Whitey Durham Quotes
I want you to go home and hit the sheets ... preferably alone.
Whitey: When somebody says you can't do something you fight back. You prove them wrong.
Nathan: They took away my scholarship coach, they don't want me anymore.
Whitey: Then find somebody who does. Nathan, where is the fire that made you the best player I ever coached?. Show me it's still there. If it's not, put down that ball and walk home. People love a guy who rises from the ashes. Remember that.
Whitey: You have made a hell of a comeback. You played as team. Even if we lose this thing, it's still a damn fine moral victory. Now, maybe that's okay with you. Maybe you want to look back and tell your grandkids about the state championship you almost won.
Nathan: No way. We're winning this game, right, Luke?
Lucas: You tell me.
Nathan: We're winning this game.
You know, it took every ounce of strength your mother has to come in here and ask me to take you back. She loves you that much, enough to put your dreams ahead of her fears. You've got fifteen minutes a game to make her proud... and a lifetime to make them both proud.
Lucas: This is Keith's number.
Whitey: Yup, and I'm pretty sure he'd want you to have it.
Whitey: You must be proud of your son, the way he acted, Danny.
Dan: He acted like a child.
Whitey: No, Danny! He acted like a man.
Whitey: Karen I know what you're going through. I lost the love of my life too.
Karen: Yea, you had Camilla for a lifetime; I had Keith for a few weeks.
Whitey: Whose fault was that? (Karen slaps him) I'm glad to see you're still in there. Now, you listen to me. I said that because I know the guilt that you're caring around. And you're wrong to feel it. Feeling guilty is not gonna bring Keith back.
Karen: Don't I have a right to feel bad?
Whitey: You know Lucas was so broken up he couldn't play the last game? No, I didn't think so. Look Karen, you gave Keith the thing that he loved most in all the world, Lucas. He was never happier than when he was talking about you and that boy. You gave him a son for a lifetime and you let him matter to Lucas. I know how that feels. Karen, you couldn't have given him much more. Let the guilt fall away, let it go.
Lucas: Coach, basketball has always been a huge part of who I am, and I've been thinking a lot about it; but, unless somebody can tell me why this game matters right now, I don't think I can play.
Whitey: You know, every time you take this court we come in under that old faded banner up there says, 'Home of the Monarchs.' Anyone know who the Monarchs were?
Ravens player: The Monarchs were the best basketball team in the state, back in the fifties.
Whitey: Yea, some people say they were. But, they were never in the record books because the Monarchs were an all black team. Back in those days, when I was your age, blacks and whites weren't allowed to play this game together. I was on the best team in the state, but we all knew there was another one, the Monarchs. One night both teams snuck in here, locked the doors, and squared off. They were good, oh they were damn good. We played four games. They got their shots, we got ours. Then, something magical happened. Something, that none of us could have anticipated. Something that had never happened in this state before. We decided to mix the teams. Their captain and our captain started picking players. As it turned out I was the next to the last one picked. And, their captain looked me in the eye and said 'I'll take Whitey.'' And, it stuck, that's how I got my nickname. That night changed all our lives. We were no longer black players or white players, we were just players. We shut out the world and played, together. We played a game that we loved and that night, that game changed everything. I haven't been the same sense. You want me to tell you that this game matters. I promise you son, it does matter. Let the game heal you Lucas. Come back to us son.
Lucas: Coach...
Whitey: I know you want some answers, but what is the right answer? Because there is no answer, it's just life.
Whitey: What are you doing here?
Lucas: I just wanted to say hello.
Whitey: You've said it.
Lucas: Nathan got into High Flyers. And, he couldn't have done it without you, so I ... I just thought you'd care to know.
Whitey: Son, the mistake you're making is you think I care. About you, about the team, about anything. I lost the only thing I cared about a long time ago.
Lucas: You know, I have this picture in my room, of the team, from your 500th win. Now the man in that photo looks like a guy to me that still cares about something. We need you coach... Not just to win games. We need you in our lives. Have the surgery.
Whitey: Nice to see you, vertical. How ya feeling?
Nathan: Same as always. What's this all about?
Whitey: Seems to me we've lost track about what this game is suppose to be about, myself included. Now I want you to take this time and think about why we're really out there. 'Til then no practice.
I was just getting used to low-waist jeans. Let's go, ball boy!
