Jerry West Quotes

A shot is a lever; it’s all it is. You don’t open a car door differently each time. A car door is efficient – it opens and closes. So is a shot.

I would hope that racism is something that just does not work in this day and age, but I know otherwise.

I think, at the end of the day, when you hear the same voice all the time, it goes in one ear and out the other when you’re a player.

Anything can happen with hard work and dedication

I have often wondered why I was never captain of the Lakers.

I don’t know anything else but the Lakers. This has certainly been more than a job for me as a player. It has certainly meant more to me than just an occupation.

[The NBA] used to be a small band of basketball groupies. Now there are a lot more corporate-type people working in the league.

Even though I felt, at times, ‘My goodness, you’re among the upper echelon,’ there is still a huge void there. A huge void. It is about self-esteem. That’s a thing that has always been a real complex part of my life.

You need lofty goals. Then cement it with a great work ethic.

If I’m not nervous, if I don’t have at least a little bit of the same self-doubt and anxious feelings I had when I started playing, then it will be time for me to go on. I must have that tension.

That’s a strong sign of a good coach, to let an assistant participate. It shows his confidence in the coach’s ability not to have to dominate everything.

There are many players who don’t measure up to their marketability.

Basketball came to me and for some reason it gave me an opportunity to live a life that I didn’t dream possible. But it did let me live my dreams.

At one time, we were asked to play your own man; you’re responsible for your own man. And, if you were good enough and kind of a ball hawk, you helped everyone else. Now it’s really much more of a team concept defensively than it was when we played.

When it’s time for me to walk away from something, I walk away from it. My mind, my body, my conscience tell me that enough is enough.

I don’t really want to go into my problems with the team at the time except to say that no one’s ever had to pay me to play basketball.

I like to keep people guessing.

Don’t let talent get in way of team performance. Great players do what’s outstanding for team, not what makes them stand out

In the playoffs, the best players are supposed to play better. I did. It made no difference.

I was not a great ballhandler. I just worked very hard at it, and I got to be a good ballhandler-a competent ballhandler-but never a great ballhandler.

We talk about players of yesteryear, guys who could play or couldn’t play, and I think it’s ridiculous to try to even compare people… The things that you can do in basketball today that you couldn’t even do then… you can carry the ball; you walk all over the place.

I’ve seen a lot in my life. I’ve seen a lot of winning. I’ve seen a lot of testing times. I think when you’re tested, you really find out what you’re made of, OK?

I’m a Gemini. Know what that means? There are two very different sides to me.

A lot of people would be happy that they got through a long career and had a chance to play as many times in the finals. To me, I wanted to win for the franchise and for the people. And when you can’t do that, it’s devastating, particularly for someone like me.

Confidence is a lot of this game or any game. If you don’t think you can, you won’t.

Defensively, from a team standpoint, I didn’t feel I played very well. Very rarely was I satisfied with how I played.

Everyone always says you have to be on the best team, the team that wins. Oh, no, no, no. I disagree with that.

I remember, years ago, if I had had an opportunity to leave the Lakers, I would have left for one reason: because I did not like an owner that was not telling me the truth. And it would have made no difference what they would have offered me; I would have left.

The league is changing, and we don’t have many back-to-the-basket players. We now have a game that requires skill and versatility. A lot of that is about being able to think. It makes all the difference in the world to have a player in there with a high basketball IQ who can make the right decision.

I hated to miss games… at the height of my career, I missed a lot of games due to… just a hamstring pull. And I hated sitting out. I just hated it. You play for your team, but you also play for the people who attend the games.

I would never stay under circumstances where I felt I was a figurehead and might look good in your team media guide. I don’t want to be that. I do want to contribute, and if I don’t contribute, I’ll walk away from it. If I don’t feel welcomed, I’ll walk away from it.

The passion to win games, the incredible, focused energy and also the camaraderie of the team were all things that I really loved.

The support this city and our fans have shown the Grizzlies made my decision to stay in Memphis an easy one. Memphis deserves a championship team, and I am committed to that.

As a player all you can do is play within yourself, even in the context of a team sport.

When the Warriors are on, my wife keeps away from me. I’m a rabid fan, and my language sometimes is not too good.

I’m just ultracompetitive. I will be till they put me in the grave.

It’s discouraging for me to come out there and watch the lack of fan support for a good team.

To be candid with you, free agency hurts all sports. It’s great for athletes making an enormous amount of money. But to say it helps the sports, I don’t believe that.

I enjoy winning, but more importantly I enjoy the people I’m around.

I often do things that surprise me, not to mention others.

Kevin Garnett was a great player, but he wasn’t Kobe Bryant.

I’ve been so low sometimes and when everyone else would be so high because I didn’t like myself.

The advent of so much dribbling has created a different kind of player, and it starts at a very early age. We have so many gifted ball handlers. Everything is pick-and-roll. Unless he’s a catch-and-shoot guy, a player is going to put it on the floor and attack. Kevin Durant is a wonderful ball handler.

I enjoy winning, but more importantly, I enjoy the people I’m around.

To have harmony on a team, you need a coach who can get inside the head of every player and get them all pulling in one direction.

The Lakers had been home to me, unlike the home I had grown up and felt apart from.

For some reason, I always wanted to work in an environment where things weren’t so good. I’m no messiah, but I always wanted to try and make a difference where a team hadn’t prospered.

Self-esteem is something I still battle. People look at me and say, ‘You’ve got fame. You’ve got admiration. You’ve done this; you’ve done that.’ As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t done anything. I’ve just fulfilled a dream of competing.

Coaches who have been players in the league, they get so attuned to playing how they were successful and who their coaches were.

I’ve seen a lot in my life. I’ve seen a lot of winning. I’ve seen a lot of testing times. I think when you’re tested, you really find out what you’re made of.

Obviously, stats are important tools, but I think there’s something behind those things; somewhere along the way, you’ve got to try to look inside someone.

You can’t ever totally know what’s inside of someone else, or see the kind of will someone like Magic has. You have to rely on your instincts to find people who hate losing and know how to win.

I’ve never seen a better coach than Gregg Popovich.

I’m still very much a West Virginia boy. I haven’t forgotten my roots, because that’s really who I am.

I went a few times, but I felt there was no way that any therapist could understand my particular torment and also felt in some respects they were sicker than I was.

You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.

I’ve always been really nationalistic, and I had a brother killed in Korea. And I think the ‘Star Spangled Banner,’ even today – and I’ve heard it a heckuva lot of times, OK – has always been a significant feeling to me.

There’s always two or three players I like, and why I like them, I can’t tell you. There’s just something about them I think would be great on a team.