Mike Krzyzewski

“To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless.”

“Fun is to experience things you would not have been able to experience in any other setting.”

“In high school, in sport, I had a coach who told me I was much better than I thought I was, and would make me do more in a positive sense. He was the first person who taught me not to be afraid of failure.”

“I think some parents now look at a youngster failing as the final thing. It's a process, and failure is part of the process. I would like it if the teacher and the parents would connect more. I think that used to be, but we're losing a little bit of that right now.”

“I've tried to handle winning well, so that maybe we'll win again, but I've also tried to handle failure well. If those serve as good examples for teachers and kids, then I hope that would be a contribution I have made to sport. Not just basketball, but to sport.”

“I've been so fortunate in my life that my family has never been jealous of my success. They have shown true love and commitment to me by being supportive. They shared in it.”

“I always won in my imagination. I always hit the game-winning shot, or I hit the free throw. Or if I missed, there was a lane violation, and I was given another one.”

“Imagination has a great deal to do with winning.”

“Throughout my life, my mom has been the person that I've always looked up to.”

“The person who has inspired me my whole life is my Mom, because she taught me commitment. She sacrificed.”

“I had a really bad temper, when I was growing up. Sport helped me channel that temper into more positive acts.”

“I have a rule on my team: when we talk to one another, we look each other right in the eye, because I think it's tough to lie to somebody. You give respect to somebody.”

“The thing I loved the most - and still love the most about teaching - is that you can connect with an individual or a group, and see that individual or group exceed their limits.”

“My ambition in high school was to be a high school coach and teacher, and that's still what I do: teach.”

“The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions.”