Kelvin Sampson Quotes

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Kelvin Sampson

Profession : Coach

Birth : October 5, 1955

My dad was a high school coach for 30-plus years in North Carolina, and he was inducted into the North Carolina High School Coaches Hall of Fame. He's the best coach I've known, in every way, all the way around - relationships, motivation, going the extra mile, always putting his kids first and foremost.

Kelvin Sampson

The one thing about Lumbee people is that there's so many stereotypes about Native Americans, especially reservation Native Americans, and we all tend to get lumped under that umbrella. But the Lumbee are non-reservation. I grew up no different than anybody would in normal American communities.

Kelvin Sampson

Nobody believed in us. Everybody made fun of Houston basketball. I can't say I blamed 'em.

Kelvin Sampson

There are incredible decisions made in a 48-minute game with a 24-second shot clock and the last two minutes of a game.

Kelvin Sampson

Any time you work with your son, it's special.

Kelvin Sampson

Scott Skiles was a master tactician - they're all masters, but he is elite. He knew how to manipulate his team from an X's-and-O's standpoint.

Kelvin Sampson

You choose who you want to be.

Kelvin Sampson

Kevin McHale was a master communicator and knows how to coach stars, and that's a unique gift because you take an old-school guy that's used to coaching his way, he'd have a hard time coaching them cats now, but Kevin knows how, and he has the patience of Job.

Kelvin Sampson

When you decide to go into coaching, obviously you don't forget why. That's to help develop young people, help them chase their dreams, help them reach their goals.

Kelvin Sampson

When I first got to Oklahoma, it was really a blessing that coach Sutton was at Oklahoma State. He made me a better coach.

Kelvin Sampson

Racism was a big part of our community. I'm not going to revisit history, and I'm not going to call out those communities, but the communities we grew up around, we were treated like second- or third-class citizens.

Kelvin Sampson

The tobacco markets I worked in were segregated. If you went to the bathroom, there was 'White,' there was 'Colored,' and there was 'Other.' I grew up in that.

Kelvin Sampson

With federal recognition, the Lumbee Tribe would become a full player in Indian country, no longer second class Indians in the eyes of the federal government. As such, we would employ our substantial skills and abilities to help correct problems faced by Indian country and make significant contributions.

Kelvin Sampson

All I wanted to do is coach in the NBA. I didn't want anything to do with college basketball.

Kelvin Sampson

Sometimes Kellen calls me 'Coach.' Sometimes he calls me 'Pops.'

Kelvin Sampson

The most overrated thing is that you're a good defensive team because of your coaching. No. You're a good defensive team because you care and because it's important to you.

Kelvin Sampson

You don't want to get stuck playing 40 minutes a game with your small lineup.

Kelvin Sampson

The bad teams in our league are the ones who don't pass the ball well.

Kelvin Sampson

Teams that just play on one side of the floor are going to struggle against defenses that load up on that side.

Kelvin Sampson

Guys like Andre Miller and Kevin Garnett - they're posting up hoping a second guy will run at them so they can pass. You're better just playing one-on-one in the post if you can.

Kelvin Sampson