--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The thing about great athletes is that…" description: "\"The thing about great athletes is that they all believe they can win the very next time.\" — Michael Wilbon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25a/michael-wilbon-21629_athlete_the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-t_1598124.jpg" --- # The thing about great athletes is that they all believe… ![“The thing about great athletes is that they all believe they can win the very next time.” quote by Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25a/michael-wilbon-21629_athlete_the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-t_1598124.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25a/michael-wilbon-21629_athlete_the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-t_1598124.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25a/michael-wilbon-21629_athlete_the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-t_1598124.jpg) > “The thing about great athletes is that they all believe they can win the very next time.” [Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Notes that top athletes maintain confidence by believing victory is possible in each upcoming attempt. **In simple terms:** Confidence fuels future success. Key Takeaway Cultivate belief in winning. Themes sports confidence mindset performance Mood motivational optimistic Type sports psychological When to use this quote - training - competition - mental preparation Key Concepts Self‑efficacy growth mindset resilience Questions to Reflect On - How does belief affect performance? - What prevents overconfidence? A Different Perspective Overconfidence can lead to complacency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Athlete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/athlete/) [Athletes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/athletes/) [Great Athletes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-athletes/) [Next time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next-time/) [Sports](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sports/) [Winning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winning/) ## Related quotes > [That is what great athletes can do: they give us a model of striving for human perfection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armstrong-williams/that-is-what-great-athletes-can-do-they-give-us-a-model-of-striving/) [Armstrong Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armstrong-williams/) > [There are a lot of young great athletes out there; they're much better athletes than what we were. 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I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/if-i-have-any-attribute-that-serves-me-well-it-s-i-don-t-have-a-long/) [Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/) > [God, I'm glad I grew up in a time when kids followed sports in the newspaper and on TV and knew every sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/god-i-m-glad-i-grew-up-in-a-time-when-kids-followed-sports-in-the/) [Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/) > [Greenies have been part of the clubhouse culture longer than card games.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/greenies-have-been-part-of-the-clubhouse-culture-longer-than-card/) [Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/) > [ There are always late bloomers \[in sport\], no matter size, although big men are more often late bloomers. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/there-are-always-late-bloomers-in-sport-no-matter-size-although-big/) [Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/) > [What we've seen this season is that if something that will enhance performance is available, some players will indulge... unless the penalty is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/what-we-ve-seen-this-season-is-that-if-something-that-will-enhance/) [Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/) > [Nothing is a violent as football and I bet you like. 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If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/steinberg-occupies-a-position-that-is-very-dear-to-those-of-us-who-ve/) [Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/) > [Football can stand parity better than any of the other sports, I think. Baseball, basketball and hockey need a defining team, in essence to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/football-can-stand-parity-better-than-any-of-the-other-sports-i-think/) [Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/) > [Baseball should adopt replay, plain and simple. If we can see it at home or on hand-held PDAs, the technology should be used in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/baseball-should-adopt-replay-plain-and-simple-if-we-can-see-it-at/) [Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/) > [Chats are so new to newspapers, historically. 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I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morgan/i-don-t-want-to-say-names-but-there-are-certain-companies-i-won-t/) [Alex Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morgan/) > [We are like highly trained athletes, who never run a race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-samuelson/we-are-like-highly-trained-athletes-who-never-run-a-race/) [Paul Samuelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-samuelson/) > [There are only two options regarding commitment; you’re either in or you’re out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-riley/there-are-only-two-options-regarding-commitment-you-re-either-in-or/) [Pat Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-riley/) > [I didn't aspire to be a good sport; 'champion' was good enough for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-perry/i-didn-t-aspire-to-be-a-good-sport-champion-was-good-enough-for-me/) [Fred Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-perry/) > [Treat yourself like an overweight, out of shape person and that's what you will be. Why not train and treat yourself like an athlete?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chalene-johnson/treat-yourself-like-an-overweight-out-of-shape-person-and-that-s-what/) [Chalene Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chalene-johnson/) [Browse all 2,455 Athlete quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/athlete/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The thing about great athletes is that they all believe they can win the very next time.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Wilbon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-they-all-believe-they-can-win/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Athlete" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-they-all-believe-they-can-win/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25a/michael-wilbon-21629_athlete_the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-t_1598124.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25a/michael-wilbon-21629_athlete_the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-t_1598124.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25a/michael-wilbon-21629_athlete_the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-t_1598124.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The thing about great athletes is that they all believe they can win the very next time.” — Michael Wilbon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michael Wilbon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The thing about great athletes is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-they-all-believe-they-can-win/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/the-thing-about-great-athletes-is-that-they-all-believe-they-can-win/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```