every school in the country for football and basketball. And an incident happened in high school, and all that was taken away. No other teams, no other schools were recruiting me anymore. – Allen Iverson
I used to take pride if my kids were playing basketball, and I’d be there, and I wouldn’t say anything. People were obviously expecting me to yell and scream at the ref and at them and everything. I wouldn’t say anything. – John McEnroe