Sheryl Swoopes Quotes (35 Quotes)


    We played half of our season without Tina, who is a huge part of what we try to do with the Comets, ... So for us to be in a position to make the playoffs and do what we did, and then for me to be able to walk away with the MVP after seeing how much talent was in this league this year - and it could have easily gone to anybody - I think that is why it makes this one that much more special to me.

    If I feel anywhere close to the way I felt this year, health-wise, I definitely know I'll be back next year and maybe another 10, ... I got the hunger back for it. I found the fun in it again.

    I was at a point in my life where I am just tired of having to pretend to be somebody I am not. I was basically living a lie. For the last seven, eight years, I was basically waiting to exhale.

    decades-long policy of harassing players whom (she) believed to be lesbians.

    Hopefully, this will not have a negative effect on the W. N. B. A., ... Me coming out does not change what the W. N. B. A. stands for as a basketball league. I don't think there's any secret that the huge support we get comes from the gay and lesbian community. It's unfortunate that people, and those not only in W. N. B. A., are not able to feel like they can be who they are. They lose endorsements they lose friends and family.


    We really focused on trying to slow her down a little bit and making somebody else do something to beat us. The game plan we had, defensively especially, really worked.

    I want this club to be a place that will be comfortable for women in particular. So many clubs have a younger crowd, and I want my club to be where mature, professional women can meet up with friends, relax and enjoy themselves.

    For me, I like to work on my game, and if I weren't playing overseas I'd probably take a couple of months off and then I'd have to find somewhere to go and play around home and stay in shape anyway. So why not go overseas and work on my game and stay in shape and then be able to make some money at the same time

    Jordan absolutely loves it. What kind of sold him on it was he heard or found out that this is where Kobe Bryant started playing basketball. He said, 'Mom I want to go to Italy because I want to be just like Kobe. I want to speak Italian. I want to be able to speak more than one language and I want to be a great basketball player.' So I probably have Kobe to thank for that.

    We used that as a motivating factor. Every player came in here hungry and still frustrated from not making the playoffs last year. Not having Tina when we started the season, that also made other people take their games to another level.

    It's not something that I want to throw in people's faces. I'm just at a point in my life where I'm tired of having to pretend to be somebody I'm not. I'm tired of having to hide my feelings about the person I care about. About the person I love.

    My reason for coming out isn't to be some sort of hero,

    At times, I thought we were unstoppable. If you'd told me it would be this kind of game, I wouldn't believe you. I thought it was going to be more of a battle. Today, I can honestly say that we wanted it more than they did.

    The only thing that would make this better would be if we were in Houston today getting ready to play Game 3, ... Unfortunately that's not the case, but I'm excited just to be here today.

    That was a point in my career when I was just very frustrated and said, 'Well maybe I don't need to do this anymore,' ... And I asked him (Jordan), I said, 'Son, do you want mom to retire' And he said, 'No, mom, no, mom. You're still very good. I want to go watch. I love the WNBA.'

    Do I think I was born this way No, ... And that's probably confusing to some, because I know a lot of people believe that you are.

    So I was disappointed because I only had one assist in the second half, I should've had more than that. But I think (the triple double) is a great accomplishment, just to kind of go along with all the success I've had this season, all the success that we've had.

    I'm sure none of the fans did. And in all honesty, I think the only people who thought we could go to Seattle and win two games were the players. I'm not really sure that all of our coaching staff thought so.

    If we play completely different in the first half, it doesn't come down to that shot and it's a different outcome,

    But I think everybody is confident enough to know that if we go down there Saturday and not have 20 turnovers like we did tonight, we have a pretty good shot at winning,

    This is not something that we wanted, ... We dug ourselves into a pretty big hole, but we came back. But we really couldn't ever get into any kind of flow. I think we were more concerned tonight with what they were going to do and that really hurt us tonight.

    I definitely know that I'll be back next year and maybe for another 10, ... I still love the game. I got the hunger back for it. I found the fun in it again. So I don't know how many more years I'll play.

    Nicole's an incredible player, ... I don't really think it surprised us that she hit it. She was actually behind the NBA 3-point line, and Tina (Thompson) was out there, had her hand up.

    We knew it was do or die, and I told everybody before the game that I don't want to go home. Tonight we came out ready to play. We got our transition on early and think that was the key today.

    Jordan told me, 'Mom, I love watching you play. You're going to be MVP.' This is for him.

    We have a lot of experience and veterans on this team. As a team we are playing incredible basketball.

    And I just think right now, we're clicking (on) all cylinders offensively, defensively we're moving the ball, we're making other teams have to work on defense. And when you're playing basketball like that, you're going to be pretty tough to beat.

    To be honest, I think a lot of teams right now are questioning, 'Can we beat them How good are they'

    No matter how far life pushes you down, no matter how much you hurt, you can always bounce back.

    Right now we're playing very good basketball, ... I think we're playing good individually, and as a team we're playing some incredible basketball.

    Of all my awards, this is probably the most special to me, ... Nobody expected the Comets to do anything this year. The only thing that would make it better is if I was in Houston right now, preparing for Game 3.

    Discovering I'm gay just sort of happened much later in life, ... Being intimate with Alisa or any other woman never entered my mind. At the same time, I'm a firm believer that when you fall in love with somebody, you can't control that.

    I'm tired of having to hide my feelings about the person I care about. About the person I love. Male athletes of my caliber probably feel like they have a lot more to lose than gain (by coming out). I don't agree with that. To me, the most important thing is happiness.

    I'm at a place in my life right now where I'm very happy, very content. I'm finally OK with the idea of who I love, who I want to be with.

    We're talking about women's professional basketball here. We're still new at this. A lot of times people forget the NBA was once where we are now. We've got to go beyond the true diehard women's professional-sports fan.


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