India, March 1 -- "We had non-believers along the way, and I have one thing to say to those non-believers: Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion."

Those were some of sport's famous lines spoken by NBA coach Rudy Tomjanovich. He had just guided the Houston Rockets to their second straight NBA title in June 1995. There was context. The Rockets were the lowest seed to ever win an NBA title. Tomjanovich revealed that he had adopted the "heart of a champion" phrase from a comment made by Phoenix Sun player Kevin Johnson during an earlier campaign.

Tomjanovich coached NBA teams for 13 seasons, winning the title twice, after being a five-time All-Star player for the Rockets.

While "winning is a habit" may be an oft-quoted cliche in...