Dawn Staley

“I know basketball. I don't think basketball changes a whole lot.”

“I understand that my success isn't about championships - it's about bringing together people who were once, and in some ways still are, divided. It's bigger than basketball.”

“Whether you're white, whether you're old, whether you're young, whether you're Black or old or young or whether you're of a different race, we are all treated very, very, very differently - some good, some bad, some ugly. And that is fact. That is not me pulling stuff out of the air.”

“My communication with A'ja was always less about basketball. I tried to be a place where she could let her guard down and just be.”

“If I said this once, I've said this a thousand times, our game has been held back for such a long time. And now we are bursting through the seams because we have talent, both experienced and some youngsters that are household names.”

“I didn't have a job in high school. Basketball was work for me; I put in enough hours that it could have been a job. But I didn't really look at it like that. It was the thing I was drawn to the most and the thing that gave me the most satisfaction.”

“I govern my life, being a leader, a coach, a colleague, on how something looks, feels and sounds. If something looks or sounds or feels wrong, I'm going to say something. I can't not say anything. And then the same, if something looks, sounds or feels great, like, I give it the same energy the other way.”

“I want to help people. I'm a dream merchant by nature.”

“A'ja allowed me to be a part of her open book. Honestly, I didn't know the depths of where she could go. I get the points, the rebounds, the blocks. But the pull she has on this community? Women's basketball overall?”

“I'm not the one to back down and I don't give up, and believe me, I'm not perfect.”

“If you don't like something, if you don't like the laws that we have to live by, you gotta get out and vote.”

“Nothing in life is going to be smooth sailing.”

“I try my best to do things in the right way, knowing that some little girl is out there watching me. Maybe she's growing up in the projects of north Philly like I did, or maybe she's in a rural town somewhere.”

“I grew up in a disciplined household, and I have never been afraid of working hard.”

“Even after my players are done with their college careers, I keep caring for them and wanting the best for them. I have strong relationships with my players, whether they transfer to our school or transfer out to another school.”

“Growing up, I didn't ever think I was going to go to college because, financially, my parents just couldn't handle it.”

“I would like to have a few more championships.”

“I was really good in college, never won a championship.”

“It's my nature just to teach, help and simplify basketball, that's my mentality. To not make the game so hard. It's really an easy game once you understand how to play it, and that's what I want to leave to other players.”

“I don't coach to win awards, I really don't. I'm very, very satisfied with just being there for my players.”