Sheryl Swoopes Quotations

I always believe someone somewhere is working harder than me and that motivates me to work harder, give 100%.

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

I've always been a firm believer in mind over matter. If you don't believe you can achieve, your body will start to believe this and you'll be stuck.

There is nothing I've been through in my life that I regret, or that I would go back and change. I feel like everything that happened - personally and professionally - I went through for a reason, and I learned from those things.

It didn't matter how good I was. It was always, 'You're a girl. You can't play with the guys.' It's always been motivation for me.

If you do not believe yourself no one else will.

I've accomplished everything a person can accomplish on a basketball court, but I never thought about the future when I was younger. I never made plans for the next stage in my life.

You have to be positive, and I'm not just talking about athletics, this also applies to life.

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.

For me, honestly, it's not about individual accomplishments, individual award. It's about what I've got to do and how I can contribute to the team.

I have accomplished everything I set out to accomplish when I started playing the sport at 7. And probably even more.

I never really officially retired from the WNBA, I just left the doors open.

Being gay has nothing to do with the three gold medals or the three MVPs or the four championships I've won. I'm still the same person. I'm Sheryl.

Sexuality and gender don't change anyone's performance on the court.

Some people might say my coming out after just winning the MVP award is heroic, and I understand that,

As a result of Title IX, and a new generation of parents who want their daughters to have the opportunities they never had, women's sports have arrived.

I didn't grow up thinking, 'Oh, maybe someday I'm going to have a shoe named after me.'

I'm finally OK with the idea of who I love, who I want to be with.

Discovering I'm gay just sort of happened much later in life,

I don't want to have to hide from the world anymore.

I was very bitter, frustrated, hurt, angry - I went through all types of emotions when I first was out of the WNBA.

Every level that I have ever competed on, I have risen to the top.

I had never made any plans beyond basketball.

We want to celebrate this, ... But I told them in the locker room, we can't forget about the Sparks. We owe them something.

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.

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.

She is still one of our prominent players, and she's a great player. We would like Sheryl to be happy.

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.

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.

I got in a rhythm in the second half and everything seemed like it was going well,

For whatever reason, we can't put two halves together, ... We dug ourselves a hole in the first half and came back in the second half a completely different team.

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

We've got to try to take advantage of what their weaknesses are, and one of those is not having the experience we have.

We've got to take the one (tonight) and, hopefully, another one on Saturday.

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.

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

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.

I want to thank everybody out there who voted for me and who did believe in me. Because I felt all along that I still could compete with the best of them out there.

I think there's always been great talent in the WNBA, ... I think there are so many players this year that had incredible seasons and fortunately, or unfortunately, there's only one MVP.

My purpose for doing it has nothing to do with throwing it in anybody's face,

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.'

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.

We really wanted this game. We knew we had to come here and win two.

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

We could just never really get into any kind of a flow, ... We kept saying in the timeouts (that) we were playing like we had another game on Saturday, instead of like we didn't have another game Saturday.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

This one is probably the most special to me, for the simple fact that no one really expected the Comets to do what we did this year,

Every practice and every game that we have, Tina is getting better and better and better,

Sacramento is playing very well right now, they are hungry for a championship, ... It's probably because I'm in the Western Conference, but I think they will win it all.

Sacramento is playing really well right now and with a little bit of cockiness,

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.

Somebody said to me, 'Well, you went in at halftime and you had nine assists, and you only finished with 10,'

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

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.

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.

It reminded me a lot of Game 1. They got out to an eight-, 10-point lead, and then we fought back. Game 1, we just couldn't get over the hump. ... (Tonight) everyone was just really determined.

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.

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.

Do I think I was born this way? No,

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.

She'll probably never accept it. But she's dealing with it.

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.

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.

I never really meant for it to happen, ... It did, and after a while it got to a point, I am not going to try to fight this anymore.

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,

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 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.

I never thought a basketball shoe would be named after a woman, let alone me.

I'm tired of having to hide my feelings about the person I care about. About the person I love.

I want to show kids, look where I came from. You can do it too if you believe and are willing to work hard.

Players don't really ask for much or want much. But the things that they do need are important.

I like to see people doubt me.

Everybody wants to win.

I don't think it's tough to get there mentally. Your mind is saying, 'You know how to do this.' But your body doesn't always respond.

It's frustrating - not that I expect to be the same person I was 10 years ago, but I do expect to do certain things. In all honesty, my body for the most part feels really good. But at this point of my career, I have to rely on different parts of my game, knowing how to take some short cuts when you can.

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

There are so many women out there relying on me to represent them.

There was the misconception out there that I retired after the 2008 season, but that was never the case. I wasn't done with basketball yet, and I'm still not done.

TV is what sells your product.

To me, the most important thing is happiness.

Women play just as hard as guys do. We're just as competitive.

...as far as self-discipline goes, it's still ultimately up to me how well I can push myself. Only I can do that. I just have to keep on going, keep on working, keep on improving.

I can't help who I fall in love with. No one can.

Be positive and work hard. I think it's possible to overcome anything, if you're willing to work at it.