Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I've been privileged to coach a lot of great people, high-character guys, and I don't think I've ever coached a better professional than Joel Anthony.
My dad was a basketball coach, and so I went to his games. But baseball was the sport I could enjoy with him, whereas with basketball, I wasn't with him.
I think one of the most important things for a young player's development is that they understand that they will play when they deserve the right to play.
I think we disregard fans too much. They drive our sport. The money has gotten so big that it has become a corporate league other than the nosebleed seats.
The criticism from the media never really bothered me. I'd correct it when I can, but that's their job. If stuff wasn't personal, then it really didn't bother me.
People of conscience are compelled to oppose racism, sexism, and intolerance of people with different sexual identities and orientation wherever and whenever they see it.
As NBA coach, people get on you. But politics, maybe even more so at the local level, is nasty on a very personal level. I have a thick skin, but I don't want to deal with it.
I think it inhibits a guy's development when he's simply handed minutes and doesn't have to do anything to earn them, and thus, there's no reason to work harder or change the way you play.
I've been around a lot of great coaches in college and the NBA, and I knew Erik Spoelstra three months, and I told my wife, father, and brother that this guy is going to be a helluva coach.
I really think the people I run into in the NBA, whether it's the front office side or in coaching, everybody wants to work in an atmosphere where everybody's pulling in the same direction.
The hardest thing to do in this league is to get a proven star. It's just very hard to do. It's hard to do in free agency; it's hard to do in trades. You get very few opportunities to do it.
Athletes have the same rights everybody else does. If there is a strength in our democracy, it's that we are encouraged to exercise those rights and speak out and hold people in power in check.
In this business, if you lose, you're gonna get fired. Now, if you win, you still may get fired. That's the hard part. You see guys having success and getting fired. That's really tough to watch.
Exacerbating the problem of mass incarceration is that, even after someone is released from prison, the stigma of a misdemeanor or felony conviction makes finding gainful employment difficult, if not impossible.
I meant what I said about how electing Donald Trump will set our country back. I stand by that. However, I do wish that I wouldn't have made the blanket statement about not respecting anybody who voted for Trump.
I've always believed that. I'm not a guy who comes in with an offensive system, and we try to fit guys to it. I think it goes the other way. 'Here's who we've got. Let's put them in the right spots where they can be productive.'
The league has been good to all of us in terms of what we get out of all these TV contracts and everything, so it would be a little disingenuous to complain too much. But if I had my way, we'd take a five-day break at Christmas. I mean it.
I was raised in a home where we grew up where we discussed issues. I've always been really politically aware. My wife and four kids are very aware. They make me more attuned to a lot of things I would not think about. Especially women's issues.
We've changed a lot of things to help certain groups of people. We widened the lane from 6 feet to 12 feet to 16 feet to make it so the big guys aren't as dominant. Well, why didn't we just say, 'You've got to learn to play against them in the post?'
I'm sick of people who supported Trump saying, 'Get over it. You lost.' That's not how America works. We get to critique him the same way they constantly fought Obama. As long as I have a platform, I will continue to speak up because it's my responsibility.
People with advantages don't tend to want to give them up. If you see it as a zero-sum game, then it will never change. If only the people who are disadvantaged speak out, then it's not enough. I don't want to overshadow their voices, but I want to support.
Our country was founded on protest. If it was just shut up and honor your country no matter what, we'd still be flying the Union Jack. That's not what our founding fathers did. They didn't like what was going on, and they broke away and formed their own country.
I don't think anyone could be the next Dick Vitale. I mean that in a good way. More than an announcer, Dick is an ambassador for the game. Dick is in class by himself. Like what he does or not, what he has done to expand the popularity of college basketball is phenomenal.
I'm pretty sure that every player who's ever played for me doesn't hate me. Now, we'd have to do a survey, but I've coached a lot of guys, and I'm pretty sure there's one or two that don't hate me. I don't know that any liked me. But I'm pretty sure there's one or two who don't hate me.
What I find fascinating … you have to give David Stern and the NBA a lot of credit … ESPN pays the league, and then the league tells them what to do. It’s more ESPN’s problem. You gotta have no balls whatsoever to pay someone hundreds of millions of dollars and let them run your business.
Obviously, race is the elephant in the room, and we all understand that. Unless it is talked about constantly, it's not going to get better... people have to be made to feel uncomfortable, and especially white people, because we're comfortable. We still have no clue what being born white means.
One of the things I've said to teams and players from time to time - especially when things are going well like we had them going in Orlando - is that you better appreciate it and enjoy it because things change quickly in this game. You know, it's tough for guys to really think it will change on them, but it does.
I make an excellent salary and work a great job. A lot of the people who voted for Trump don't. Let's say you say you're out of a job and believe this guy is going to get you on back on your feet. You might overlook some stuff not because you believe it. But you're that desperate. They're wrong. But it's what they believe.
Josh Smith, put in the right spots, is an outstanding player. You put Josh down on the right block, in the low post or even on a short isolation - 12 feet, 15 feet from the basket - he can get to the rim. He's outstanding. He's not only a very willing passer but an outstanding passer. I think it's the best part of Josh's game.
Our founding fathers declared independence from Great Britain because they were dissatisfied with the laws and policies that they believed abridged their freedoms. Had they taken the stance that many want our professional athletes to take - to just shut up and honor your country no matter what - we would be living in British colonies.
Jeff Bzdelik is one of the smartest, most knowledgeable, hardest working coaches I have ever worked with. His teams in the NBA and college have achieved beyond their talent levels. Recruits to Wake Forest will play for a coach who was successful in the NBA for a long time and will teach them what they need to know to make it to the NBA.