Top 30 Jerry West Quotes

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.

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.

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

I’ve always been a very harsh judge of talent because if you don’t play the game on both ends of the court, and if you don’t play hard every night, I’m probably not going to be in love with you as a player. I’m going to respect you because you’re good, but these players are unique.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

There’s been so many unbelievable players in Los Angeles, maybe the best of the best.

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

I’m surprised when the ball doesn’t go into the hoop. I think I should make every shot.

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’d go fishing and always pretend I would catch the biggest fish. I’d stay out there for hours after everybody else left until I caught something. When I shot baskets, I was always the coach and star player and always made the winning shot.

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

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

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

The season is a beast within itself. It’s not the quickest race; it’s a marathon. In the playoffs – if you’re fortunate enough to make the playoffs – that’s more like a dash. You have to concentrate on one opponent. When they’re done, you have to concentrate on another one.

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

A couple teams will grind the shot clock down. Most of the time coaches do that, it’s usually a talent deficit. They can’t compete against the better teams.

You get so addicted to winning that you don’t want that feeling to stop.

Some guys lay their fannies out there every night – they play the game at such a high level, and they give so much that, frankly, they don’t get credit for it. And I think it’s tragic sometimes.

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.

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

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