"I would love to be a player today. I had the right personality for it"
About this Quote
Billie Jean King came up in an era when women were expected to be grateful, quiet, and photogenic, not powerful or demanding. Her career was built on refusing that script: fighting for equal prize money, helping launch the women’s tour, turning matches into arguments the public couldn’t ignore. So when she says her personality fits “today,” the subtext is that today’s sports ecosystem rewards what her era often punished: outspokenness, brand-building, social advocacy, and the willingness to treat athletics as labor with bargaining power.
There’s also a subtle jab at the old gatekeepers. King isn’t conceding that she was born too early; she’s implying the culture was slow. In 2026, athletes can be entrepreneurs, activists, and media entities without instantly being labeled “difficult.” King was called difficult anyway and kept going.
It’s a compact self-portrait: competitive, political, unembarrassed. She’s reminding you that her “personality” wasn’t a side note to the tennis. It was the engine.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sports |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
King, Billie Jean. (2026, January 17). I would love to be a player today. I had the right personality for it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-would-love-to-be-a-player-today-i-had-the-right-41747/
Chicago Style
King, Billie Jean. "I would love to be a player today. I had the right personality for it." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-would-love-to-be-a-player-today-i-had-the-right-41747/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I would love to be a player today. I had the right personality for it." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-would-love-to-be-a-player-today-i-had-the-right-41747/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







