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When I was a little kid I used to go on the playground and say: today I will shoot like Bird, pass like Magic, jump like Mike, be quick like Zeke. I am thankful to them, since without seeing them do things they did, I wouldn't be in the NBA.
That's where I'll get the love in my heart: from, the fact that little young guys can look at the obstacles that I had to go through to become a Hall of Famer and know it's not so bad when it comes to them trying to accomplish the same goal.
My friend... used to tease me about a tattoo I had right here, but it was so big, and what he was teasing me about - he said it looked like a flying monkey. It's supposed to have been a grim reaper holding a ball. But it did look like a monkey.
I may not know everything about physical talent or anything like that, but I have a sharp mind when it comes to that look: being able to look into somebody's eyes to tell if they are going to be in the foxhole with you tonight, or if they are not.
If I could take back all the mistakes that I made throughout my career, I would have had a perfect career. I would have missed no shots. I would have made no turnovers. I would have went right instead of going left when I was supposed to, every game.
I've always said, just go ask my teammates if you want to know about me. Go ask the guys that I've played with. Don't ask or get information about me from people who are not in the locker room or not around me all of the time. Then you'll get legit answers.
I love my fans in Philadelphia, but this is the hardest place in the world to play in. And I think it's the hardest place to play in to be a superstar. Just to be the No. 1 guy. All eyes on you - because everybody wants you to be perfect, but not themselves.
Me and my family are straight. I am blessed. I am alive, man, and I am healthy, and that is the only thing that matters. Me and my family, everybody else, it really doesn't matter because why do you care about somebody talking negative about you if they don't know you?
Doing this for so long, I realize that the media - you have a boss. And your boss wants you to provide the best material that you can. And he might put pressure on you to do it a way that you feel is unconstitutional. You might not like it. But you still gotta feed your family.
Man, I'm 31 years old and a husband with four kids; I hope I'm no thug. I hear all those negative things and don't hear anything positive. I think that's all those people feel... that way that's all they hear about when you hear Allen Iverson did something negative or something.
When you get to that level, it's not a matter of talent anymore - because all the players are so talented - it's about preparation, about playing smart and making good decisions. If I don't believe it, then they don't need me on the court. I've just got to believe that in my heart.
When you win, everything is everything. But when you lose, it's all about Allen Iverson and Larry Brown. When we win, I know that I get the praise and Larry Brown gets the praise, but when we lose, it's on me and Larry Brown. That's something that I have to learn to accept and deal with.
I wish the media and people that work in media would realize sometimes - and I know it doesn't pay your bills - but sometimes just sit back and think, like, 'Man, what if this was my child? And somebody was doing this to them? And they had to go through it? If somebody bashed them like this?'
It's unfair because the people booing, I believe, wouldn't want to have their child booed. Fans don't understand our lives and what we go through. They don't look at us as humans. We love the fans because they support and love the game, but at the same time it hurts when they turn their back on us.
Everything comes back around. You never thought Louis Vuitton and Gucci and all that other stuff would come back. You know what I mean? And now it's one of the highest brands there is out. Everything just comes right back into circulation. Baggy jeans might come back out again. Might be a while, but they might.
What makes me feel good is all of the people that rooted for A.I. get a chance to say, 'He did what you never thought he could do. The critics. He did what you never thought he could accomplish.' This is a moment that me and my fans and my family and friends can share together because we always believed in the dream.
I've been in Philadelphia 10 years, man. I knew it was going to be a challenge, mentally. I always thought life would come to an end if I ever left Philadelphia. And I feel like a newborn. Being in Denver it's just a better situation for me. And I'm just happy that I feel like I got an opportunity where I can win basketball games here.
We got to stop people. We go ahead and we score 100 points every night, but we give up more. Our whole thing was, we know we can score, and we have to start having some kind of fun on the defensive end. Everybody want to play offense. Not too many people want to play defense. Defense is ego, pride, and that's the way we've been coming out, just taking the challenge. Man-on-man first, and having each other's back when a guy gets beat.
You make other team think you going one way and you got to sell the move going that way and you've got to really make them think that you're going that way and they're going the other way. When it ends up ultimately being a perfect crossover is when you shake them so bad that they can't even get back into the play to play defense. You're already gone. That's what I think the perfect one is to where a teammate of his has to stop you from scoring.
If I can't practice, I can't practice. It is as simple as that. I ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last, but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that?
We're sitting in here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice. I mean, listen, we're talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, we talking about practice. Not a game. Not, not... Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last. Not the game, but we're talking about practice, man. I mean, how silly is that?.. And we talking about practice. I know I supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example... I know that... And I'm not... I'm not shoving it aside, you know, like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I do. I honestly do... But we're talking about practice man. What are we talking about? Practice? We're talking about practice, man.