I’ve always been an unselfish guy, and that’s the only way I know how to play on the court and I try to play to the maximum of my ability – not only for myself but for my teammates.

Talking to a player helps, but in our sport the majority of learning happens from watching another player. You pick up things like being punctual, being nice to everyone, making sure you give your 100 per cent even in training.

I was a very shy character, always feeling uncomfortable because everybody was stronger than I, and always afraid I would look like a sissy. Everybody else played baseball; everybody else did all kinds of athletic things.

I’m not a genius. I need other people to get the perfect information. When we have this, we will decide to sign or sell a player.

The more players I have, the more difficult choices there are for me, but the better it is for LFC.

Well, I mean, to me, I think my ultimate – my ultimate goal is winning championships and – and I understand that me going down as one of the greats will not happen until I, you know, win a championship.

When we played softball, I’d steal second base, feel guilty and go back.

When the players go home, I can’t tell them what to do, so you need to create an atmosphere of trust. I don’t want to think, ‚What are they doing now? Do I need to call them?‘

The only thing wrong with the NBA – or any other professional sport, for that matter – is a wild epidemic of Dumbness and overweening Greed. There is no Mystery about it, and no need to change any rules.

Football in itself is a grand game for developing a lad physically and also morally, for he learns to play with good temper and unselfishness, to play in his place and ‚play the game,‘ and these are the best of training for any game of life.

I just love working hard. I love being part of a team; I love working toward a common goal.

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

Positional leaders ignore the fact that every person has hopes, dreams, desires, and goals of his own. And leaders must bring their vision and the aspirations of the people they lead together in a way that benefits everyone.

You’re not going to see my sense of humor on the football field. That’s not a place for me to joke around.

It’s the philosophies of being an athlete that carry me today.

It’s very important to like the people you work with. Otherwise, your job is going to be quite miserable.

I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help… Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business – you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.

I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.

I’m all for a good rivalry as long as lines are drawn.

We have a very open culture at the company, where we foster a lot of interaction between not just me and people but between everyone else. It’s an open floor plan. People have these desks where no one really has an office. I mean, I have a room where I meet with people. But it has all glass, so everyone can see into it and see what’s going on.

Synergy is what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand! It’s the profound result when two or more respectful human beings determine to go beyond their preconceived ideas to meet a great challenge.

But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

Science is the captain, and practice the soldiers.

As a child, I wanted to know how things worked and to control them. With a friend, I built a number of complicated models that I could control.

Whenever our neighbour’s house is on fire, it cannot be amiss for the engines to play a little on our own.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to trust your team. It’s a lesson I’ve had to relearn quite a few times.

When a team takes ownership of its problems, the problem gets solved. It is true on the battlefield, it is true in business, and it is true in life.

The thing that motivates me is a very common form of motivation. And that is, with other folks counting on me, it’s so easy to be motivated.

We’re African-American and we work together as a family, so people assume we’re like the Jacksons. But I didn’t have parents using me to get out of a bad situation.

I like playing basketball and going to the gym. I don’t box, but I’ll ride my bike and go jogging or running in the park. Sometimes my lady and I go hiking.

When you play sports like tennis, you’re alone, and that’s a good school for life, but it’s also a good school for life to bring your best and make those around you better, too – helping others in difficult moments.

I always tell people that you should only hire people to be on your team if you would work for them.

If the team keeps changing then everything has to keep changing.

Over the years, all my coaches and my teammates have contributed a lot to shape my career. I can never forget their contribution and help.

A company is a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited they are about creating. I do want to recognize a ton of super-talented people. I just happen to be the face of the companies.

I try to do the fancy things out there by going with both hands, making crossover moves, and having a certain creativity and flair to my game.

Before broadcasting for 50-some years, I did TV, played 10 years in the big leagues, won a world championship – and played a big part in that, too, letting the Cardinals inject me with hepatitis. Takes a big man to do that.

To be recognized for the hard work my team and I put into ‚Starboy‘ is an honor.

With colleagues in the work environment, we fail to see the source of their envy or the reason for their manipulations; our attempts at influencing them are based on the assumptions that they want the same things as ourselves.

If I’m going to get you to do stuff, I need to lead you. I can’t just order you to do it.

Ali’s got a left, Ali’s got a right – when he knocks you down, you’ll sleep for the night; and when you lie on the floor and the ref counts to ten, hope and pray that you never meet me again.

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.

People don’t realise how difficult it is to work with people day in and day out that know absolutely nothing.

I’m not a one-man show. I was never that in my life, and I never want to be that.

We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

I treated it like every day was my last day with a basketball.

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.

A lot of people tell me a lot of things about my conduct, my game, my future… but I try to stay away from their words of wisdom. I don’t let it distract me. On the field, you will be facing the ball alone. If you fail, you will the only one to blame. So, you should be the one deciding for yourself.

I was a good football player, and I had a chance to play with some great players.

I’ve thought sometimes about what I like about football, and it’s playing together.

If you watch me during the game, I celebrate when we press the ball and it goes out.

But I’m pretty good with collaborative thinking. I work well with other people.

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

I never did anything alone. Whatever was accomplished in this country was accomplished collectively.

Collegiality is crucial to the success of our mission. We could not do the job the Constitution assigns to us if we didn’t – to use one of Justice Antonin Scalia’s favorite expressions – ‚Get over it!‘

March is a month without mercy for rabid basketball fans. There is no such thing as a ‚gentleman gambler‘ when the Big Dance rolls around. All sheep will be fleeced, all fools will be punished severely… There are no Rules when the deal goes down in the final weeks of March. Even your good friends will turn into monsters.

I had practiced with the team, and the first scheduled game was with the University of Missouri. They made it quite clear to the Army that they would not play a team with a black player on it. Instead of telling me the truth, the Army gave me leave to go home.

Every night on the court I give my all, and if I’m not giving 100 percent, I criticize myself.