Latest Phil Jackson Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• The real value in everything you do is in the details.

  Phil Jackson

  Real, Values

  Source: onlyagame.wbur.org

• 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 concern and understanding. I think players and teams have to come to that at some point in the season to become successful. Maybe not "personal friends," but they become teammates at the highest level of that term.

  Phil Jackson

  Religious, Team, Successful

  Source: onlyagame.wbur.org

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

  Phil Jackson

  Basketball, Meaningful, Mundane

  Source: onlyagame.wbur.org

• I know what it takes to be a coach. I've gone through that. I think I came up short my last season. Lots of things were happening physically to me, and emotionally, perhaps mentally, too. I thought it was time to tend to more important things, like health and like family. I still enjoy that, and I don't think I have any need to go back to coach.

  Phil Jackson

  Thinking, Important, Enjoy

  Source: onlyagame.wbur.org

• The best thing that I think happened to me was I got the opportunity to have really good players and we were able to meet the demand of the competition. And I think that's what I value most.

  Phil Jackson

  Player, Thinking, Opportunity

  Source: onlyagame.wbur.org

• The real value in everything you do is in the details. I just like that quote. A very similar way to say the same thing. If you're washing dishes you pay attention to washing dishes. If you're driving a car, you're paying attention to driving the car.

  Phil Jackson

  Real, Car, Attention

  Source: onlyagame.wbur.org

• My accountant tells me I can't be a California resident anymore. I spend too much of my time in New York.

  Phil Jackson

  New York, California, Too Much

  Source: espn.go.com

• I'm not railing, 'This is inadequate' or 'This isn't right.' Just show me what will work.

  Phil Jackson

  Show Me, Shows, Inadequate

  Source: espn.go.com

• Not everyone has a purpose.

  Phil Jackson

  Purpose

  Source: espn.go.com

• I care about systematically playing basketball. If the spacing isn't right, if guys are standing on top of each other, if there aren't lanes to be provided, or rebounders available to offensively rebound the ball, or we don't have defensive balance when a shot goes up, all of these things are fundamental basketball. I follow it.

  Phil Jackson

  Basketball, Guy, Balance

  Source: espn.go.com

• You have to be unique.

  Phil Jackson

  Unique

  Source: espn.go.com

• 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, you don't have a challenge, you don't have a mission. Forming a brotherhood and trying to move it forward - that's what coaching is.

  Phil Jackson

  Spiritual, Moving, Play

  "Phil Jackson talks Lakers, his future, Dwight Howard, more". Interview with Jack McCallum, www.si.com. February 19, 2013.

• I think people forgot that there are still ways you can get the ball inside rather than just standing there and throwing the ball in. You have to have a system that makes all things work.

  Phil Jackson

  Thinking, People, Balls

  "Phil Jackson talks Lakers, his future, Dwight Howard, more". Interview with Jack Mccallum, www.si.com. February 19, 2013.

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

  Phil Jackson

  Opportunity, Play, Roles

  "Phil Jackson Q&A: 'Jesus could probably coach' Lakers". Interview with Sam Amick, www.usatoday.com. March 2, 2014.

• I always tell the players, "We are in the business that's very much like a marathon race only we're gonna be doing it for 260-something days or so." And the race is something you get ready to do. There's gonna be some trial inside of there, but you put yourself through it because ultimately it brings a lot of meaning to your life, it gives a lot of energy to what you're doing.

  Phil Jackson

  Player, Race, Giving

  "Sunday Conversation: Phil Jackson". Interview with Jim Gray, www.espn.com. October 02, 2005.

• I'm a patient person. I think that's one thing that I feel comfortable I can deal with - the downfall and the errors, as long as I see progress and people trying.

  Phil Jackson

  Thinking, Patient Person, Errors

  "Sunday Conversation: Phil Jackson". Interview with Jim Gray, www.espn.com. October 3, 2005.

• You go in the weight room and you lift weights and you do all these things to strengthen your body. This is strengthening your mind. When you can stay focused and you can use that focus to always come back with your breath to center yourself, so that you're kind of floating in the moment, in the spirit.

  Phil Jackson

  Focus, Mind, Use

  "Former NBA coach Phil Jackson". "The Tavis Smiley Show", www.pbs.org. June 5, 2013.