335 Best Basketball Slogans To Motivate Your Team (2024)

A huge collection of basketball slogans, phrases, sayings, mottos, and quotes. Select from this list for shirts, banners, posters, t-shirts, jerseys, signs, warm-ups, locker room, and more. Good for both girls’ and boys’ basketball teams. Cheer on your favorite team!

Rally your basketball team, inspire your fans, and liven up the crowd with this collection of fun basketball slogans!

Mike O’Halloran, the author of the book Best Sports Slogans and Captions, shares his favorite basketball slogans and sayings.

We tip things off with our Top 10 best basketball slogans. Enjoy!

Best Basketball Slogans: Top 10

1.) Teamwork Makes The Dream Work.

2.) There’s no traffic on the extra mile.

3.) Fear the Deer.

4.) Attack the Glass.

5.) Victory requires payment in advance.

6.) The will to win is less important than the will to prepare to win.

7.) Refuse to lose.

8.) There’s no elevator to success; take the stairs.

9.) Championships are won at practice.

10.) A team above all. Above all, a team.

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Fun Basketball Slogans Images

Ball Don’t Lie.

Actions speak louder than coaches.

There’s no elevator to success; take the stairs.

See Caitlin Clark’s Insights on Basketball.

Funny Basketball Slogans

Funny basketball sayings can set a tone. They lighten things up, and players play more relaxed. Check these humorous basketball slogans out.

11.) Actions speak louder than coaches.

12.) Don’t worry. We’re still wearing our warm-ups.

13.) Reaching high keeps a player on his toes.

14.) You may be beautiful, but not even Cinderella is getting to THIS ball!

15.) Second place is for the first loser.

16.) Anything is possible; Impossible takes a little longer.

17.) In our court, there are no objections — only rejections.

18.) Be prepared!

19.) Let your playin’ do the talkin’!

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20.) Dunkzilla Returns.

See Remembering John Havlicek — Leading Celtics’ Scorer.

21.) “I can’t do it” never yet accomplished anything – “I will try” has performed miracles.

22.) On front: We’re Going To Win – On back: So Coach Doesn’t Lose His Job.

23.) 7 days without hoops make one weak.

24.) Our team never stops.

See Season-long, Structured Basketball Practice Plans.

25.) Great opportunities come to those who make the most of small ones.

26.) To demand more of yourself than you do of others is the first step on any ladder of success.

27.) Apologies for having to guard me… I hope you taped your ankles.

28.) Make ’em Believe.

29.) Basketball every day.

30.) Cut the Net.

31.) iHOOP!

32.) Get to the Ball First.

33.) You could build a wall with all the bricks your team is tossing up.

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Basketball Team Slogans

Team basketball sayings help unite players and coaches so they play as one unit.

34.) Your sweat is your fat crying. Keep it up.

35.) Wish Together, Swish Together.

36.) (Team Name) Never Stops.

37.) Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

38.) Your loss is my game.

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39.) Demanding Excellence From Everyone, No Selfish Exceptions.

40.) Rise to the Top.

41.) The Court is in Session.

42.) Strive for Greatness.

43.) Sic ’em.

44) Quest for the Net.

45.) Hustle and heart set us apart.

46.) Winners don’t wait for chances. They take them.

47.) Defend till the end.

48.) Defend and Dominate.

49.) Gotta bounce to get those bounds.

50.) It’s not the hours you put in. It’s what you put into the hours.

51.) Good offense sells tickets. Good defense wins championships.

52.) Winners train, and losers complain.

53.) Reach for the Sky, or don’t even try.

54.) Every shot counts.

55.) It takes a player to make a shot. But it takes a team to win a game.

56.) Our team is not responsible for lost or stolen pride.

57.) Trust your gut and your teammates.

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Good Basketball Sayings

Good basketball sayings can serve as a rallying cry for the team at critical points in a game or season. Try these on for size.

58.) Some want it to happen. Some wish it would happen. Others make it happen.

59.) Go BIG or go home.

60.) Play like a champion, train like an underdog.

61.) There is no limit to what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit.

62.) It’s not how big you are. It’s how big you play In it to win it.

63.) Intensity is not perfume!

64.) No excuses. No explanations.

65.) You don’t win on emotion. You win on execution.

66.) Respect All, Fear None.

67.) Victory is the goal.

68.) Plan for the rebound.

69.) Determination gets you there.

70.) If it’s gotta be, it starts with me.

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Inspirational Mottos for Basketball

71.) Refuse to Lose.

72.) How bad do you want it?

73.) Basketball For The Love of the Game.

74.) All it takes is all you’ve got.

75.) It doesn’t take any athletic ability to hustle.

76.) Out of yourself and into the TEAM.

77.) It’s what you do before the season starts that makes a champion.

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Cool Basketball Mottos

Some basketball slogans reflect the beliefs of the head coach. Others are class favorites. And some basketball sayings are just cool. Here’s to the cool one.

78.) Attitude is everything.

79.) “If only” are the famous last words of those who weren’t.

80.) Unfinished Business.

81.) Wreak Havoc!

82.) Grind together, Shine together.

83.) Winners never stop proving it.

84.) Defend and Conquer.

85.) Play like a Champion.

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86.) Net Quest.

87.) The best offense is a good defense.

Basketball Taglines

88.) You can make it happen or watch it happen.

89.) Today Settle the Score!

90.) Less complaining, more training.

91.) Lock it UP!

92.) Through the hoop.

93.) Heat Check: Flaming Hot!

94.) If you work hard, it’s harder to lose.

95.) Champions wear bruises with pride.

96.) Stand tall, talk small, and play ball.

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Best Sports Slogans Video

Hoops Sayings

Many of the best basketball sayings come up from the community level. Some hoop sayings make their way into hoops lingo and are adapted by others when folks play in neighborhood gyms or community courts. Here are some of those.

97.) All things are difficult before they are easy.

98.) Born to great things.

99.) Let the MADNESS begin!

100.) Never let good enough BE enough!

101.) Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

102.) Winning is a habit. Success is a choice.

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103.) Feel the heat.

104.) The pressure is something you bring upon yourself when you don’t know what you’re doing.

105.) Elevate your Game.

106.) Go big or go home.

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Motivational

107.) Bad habits are like a good bed – easy to get into but difficult to get out of.

108.) It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

109.) A player who makes the team great is more valuable than a great player.

110.) Whatever it takes.

111.) Practice winning every day.

112.) Hard luck is composed of laziness, bad judgment, and poor execution.

113.) Victory comes to those who make the least mistakes.

Inspirational

114.) Make Shots!

115.) Talent Wins Games, and Teams Win Championships.

116.) Well done is better than well said.

117.) Tradition Honor Passion.

118.) Ball until you Fall.

119.) It’s not how you start but how you finish!

120.) It’s hard to beat a team that never gives up.

121.) The price of greatness is responsibility.

122.) When you play ball, leave it all.

123.) Unfinished Business. (in the basketball slogans category for the confident team.)

124.) Fast and Furious.

125.) The true champion believes in the impossible.

126.) All things are difficult before they are easy.

127.) Winners in life don’t always win; they don’t give up.

128.) Make good habits, and they will make you.

Fun Basketball Slogans

These fun basketball slogans will have your team heading down the right path.

129.) The fans can make you famous. A contract can make you rich. The press can make you a superstar. But only love can make you a player.

130.) Impossible is simply something no one else has ever seen.

131.) The more we sweat, the luckier we get.

132.) For the love of the game.

133.) Who Dares Wins.

134.) All Heart.

135.) Deserve Victory.

136.) No one is a failure until they stop trying.

Basketball Team Mottos

137.) It is tough to win when your thoughts turn to lose.

138.) Opportunities may knock, but you must open the door.

139.) Attack the Rim.

140.) Defeat isn’t bitter if you don’t swallow it.

141.) The true champion loses many battles before winning the war.

142.) The greatest game you can win is won within.

143.) Pass first; shoot second.

144.) A team player makes the impossible probable.

145.) Basketball Season is the most important time of the year.

146.) To be satisfied with yourself is a sure sign that your forward motion has stopped.

147.) It isn’t the hours you put in but what you put in the hours.

148.) The harder you work, the harder it is to lose.

149.) Dunk it like you mean it.

Hoops Mottos

150.) Perfection is not attainable; however, if you chase perfection, you will catch excellence.

151.) If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

152.) Dribble the Dream.

153.) Good. Better. Best. Never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best.

154.) Make your efforts match your dreams

155.) Some want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.

156.) Expect Victory.

157.) Good enough isn’t!

158.) Reach for the sky, or don’t even try.

159.) dedication + motivation = success.

160.) Deeds, not Words.

161.) Hoop for the best.

162.) Today’s game; tomorrow’s champion.

163.) Grind together; shine together.

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Powerful Basketball Sayings

164.) Demand respect or expect defeat.

165.) Sweat plus Sacrifice equals Success.

166.) Unity in Adversity.

167.) Basketball Never Stops.

168.) SCORE MORE.

169.) Hoops is my best friend.

170.) Some wish for it; we work for it.

171.) The One and Only.

172.) The size of your effort is all that matters.

173.) Play hard, play smart, and play together.

174.) Winning is the science of being totally prepared.

175.) Make it count.

176.) Bring Your Game.

177.) Bringing out the best in each other!

178.) WIN!

179.) Flyer than most.

180.) Striving for Greatness.

181.) Greatness is Earned, Not Rewarded.

182.) Win The Last Game.

183.) Start the buses; this game is over.

184.) Skilled in every position.

185.) Behold unstoppable greatness.

186.) On the run.

187.) Giving up is not an option.

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Famous Basketball Slogans

188.) Ya Gotta Believe.

189.) We Are Family.

190.) Just Us.

191.) Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.

192.) Deserve Success.

193.) Too much sauce.

194.) Eat. Sleep. Basketball. Repeat.

195.) Make it rain!

196.) Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

197.) You can’t be as good as you. You have to be better than.

198.) Classy until tipoff.

199.) Look up, get up, but never give up.

200.) United we play, United we win.

201.) Ms. Automatic.

202.) Believe & Achieve.

203.) Game On.

204.) Peace, Love, and Basketball.

205.) Livin’ Large.

206.) WE ON!

207.) Earned Not Given.

208.) Start Unknown. Finish Unforgettable.

209.) Putting on a clinic.

210.) The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.

211.) Winner Stays!

212.) Both teams played hard.

213.) And One!

214.) Dishing and Swishing!

215.) Swooping and Hooping.

216.) Bounding and Astounding.

217.) This team is on fire!

NBA Slogans

218.) Where Amazing Happens!

219.) Fear the Deer.

220.) We Believe.

221.) Just Us.

222.) Time to Rise.

223.) The Toughest Road.

224.) All In.

225.) Strength in Numbers.

226.) Run it back.

227.) Trust the Process.

228.) Blue Collar, Gold Swagger.

229.) We the North!

230.) Sacramento Proud.

231.) We Got Next.

232.) C us Rise!

233.) It’s fantastic.

234.) We Grow Basketball Here.

235.) Grit N’ Grind.

236.) White Hot.

237.) Whatever it Takes.

238.) Defend the Land.

239.) Run as One.

240.) Take Note.

241.) It’s not luck.

242.) I love basketball.

243.) Motor City Bad Boys.

244.) Once a Knick, Always a Knick.

245.) We are all witnesses.

246.) Hustle over Hype.

NBA Playoff Slogans

247.) Dallas In. (Dallas Mavericks)

248.) Gold Blooded. (Golden State Warriors)

249.) White Hot Playoffs. (Miami Heat)

250.) Celtic Pride. (Boston Celtics)

251.) Phila Unite. (Philadelphia 76ers)

252.) Rally the Valley. (Phoenix Suns)

253.) Milwaukee Bucks (Fear the Deer)

254.) Mem This. (Memphis Grizzlies)

NCAA Teams Basketball Slogans

255.) Clock In. (Wichita State)

256.) Feed the floor. (Tennessee)

257.) COMMIT. (Oklahoma)

258.) Here to Create. (Rhode Island)

259.) Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together. (North Carolina)

260.) Do More; Say Less. (Michigan)

261.) Zag Up. (Gonzaga)

262.) Show Me. (Missouri)

263.) TRADITION. (West Virginia)

264.) Always Us. (Oregon Ducks)

265.) Attitude. (Villanova)

266.) Unleash Chaos. (Charleston)

267.) One at a time. (UNC-Greensboro)

268.) Horns Up. (Buffalo)

269.) ‘Cuse Mode. (Syracuse)

270.) Love the Difference. (TCU)

271.) For the City. (Houston)

272.) Nova Nation. (Villanova)

273.) Play like a champion today. (Notre Dame)

274.) Mizzou-Rah. (Missouri)

275.) Go Green; Go White. (Michigan State)

276.) Go Big Blue. (University of Kentucky)

277.) Let’s Go Blue. (University of Michigan)

278.) Buckle Up. (Alabama)

279.) Fastest 40. (Arkansas)

280.) Be the Last Team.

281.) Cut the Net.

282.) Earned Not Given.

283.) Here to Create. (Bucknell)

284.) Gritty Not Pretty. (Butler)

285.) Clemson Grit. (Clemson)

286.) ONE. (Florida)

287.) 18 STRONG. (Florida State)

288.) EMAW. (Kansas State)

289.) Created By Culture. (Loyola-Chicago)

290.) Go Herd! (Marshall)

291.) The Hunt. (Nevada)

292.) US-WE TOGETHER-FAMILY FRIARS (Providence)

WNBA Team Basketball Slogans

293.) All In. (Las Vegas Aces)

294.) Together DC (Washington Mystics)

295.) All 4 LA. (Los Angeles Sparks)

296.) Get Sun. (Connecticut Sun)

297.) It’s darkest just before dawn. (Chicago Sky)

298.) Be the Storm! (Seattle Storm)

299.) Roar. (Minnesota Lynx)

300.) Win or go home. (Dallas Wings)

301.) Catch the Fever. (Indiana Fever)

302.) Shattering the Glass. (League slogan)

303.) We Got Nex. (WNBA Marketing Campaign motto)

304.) Count It. (WNBA Celebrate 25th Anniversary slogan)

305.) MAKE WAY, OUR GAME, OUR WAY. (League slogan)

Harlem Globetrotters Slogans

306.) PLAY IT FORWARD.

307.) C.H.E.E.R. — Cooperation, Health, Effort, Enthusiasm, and Responsibility.

308.) Never Give Up. (Washington Generals)

Strong Basketball Slogans

309.) iHoop!

310.) No blood, no foul.

311.) Ball Don’t Lie.

312.) Just Slam It!

313.) We’ve got fouls, and we’re not afraid to use them.

314.) Watch Your Ankles.

315.) The court is in session.

316.) Hope you’re taped.

317.) Sorry. Can’t. Basketball. Bye.

318.) Born to Ball.

319.) Small town, Big pride.

320.) Hoop! There it is!

321.) Basketball Vibes.

322.) Bucket King.

323.) Beast Mode: ON!

324.) Let’s Do This.

325.) McBucket’s.

326.) Classy Until Tip-off.

327.) Embrace the grind.

328.) Sweat today, smile tomorrow.

329.) Every practice, every game, every moment, counts.

330.) Leave it all on the court.

331.) The ball is our guide and the hoop is our destination.

332.) Every shot is an opportunity and every rebound is a second chance.

333.) Play with heart, and do your part.

334.) Make each day your masterpiece.

335.) Cherish the journey.

FAQ Basketball Slogans and Sayings

Here are some frequently asked questions about basketball sayings and slogans.

By Mike O’Halloran

Founder and Editor, Sports Feel Good Stories

Mike O’Halloran founded Sports Feel Good Stories in 2009. He co-authored four trivia books for kids under the Smart Attack line. Mike coached basketball for 15 seasons, taught tennis, and has written four books on basketball coaching. He has been a contributing writer for USA Football, the youth arm of the NFL. Mike is the founder of the Fantasy Football Team Names Hall of Fame.

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You are on our Basketball Slogans page. Originally published October 2014.

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