These Bill Russell quotes reflect the champion’s mindset. A winner everywhere he went, he could be an intimidating force on the court. His legacy of winning championships with the Boston Celtics will not likely be matched.
Russell played for the Boston Celtics from 1956 to 1969. During his career, he won 11 NBA championships, the most by any player in NBA history. If championship rings are the criterion for GOAT, step aside Michael Jordan; Bill Russell has almost twice your number.
Bill was a five-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a 12-time NBA All-Star. His defense and rebounding allowed him to dominate the game, while other contributions on the court were usually just a bonus.
Off the court, Bill Russell was a strong voice in the Civil Rights movement. As the first Black American coach of a major sport to win championships, Russell was a leader. Russell used his platform to advocate for racial equality and civil rights. Bill Russell died on July 31, 2022 at the age of 88.
Best Bill Russell Quotes
- The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.
- What distinguishes a great player is his presence. When he goes on to the court, his presence dominates the atmosphere.
- Durability is part of what makes a great athlete.
- The only important statistic is the final score.
- The real problem with all this is I have to show up.
- 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.
- 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.
- My most prized possession was my library card from the Oakland Public Library.
- I’ve been fortunate to meet and work with a lot of really smart people. What strikes me most about them is how they continue to explore and learn every day. I have tried to apply that approach in my modest career as well.
- The most important thing for me is the friends that I’ve made.
Quotes on Life
- Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.
- If a guy pays you five dollars, you give him seven dollars worth of work.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- I truly believe in the saying ‘We work to become, not to acquire.’
- Remember that basketball is a game of habits. If you make the other guy deviate from his habits, you’ve got him.
Love and Regrets
- 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.
- Most people have a harder time letting themselves love than finding someone to love them.
- I don’t have very many regrets, not because I lived a perfect life, but because life is a bunch of rolling hills, not mountains, or speed bumps instead of stop signs, and so you come to a situation, and it’s neither good or bad. It just is, and what it means to you is what’s your take on it. But the second part of the equation is what are you going to do about it. A lot of times, I’m completely wrong, but all you do is back up and start over.
- 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.
- Most people have a harder time letting themselves love than finding someone to love them.
See how many NBA rings Bill Russel has.
On Basketball
- We couldn’t sustain it. And they got a lot of kids that can shoot. We just couldn’t close out well enough.
- I think that David Stern is probably the greatest commissioner that any sport has ever had in the history of this country.
- Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission.
- Remember that basketball is a game of habits.
- Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.
- Incompetence should not be confined to one sex (on female officials in the NBA).
- Durability is part of what makes a great athlete.
- A rebounder, or a shot-blocker for that matter, is always at a disadvantage if he tells himself the only way he can succeed is by out jumping the guy next to him. Sometimes he will have to, but most of the time he will not. Most of my rebounds came from positioning, where I was able to get the ball while in heavy traffic.”
- 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.
See Remembering Celtics Great, John Havlicek.
On Wilt Chamberlain
These Bill Russell quotes address Wilt Chamberlain, Russell’s biggest rival.
- 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.
- Wilt was the greatest offensive player I have ever seen … I’ve seen none better. Because his talents and skills were so superhuman, his play forced me to play at my highest level. If I didn’t, I’d risk embarrassment, and our team would likely lose.
- Many have called our competition the greatest rivalry in the history of sports. We didn’t have a rivalry; we had a genuinely fierce competition that was based on friendship and respect. We just loved playing against each other. The fierceness of the competition bonded us as friends for eternity.
About Winning
- 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, were they worth it? One thousand times over.
- Success is a result of consistent practice of winning skills and actions. There is nothing miraculous about the process. There is no luck involved.
- To me, the most important part of winning is joy. You can win without joy, but winning that’s joyless is like eating in a four-star restaurant when you’re not hungry. Joy is a current of energy in your body, like chlorophyll or sunlight, that fills you up and makes you naturally want to do your best.
- The magic to a great meeting is all of the work that’s done beforehand.
- 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
- 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. (Commenting on Wilt Chamberlain)
See 7 Things You May Not Know About Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game.
Bill Russell Meme
Check out 23 Best Basketball Quotes
Bill Russell Quotations on Teamwork
These Bill Russell quotes speak to the importance of playing as a team.
- Commitment separates those who live their dreams from those who live their lives regretting the opportunities they have squandered.
- The morale and the camaraderie that we had for one another earlier in the year are 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.
- Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.
- The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.
- Friendship is a full-time job.
Check out The Brad Stevens Interview.
On Society
- Boston itself was a flea market of racism. It had all varieties, old and new. The city had corrupt, city hall-crony racists, brick-throwing, send-’em-back-to-Africa racists, and in the university areas, phony radical-chic racists.
- 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.
- To love someone is nothing, to be loved by someone is something, to love someone who loves you is everything.
Russell’s Insights
- If you really have integrity, there are very few people who can insult you or honor you.
- Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission. I truly believe in the saying, ‘We work to become, not to acquire.
- Commitment separates those who live their dreams from those who live their lives regretting the opportunities they have squandered.
- I don’t have very many regrets, not because I lived a perfect life, but because life is a bunch of rolling hills, not mountains, or speed bumps instead of stop signs, and so you come to a situation, and it’s neither good or bad. It just is, and what it means to you is what’s your take on it. But the second part of the equation is what are you going to do about it. A lot of times, I’m completely wrong, but all you do is back up and start over.
Bill Russell’s impact on the game of basketball was immense. He won at every level: high school, college, NBA, and coaching. Many believe him to be the greatest team player of any sport. He was the Twentieth Century’s greatest winner in sports. I hope you enjoyed these fun Bill Russell quotes.
By Mike O’Halloran
Founder and Editor, Sports Feel Good Stories
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