Isaiah Thomas Quotes

I think right now the way society's going, I think role models are important, and kids need direction. If I didn't have that direction growing up, who knows what I could be doing, because I've been lost many times in my life, and I've had to have someone guide me back on the right path.

The three greatest people in my life were white, OK. My high school coach, my high school superintendent and my mentor in Manhasset, Long Island.

I wish there were people when I was young that I had a respect for and looked up to that I could have been guided by. I didn't have that, and I really do wish I did because I think I would've learned a lot more.

We have to step up as adults and try to guide our youth.

Simply stated, girls want role models and mentors.

Cause I was such a novice and thank God that Sarah was as seasoned as she was because she was really a great leader in that regard in the sense that she would communicate really well with the crew.

I try to find, celebrate and teach leaders how to build platforms that will inspire others.

You have to be able to psychologically help your players, support-wise, be in touch with them, so I think managing people is very important.

The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.

My dad is a good role model for me, and then I had a high school coach that really helped me out when I was struggling and made a big difference in my life.

There is nothing I'm any more passionate than empowering the next generation.

I have spent a lifetime watching kids make mistakes because they were not trained or well led or properly motivated to do well. I never faulted the kids; rather, I saw opportunity to train, to motivate, to improve leadership - not to punish the individual.

Ava DuVernay is my personal Phil Jackson. She's a perfect coach.

Young people need models, not critics.

I fell in love with coaching. I loved interacting with young people, having the opportunity to make a tremendous impression on them.

We need to offer great examples to our youth.

I'm so grateful to Ferguson. I think he's the best there's ever been, especially his squad management skills.

Coaches around the country are influencing the next generation of men in a positive way.

I do think there is a responsibility for myself as being a senior professional footballer to be able to pass on my experiences to the younger generation.

I believe you have to take care of the kids from the youth team, the ones coming through, and people like Butragueno know how to do that.

It's not just teachers, but coaches are helping to shape the young people of tomorrow.

Hiddink really taught me a lot. We talked every day at Anzhi and I saw how he dealt with difficult situations, how he always seemed to know what the players needed. He was a great teacher. I hope I can be as successful as him.

I've always said, other than my dad, coaches had the greatest impact on me.

You've got a bunch of kids out here that might not want to be athletes, but they want to learn how to make a difference in their community, and I'm trying to as best I can show an example of that.

Coach Spurrier was just an amazing competitor. I felt I learned to really love the competition of it all from watching him and being around him. All his assistant coaches were great recruiters, very professional in how they handled their business. So as a young guy, I got to see that all the time.