Red Auerbach Quotes

The best way to forget ones self is to look at the world with attention and love.

I have two college degrees, but the only way I could make a living was by showing kids how to put a ball in a hole.

Everything can happen in the playoffs.

It's not what you tell your players that counts. It's what they hear.

I never took a position we were going to be a good ball club. I took the position we were going to be a winning ball club.

The coach should be the absolute boss, but he still should maintain an open mind.

I've turned down a lot of trades where I might have gotten a better player, but I wasn't totally sure of the chemistry of that new player coming in. Even though he might possess golden ability, his personality and the way he gets along with teammates might be things you just don't want to cope with.

Look after your people.

If you're keeping score, win.

They said you have to use your five best players but I found you win with the five who fit together the best.

When players are used to winning, they put out a little more. Basketball 3rd winningest coach (regular season and playoffs) in NBA history; won 1,037 times in 20 years;

Winners train, losers complain. Give me twelve players that want to win and they will find a way to win.

Strategy is something anyone can learn. But not all coaches take the time to understand a man's personality.

If I'm going to coach the players, I want some say on who they're going to be.

You handle animals. You deal with people.

I have two college degrees, four honorary doctorate degrees, and am in three Halls of fame, and the only thing I know how to do is teach tall people how to put a ball in the hole.

Wilt Chamberlain had a great deal to do with the success of the NBA. His dominance, power, demeanor and the rivalry with Bill Russell says it all. He will be sorely missed by myself and everyone in the basketball community. Wilt was a great performer and a great athlete.

The most important thing in coaching is communication. It's not what you say as much as what they absorb.

Stand up for your players. Show them you care on and off the court.

Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up.

To a father, when a child dies, the future dies; to a child when a parent dies, the past dies.

He who believes in nobody knows that he himself is not to be trusted.

I never had a set of rules. Every situation is different.

You see, in sports you have so many things that aren't expected. There's so much uncertainty. So when players find themselves in a situation where management has a great deal of integrity and they can depend on my word or anybody else's word in the organization, they feel secure. And if the players feel secure, they don't want to leave here. And if they don't want to leave here, they're going to do everything they can on the court to stay here.

I don't believe in statistics. There are too many factors that can't be measured. You can't measure a ballplayer's heart.

The only correct actions are those that demand no explanation and no apology.

Everyone is born with a certain potential. You may never achieve your full potential, but how close you come depends on how much you want to pay the price.