Quotes

• "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

• "If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

• "If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome."

• "I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."

• "My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength."

• "I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."

• "Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen."

• "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."

• "Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game."

• "Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

• "My heroes are and were my parents. I can't see having anyone else as my heroes."

• "The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace."

• "I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win."

• "The game of basketball has been everything to me. My place of refuge, place I've always gone where I needed comfort and peace. It's been the site of intense pain and the most intense feelings of joy and satisfaction. It's a relationship that has evolved over time, given me the greatest respect and love for the game."

• "Even when I'm old and grey, I won't be able to play it, but I'll still love the game."

• "You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them."

• "My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn't stand the sideline."

• "There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I don't believe there is only one greatest player either."

• "I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot... when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result."
   

• "My father used to say that it's never too late to do anything you wanted to do. And he said, 'You never know what you can accomplish until you try.'"

• "Be true to the game, because the game will be true to you. If you try to shortcut the game, then the game will shortcut you. If you put forth the effort, good things will be bestowed upon you. That's truly about the game, and in some ways that's about life too."

• "I never thought a role model should be negative."

• "The game has its ups and downs, but you can never lose focus of your individual goals and you can't let yourself be beat because of lack of effort."

• "I realize that I'm black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and this is everybody's wish."

• "There is no 'i' in team but there is in win."

• "When I was young, I had to learn the fundamentals of basketball. You can have all the physical ability in the world, but you still have to know the fundamentals."

• "I hope the millions of people I've touched have the optimism and desire to share their goals and hard work and persevere with a positive attitude."

• "You have competition every day because you set such high standards for yourself that you have to go out every day and live up to that."

• "Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you're in a fight."

• "When I lose the sense of motivation and the sense to prove something as a basketball player, it's time for me to move away from the game."

• "Limits, like fear, is often an illusion."

• "Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night."

• "There's only one Michael Jordan."

• "I want to wake up every day and do whatever comes in my mind, and not feel pressure or obligations to do anything else in my life."

• "I do not have a problem, I enjoy gambling, but I think people are trying to make it seem like I have a problem, because people really don't know."

• "I want to be the bridge to the next generation."

• "I'd like to be settled into somewhat of a normal life. Somewhat. I know it's never going to be completely normal."

• "Playing sick. That is so hard to do. It has to be a total mental challenge, as well as the physical challenge."

• "Winning isn't always championships."

• "I'm patient."

• "I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era."

• "In reality, I never want to grow up."

• "How many times have your parents told you not to do things, and the next thing you know, you go do it? And you realized you shouldn't have done it."

• "I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else's talent."

• "It is nerve-wracking watching my kids' games."

• "When I was playing before I retired, I never really understood the appreciation and the respect that people gave me. People had treated me like a god or something, and that was very embarrassing."

• "Gambling is legal and betting is legal, for what I bet."

• "I want people to understand, gambling is not a bad thing if you do it within the framework of what it's meant to be, which is fun and entertaining."

• "I've had tendinitis since college."

• "It's hard to say if the NBA is hurt by the influx of younger players, but it's definitely impacted the league."

• "I can't speak for the future. I have no crystal ball."

• "In college I never realized the opportunities available to a pro athlete. I've been given the chance to meet all kinds of people, to travel and expand my financial capabilities, to get ideas and learn about life, to create a world apart from basketball."

• "Being Michael Jordan means acting the same as I always have."

• "For a competitive junkie like me, golf is a great solution because it smacks you in the face every time you think you have accomplished something. That to me has taken over a lot of the energy and competitiveness for basketball."

• "I want to play for years."

• "It's a habit of mine now, noticing labels, logos, shoes."

• "Purchasing the Bobcats is the culmination of my post-playing career goal of becoming the majority owner of an NBA franchise."

• "I like control."

• "I think the players win the championship, and the organization has something to do with it, don't get me wrong. But don't try to put the organization above the players."

• "The best evaluation I can make of a player is to look in his eyes and see how scared they are."

• "Do I need my number retired throughout the course of the league to acknowledge what I've done? No."

• "I know the signs of scaredness."

• "I want to be perceived as a guy who played his best in all facets, not just scoring. A guy who loved challenges."

• "I will not quit this game because of what the media has done to me."

• "It's absolutely wrong that I don't want guys to challenge me. And the people who say that aren't in the room."

• "Ultimately, if you can say that I'm a bad owner and we're winning championships, I can live with that. But if we're not making the playoffs and we're spending and losing money, then I have to look in the mirror and say maybe I'm not taking the necessary steps to doing what it takes to run an organization."