99 Michael Jordan Quotes | Make It Happen (2024)

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, but he grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was competitive from childhood, playing many sports and striving to win at all of them. Besides becoming what is widely considered to be one of the best basketball players of all time, Michael Jordan has also been an Olympic athlete, minor-league baseball player, businessman, and actor. During his reign from 1980-1990, Jordan brought the Chicago Bulls to six National Basketball Association championships. Playing for the Bulls, Jordan earned NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award five times. Jordan also earned five regular-season MVPs and three All-Star MVPs. With these accolades, Jordan became the most decorated player in the NBA.
Michael Jordan continues to inspire countless athletes. As a celebrated basketball player, actor, and business leader, Jordan’s influence is far-reaching. Anyone aspiring to reach their full potential can find some insight from Michael Jordan’s life and words. Quotes from Michael Jordan motivate people from all walks of life. As Jordan famously said, “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”

Table of Contents

1. Short Michael Jordan Quotes
2. Best Michael Jordan Quotes
3. Powerful Michael Jordan Motivational Quotes
4. Michael Jordan Inspirational Quotes
5. Michael Jordan Quotes about Success
6. Michael Jordan Quotes On Images

Short Michael Jordan Quotes

• Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game. Michael Jordan
• Practice like you’ve never won. Play like you’ve never lost. Michael Jordan
• We all fly. Once you leave the ground, you fly. Some people fly longer than others. Michael Jordan
• Learning’s a gift, even when pain is your teacher. Michael Jordan
• Heart is what separates the good from the great. Michael Jordan
• Live the moment for the moment. Michael Jordan
• You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them. Michael Jordan
• Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. Michael Jordan
• Everybody has talent, but ability takes hard work. Michael Jordan
• The more you sweat in practice the less you bleed in battle. Michael Jordan
• I play because I love the game. I work hard because I love winning. Michael Jordan
• Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. Michael Jordan
• Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you’re in a fight. Michael Jordan
• Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night. Michael Jordan
• Enjoy every minute of life. Never second-guess life. Michael Jordan
• If it turns out that my best wasn’t good enough, at least I won’t look back and say I was afraid to try. Michael Jordan
• The best come from the worst. Michael Jordan
• There’s only one Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan
• They don’t need a ticket to watch you sitting on the bench. They can go to your house for that. Michael Jordan
• All I knew is that I never wanted to be average. Michael Jordan
• What is love? Love is playing every game as if it’s your last! Michael Jordan
• Not every flying hero has a cape. Michael Jordan
• Why would I think about missing a shot that I haven’t taken yet? Michael Jordan
• The best evaluation I can make of a player is to look in his eyes and see how scared they are. Michael Jordan
• I’ve never been afraid to fail. Michael Jordan
• Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation. Michael Jordan
• My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn’t stand the sideline. Michael Jordan
• My heroes are and were my parents. I can’t see having anyone else as my heroes. Michael Jordan
• In any investment, you expect to have fun and make money. Michael Jordan
• I realize that I’m black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and this is everybody’s wish. Michael Jordan
• I want to be the bridge to the next generation. Michael Jordan
• I wasn’t really a work-conscious type of person. I was a player. I loved to play sports. Michael Jordan
• I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. Michael Jordan
• I own the guy guarding me. Michael Jordan
• If you do the work, you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life. Michael Jordan
• If you quit once it becomes a habit. Never quit! Michael Jordan
• In reality, I never want to grow up. Michael Jordan
• Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again. Michael Jordan
• I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era. Michael Jordan
• I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else’s talent. Michael Jordan
• DI can accept failure, but i can’t accept not trying. Michael Jordan
• Don’t let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in. Michael Jordan
• It is nerve-wracking watching my kids’ games. Michael Jordan
• Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game. Michael Jordan

Best Michael Jordan 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. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot… when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result. Michael Jordan
• As athletes, we’re used to reacting quickly. Here, it’s ‘come, stop, come, stop.’ There’s a lot of downtime. That’s the toughest part of the day. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• I want to be perceived as a guy who played his best in all facets, not just scoring. A guy who loved challenges. Michael Jordan
• Playing sick. That is so hard to do. It has to be a total mental challenge, as well as the physical challenge. 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. Michael Jordan
• If I had been playing for money I would have complained a long time ago that I was underpaid. Michael Jordan
• It’s absolutely wrong that I don’t want guys to challenge me. And the people who say that aren’t in the room. Michael Jordan
• It’s hard to say if the NBA is hurt by the influx of younger players, but it’s definitely impacted the league. Michael Jordan
• My challenge when I came back was to face the young talent, to dissect their games, and show them maybe that they needed to learn more about the game than just the money aspect. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• It’s a heavy duty to try to do everything and please everybody. My job was to go out there and play the game of basketball as best I can and provide entertainment for everyone who wanted to watch basketball. Obviously, people may not agree with that; again, I can’t live with what everyone’s impression of what I should or what I shouldn’t do. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I don’t believe there is only one greatest player either. Michael Jordan

Powerful Michael Jordan Motivational Quotes

• 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. Michael Jordan
• If nobody will help you, do it alone! There is no ‘i’ in team, but there is in WIN! Michael Jordan
• I realized that if I was going to achieve anything in life I had to be aggressive. I had to get out there and go for it. Michael Jordan
• I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat. Michael Jordan
• Every time I feel tired while I am exercising and training, I close my eyes to see that picture, to see that list with my name. This usually motivates me to work again. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it is an illusion to me. Failure always made me try harder the next time. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• 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.’ Michael Jordan
• I will not quit this game because of what the media has done to me. Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan Inspirational Quotes

• It is easy to choose a path of anonymity and lead an empty life. But to strive hard and lead an impactful life, one needs a burning desire to realize dreams. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• One day, you might look up and see me playing the game at 50. Don’t laugh. Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion. Michael Jordan
• The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan
• The good part about being famous is being able to help people. The hard part is every day you have to be in a good mood, because that is what people expect. You learn to get good at it. Michael Jordan
• The minute you get away from fundamentals – whether it’s proper technique, work ethic or mental preparation – the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you’re doing. Michael Jordan
• My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on, and that is the belief that the ability to achieve starts in your mind. Michael Jordan
• The basketball court for me, during a game, is the most peaceful place I can imagine. On the basketball court, I worry about nothing. When I’m out there, no one can bother me. Michael Jordan
• I would tell players to relax and never think about what’s at stake. Just think about the basketball game. If you start to think about who is going to win the championship, you’ve lost your focus. Michael Jordan
• If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome. Michael Jordan
• 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. Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan Quotes about Success

• To learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail. Michael Jordan
• To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don’t isolate. Michael Jordan
• I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results. Michael Jordan
• Winning isn’t always championships. Michael Jordan
• Champions do not become champions when they win an event, but in the hours, weeks, and months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely a demonstration of their championship character. Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan Quotes On Images

You May Also Like:

100+ Basketball Quotes When You Aim Above the Rim
51 Basketball Captions for Above-the-Hoop-Level Instagram Photos
The Mind of a Skilled Martial Artist | 135 Powerful Bruce Lee Quotes
The Reign of the “Greek Freak”| 64 Giannis Antetokounmpo Quotes
He’ll Be Back! | 100+ Arnold Schwarzenegger Quotes to Motivate You