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I was how I was in college because I had to be. I played angry. I played hard. I stepped on guys' chests, I hit a game-winner against UConn.
Any opposing gym we go into, I want them to hate me. At the end of the game, I want to be beating their team so bad that they should hate me.
I'm not gonna say I'm the greatest guy, but the reason I don't hate is I know what it feels like to be hated. So I always pull for Tom Brady.
Part of me would like for not all the Kentucky, Carolina, and Connecticut fans to despise me, but another part of me realizes that's not important.
My freshman year, the hate was all directed toward Danny Ferry. And every year, there's some new poor sucker at Duke who draws the ire of everybody.
Honestly, the Carolina games I played in every year were more intense than the national championship games I played in - they had a better environment.
People don't know how awesome Minnesota is... I love it up here. And when I was playing up here, I loved every second of it, even if it was minus 20 degrees.
You can't do something stupid at any time. If you do, you're going to get technicals or flagrant fouls, or you're going to get kicked out of the game or whatever.
I always played my best when I respected my opponent and was a little scared of them because they could beat me. Every game I played in college, that was the case.
Well, my last year was 04-05 with the Heat, and I relaxed for a few years, and I said, 'Well, what am I going to do?' I've got to do my passion, and my passion is basketball.
Being a physical specimen doesn't mean you're any good at playing inside. Positioning, using your head, the mental stuff - that's my game. That's what makes a good inside player.
All I wanted to do was win. People have to remember that when I came to Duke, they'd started to get a reputation that they can't win the big game. We were aware of that, and we hated it.
You can't cry yourself to sleep every night because people from a distance hate you. So you gotta do with it what you can, and if that means using it as motivation, then that's what you do.
It's hard to live up to the expectations. Besides that, I think I had a very good NBA career, and I'm proud of it. I might not have been an absolute monster, but I thought I did pretty good.
I used to tell my mother, 'Mom, when they write really flattering things about your son, don't believe it all. And when they write really negative things about your son, don't believe it all.'
I think every basketball player I know loves ping pong. Everyone played in on the Dream Team. I played Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullin and even David Stern once. David Stern saw I was pretty good.
You pay attention to detail. You try to win every time. You play tough. And when you play the right way and be accountable to each other, you're going to have success and enjoy the game that much more.
For my entire Duke career, people were gunning for us and hating us and wanting us to lose, so I got used to that right away. Every team is going to give you their best shot. Everyone wants to beat you.
I really looked forward to the opportunity to play for the Timberwolves. I went up there and gave it my all. I fell in love with the city and the people up there, even to the extreme where I met my wife up there.
My senior year was crazy. We were defending champions, we were on national TV just about every weekend, and we were winning. Teams always brought their best when they went up against us, and we always matched it.
When you're being interviewed every day, and you're tired, you can make mistakes and say the wrong things, especially when you're young. When you're young, you don't realize everything, and you're a little naive.
I'm sure I was insensitive. I'm probably still a jerk at times. But my priority as a freshman was to be good in basketball and play a lot. Not to be the nicest person in the world. I was one-track-minded. I still am.
When I was 15 years old, the Duke-UNC game looked like the funnest game in the world to be a part of. So I chose to make sure I was a part of it for four years, and when I was at Duke, it exceeded all my expectations.
At Duke, the coaches would cover up for you. But with the Wolves, something happen,s and it's in the papers, and I'm blamed. Things are run differently here - the wrong way, if you ask me. One man wants to blame another.
I made three visits during my senior year of high school to Duke, UNC, and Virginia. If I hadn't gone to Duke, I would have went to Carolina, just like a lot of Carolina players who, had they not gone there, would have went to Duke.
Given the way Duke plays its offense and defense, in high school I was very interested in playing for Coach K. Then when you get there and see how good he is, you buy into it a hundred percent. He has a recipe for how to be successful on the court.
My second choice would've been Carolina. And when I told my mother I was going to Duke and not Carolina, she just cried, and that made my decision process a little harder. But I still went with what felt right, and it ended up working out well for me.
For whatever reason, the people that don't appreciate Duke basketball or don't pull for Duke basketball, they have a tendency to vilify one of the players. And a lot of times, it might be a white guy. And has it happened over and over in the past? Yes.
I went to Duke, and I stayed at Duke all four years because I wanted as many years under Coach K's tutelage as I could get. I think every year you get with him, the more it's going help you for basketball and life. So I wanted to play for him as long as I could.
I think if you are a player going to Duke, you have to expect a little bit to be not liked when you go and play in opposing team's gyms. Like, when I signed with Duke out of high school, I knew it would be playing in hell where they hate you. That's what I loved about it.
My whole freshman year at Duke, it was drilled into me that nothing was given to you, and you have to earn it, and this is a dog-eat-dog world, and blah blah blah, and blah blah blah. And you buy into it, 100 percent. You end up loving it. That's the way it should be, right?
If you are not a Dukie, and Duke is having a lot of success year after year, you might get tired of it. They might not like your competing personality or competing persona, and if you are not a Dukie, or you don't love Duke or Christian Laettner, then I can understand the hating on me.
When you're at home for Duke-Carolina, you have a crowd of close to 10,000 around you, loving you. That's awesome. But it's also a lot of fun in Chapel Hill, where it's you, your teammates and your coaches, and no one else. I enjoyed the games at Chapel Hill a little more because of that.
I played some ping pong with the guys on the T'Wolves team. I might have been the champ on that team, too. But ping pong is a big part of my life. I grew up playing it against my brother and my father when I was young. They used to kick my behind for a long time, so I got very good at it.
When I went to work with Garinger, they were good kids and a very good team. But they had a nine-game losing streak, and you can see that they were getting down and depressed and not feeling rewards for their efforts. But when I came in there, I didn't need to teach them much about X's and O's.
Every Olympics, when I was growing up and playing basketball, my parents and I made it a point to sit down and watch the U.S.A. compete. To join that team later, and play and practice one-on-one with David Robinson, Larry Bird, Chris Mullens and all these guys I looked up to, was a dream come true.