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Football Quotes by Phil Jackson

50 Football quotes by Phil Jackson

All Football quotes Phil Jackson’s page

Phil Jackson’s 50 lines translate his famed “Zen” coaching approach to football, blending mindfulness with competitive edge. Expect reflections that marry strategy with mental toughness, echoing the mindset that led his basketball teams to greatness.

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Basketball is sharing.

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If you meet the Buddha in the lane, feed him the ball.

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I'm not going to coach again. I've done my coaching, and I think I can put that aside.

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The sign of a great player is how much he elevates his colleagues' performance.

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No one plays this or any game perfectly. It's the guy who recovers from his mistakes who wins.

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Yes, victory is sweet, but it doesn't necessarily make life any easier the next season or even the next day.

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Coaching is salesmanship. Coaching is winning players over and convincing them they have to play together. It takes a team conviction to…

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I think the most important thing about coaching is that you have to have a sense of confidence about what you're doing.

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The strength of the team lies within the individual. And the strength of the individual lies within the team

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The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.

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The problem with trading dominant players of that size is you never get in return what you've bargained away.

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Everybody has an opportunity to play a role, a playmaking role, so it makes it harder to coach. It takes a little…

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There's a lot of chatter in basketball and, rightfully, you want players to be talking to each other... But sometimes in practice,…

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The NBA has made a real issue about really making these superstars the premium that everybody wants to go to. That's their…

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He practiced against Kobe all of last year, so obviously it was sweet revenge for him. We deserved that. We didn't know…

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Once you've done the mental work, there comes a point you have to throw yourself into the action and put your heart…

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My philosophy is that you don't motivate players with speeches; you have motivated players that you draft. That's where they come in,…

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In basketball - as in life - true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when…

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I care about systematically playing basketball. If the spacing isn't right, if guys are standing on top of each other, if there…

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“NBA is not exactly the friendliest environment for teaching selflessness. Even though the game itself is a five-person sport, the culture surrounding…

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And yet as a coach, I know that being fixated on winning (or more likely, not losing) is counterproductive, especially when it…

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Kobe was hell-bent on surpassing Jordan as the greatest player in the game. His obsession with Michael was striking. When we played…

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I probably would have no capability of absorbing a 60-defeat season as a coach. It would be a foreign experience. My whole…

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Basketball is a great mystery. You can do everything right. You can have the perfect mix of talent and the best system…

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The best part of basketball, for those people on the inside, is the bus going to the airport after you've won a…

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Pau is one of the best big men in the game. I mean, Pau Gasol is going to be in the Hall…

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In basketball - as in life - true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when…

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“My confidence grew out of knowing that when the spirit was right and the players were attuned to one another, the game…

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Basketball is a sport that involves the subtle interweaving of players at full speed to the point where they are thinking and…

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Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We.

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The greatness of Michael Jordan is his competitive drive. The weakness of Michael Jordan is his competitive drive

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Basketball is a simple game. Your goal is penetration, get the ball close to the basket, and there are three ways to…

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Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I'm doing.

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My job as a coach was to make something meaningful out of one of the most mundane activities on the planet: playing…

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I thrive on challenges, and there is no more imposing challenge for someone in my profession than winning an NBA title.

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Not only is there more to life than basketball, there's a lot more to basketball than basketball.

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A coach's main job is to reawaken a spirit in which the players can blend together effortlessly.

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I'm a sports-watcher. I played football and baseball, coached baseball. So I watch those things.

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Coaching is about, "How do I get people to play at their peak level?" It is a spiritual quest. And if it's…

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I think there's something about wanting to stand in the spotlight. I think the ball is a spotlight, for example, and I…

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More by Phil Jackson

My parents were, had a marriage of passion, and the passion was about their religious beliefs. They were both immigrant families that - well,…

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“The unconscious mind is a terrific solver of complex problems when the conscious mind is busy elsewhere or, perhaps better yet, not overtaxed at…

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There's a term, agape, you hear used a lot with charismatic religious groups, that it's this more pure love of caring, of sharing of…

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“My confidence grew out of knowing that when the spirit was right and the players were attuned to one another, the game was likely…

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I don't believe in curfews, because you can't treat men like they were boys without forfeiting a certain level of trust.

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My philosophy is that you can't motivate players with speeches, you have motivated players that you draft. That's where they come in and those…

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My philosophy is that you don't motivate players with speeches; you have motivated players that you draft. That's where they come in, and those…

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Leadership is not about forcing your will on others. It's about mastering the art of letting go.

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“As a leader your job is to do everything in your power to create the perfect conditions for success by benching your ego and…

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If we can accept whatever hand we've been dealt - no matter how unwelcome - the way to proceed eventually becomes clear.

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A coach's main job is to reawaken a spirit in which the players can blend together effortlessly.

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“Zen teacher Lewis Richmond tells the story of hearing Shunryu Suzuki sum up Buddhism in two words. Suzuki had just finished giving a talk…

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My mother's families were Mennonites or Anabaptists that came to Minnesota from Russia. They were actually moving around Europe doing diking and lowland reclamation…

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The real value in everything you do is in the details. I just like that quote. A very similar way to say the same…

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Coaching is about, "How do I get people to play at their peak level?" It is a spiritual quest. And if it's not that,…

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