Billie Jean King shares origins of 'favorite' famous quote, 'Pressure is a privilege'

You've no doubt heard Billie Jean King's famous quote, "Pressure is a privilege," more times than you can count: from King herself and from many other sources inside and outside of sports.

But what are the origins of the now-ubiquitous phrase, which has since been repeated by many other greats, used as the title of King's memoir, and has even been immortalized on a silver plaque near where the players enter Arthur Ashe Stadium?

A hint: It involved Lindsay Davenport, and a U.S. Billie Jean King Cup tie vs. Spain. Specifically, one in Las Vegas in 2000.

King had a long-serving tenure as U.S. captain when the team competition was then called Fed Cup, and the 24-year-old Davenport, a winner of three Grand Slam titles at that time, was looking for a spark versus a rival against whom she had a losing head-to-head record.

Read more: Billie Jean King is "trailblazing" in Jeopardy!, and also in the business world

"She's 6-foot-3, and she walks up to me, and she's not happy. She's all itchy. She's gotta play Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, and she has trouble beating her. She looks down at me, because she's 6-foot-3, and I'm looking up at her, and she goes, 'Just say something!,'" King, who famously stands 5-foot-4, recalled Wednesday in a video she posted to her X, formerly Twitter, account.

"And I went, 'Pressure is a privilege and champions adjust.' It just came out of my mouth like that. I never even thought of it, but I loved it."

King joked afterwards that she doubted Davenport remembered the moment her "favorite" quote was first spoken, "but I certainly do."

The 80-year-old's recall was nearly flawless. Davenport later reposted the video to her own X account, and jokingly teased the tennis legend that she does, in fact, not only remember the moment. It also had a seminal impact on her career.

"Billie changed everything for me in believing in me when I didn't yet believe in myself," the International Tennis Hall of Famer wrote. "She changed my life."

Nearly a quarter of a century later, the former world No. 1 gets to do the same for a new generation of U.S. players. In April, Davenport made a winning debut as the new U.S. Billie Jean King Cup captain, and will lead the team again in November's Billie Jean King Cup Finals.