Michael Jordan Quotes
Basketball player
Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.
I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.
My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.
There is no 'i' in team but there is in win.
If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.
I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.
If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.
Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.
I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.
I hope the millions of people I've touched have the optimism and desire to share their goals and hard work and persevere with a positive attitude.
You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.
To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don't isolate.
The game has its ups and downs, but you can never lose focus of your individual goals and you can't let yourself be beat because of lack of effort.
You have competition every day because you set such high standards for yourself that you have to go out every day and live up to that.
My father used to say that it's never too late to do anything you wanted to do. And he said, 'You never know what you can accomplish until you try.'
I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.
I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.
My heroes are and were my parents. I can't see having anyone else as my heroes.
The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.
Be true to the game, because the game will be true to you. If you try to shortcut the game, then the game will shortcut you. If you put forth the effort, good things will be bestowed upon you. That's truly about the game, and in some ways that's about life too.
Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night.
My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn't stand the sideline.
I'm not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.
Limits, like fear, is often an illusion.
As athletes, we're used to reacting quickly. Here, it's 'come, stop, come, stop.' There's a lot of downtime. That's the toughest part of the day.
I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot... when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result.
One day, you might look up and see me playing the game at 50. Don't laugh. Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.
I realize that I'm black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and this is everybody's wish.
When I lose the sense of motivation and the sense to prove something as a basketball player, it's time for me to move away from the game.
The game of basketball has been everything to me. My place of refuge, place I've always gone where I needed comfort and peace. It's been the site of intense pain and the most intense feelings of joy and satisfaction. It's a relationship that has evolved over time, given me the greatest respect and love for the game.
Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you're in a fight.
I never thought a role model should be negative.
For a competitive junkie like me, golf is a great solution because it smacks you in the face every time you think you have accomplished something. That to me has taken over a lot of the energy and competitiveness for basketball.
In any investment, you expect to have fun and make money.
There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I don't believe there is only one greatest player either.
We all fly. Once you leave the ground, you fly. Some people fly longer than others.
I've never been afraid to fail.
I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else's talent.
Even when I'm old and grey, I won't be able to play it, but I'll still love the game.
I'm patient.
It's a habit of mine now, noticing labels, logos, shoes.
I want to wake up every day and do whatever comes in my mind, and not feel pressure or obligations to do anything else in my life.
When I was young, I had to learn the fundamentals of basketball. You can have all the physical ability in the world, but you still have to know the fundamentals.
I want to be perceived as a guy who played his best in all facets, not just scoring. A guy who loved challenges.
It's a heavy duty to try to do everything and please everybody. My job was to go out there and play the game of basketball as best I can and provide entertainment for everyone who wanted to watch basketball. Obviously, people may not agree with that; again, I can't live with what everyone's impression of what I should or what I shouldn't do.
The best evaluation I can make of a player is to look in his eyes and see how scared they are.
I want people to understand, gambling is not a bad thing if you do it within the framework of what it's meant to be, which is fun and entertaining.
There's only one Michael Jordan.
I wasn't really a work-conscious type of person. I was a player. I loved to play sports.
I've had tendinitis since college.
I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era.
Playing sick. That is so hard to do. It has to be a total mental challenge, as well as the physical challenge.
How many times have your parents told you not to do things, and the next thing you know, you go do it? And you realized you shouldn't have done it.
In college I never realized the opportunities available to a pro athlete. I've been given the chance to meet all kinds of people, to travel and expand my financial capabilities, to get ideas and learn about life, to create a world apart from basketball.
I think the players win the championship, and the organization has something to do with it, don't get me wrong. But don't try to put the organization above the players.
I want to be the bridge to the next generation.
I like control.
Ultimately, if you can say that I'm a bad owner and we're winning championships, I can live with that. But if we're not making the playoffs and we're spending and losing money, then I have to look in the mirror and say maybe I'm not taking the necessary steps to doing what it takes to run an organization.
I'd like to be settled into somewhat of a normal life. Somewhat. I know it's never going to be completely normal.
Being Michael Jordan means acting the same as I always have.
My challenge when I came back was to face the young talent, dissect their games, and show them maybe that they needed to learn more about the game than just the money aspect.
I can't speak for the future. I have no crystal ball.
I will not quit this game because of what the media has done to me.
In reality, I never want to grow up.
I know the signs of scaredness.
When I was playing before I retired, I never really understood the appreciation and the respect that people gave me. People had treated me like a god or something, and that was very embarrassing.
Gambling is legal and betting is legal, for what I bet.
I do not have a problem, I enjoy gambling, but I think people are trying to make it seem like I have a problem, because people really don't know.
It's absolutely wrong that I don't want guys to challenge me. And the people who say that aren't in the room.
Purchasing the Bobcats is the culmination of my post-playing career goal of becoming the majority owner of an NBA franchise.
Winning isn't always championships.
It's hard to say if the NBA is hurt by the influx of younger players, but it's definitely impacted the league.
I'm not a Twitterer, I'm not a twerker, I'm not a Facebooker, I'm not nothing. I'm old school.
I want to play for years.
Do I need my number retired throughout the course of the league to acknowledge what I've done? No.
It is nerve-wracking watching my kids' games.
I won't have any competitive instincts in any sports, other than golf. I can't see being competitive in sports any more.