Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
One of my college roommates was into The Police, and I got to like them. But I hear one of the guys left the band.
Everyone's system in the NBA makes sense. It all comes down to the quality of player and the quality of execution.
As far as LeBron James, to me, he's on his way to carving out the very best career that's ever happened in the NBA.
In one era, it's hard enough to compare people. But comparing people of different eras... that's next to impossible.
I think anybody confusing a system with a reason for success is making a huge mistake. Systems don't win games. Players do.
Whenever you are coaching, you are trying to get the most balanced team that you can: balance between defense, offense, and rebounding.
All you try to do in any system you incorporate is put players in their areas of strength and try to hide and minimize their weaknesses.
I've had two owners - Jim Dolan and Les Alexander in Houston. Both were terrific. They wanted to win badly and gave you the resources to win.
To me, it doesn't matter who's out there: NBA basketball is great - if teams are putting out their best players and they're competing to win.
The triangle itself is just an offense based on freedom of the ball to go to different places, everybody feeling involved. It's a good thing.
If you coach, and coach every day, you should be getting better if you're self-evaluating and you've got people around you telling you the truth.
I love listening to Coach Belichick's press conferences: even though they may not be what the media wants, they're great coaching, teaching tools.
For professional athletes, I always think about it in these terms: the most difficult diva of women's soccer would be the easiest NBA player ever.
Phil Jackson was a brilliant basketball coach, not just because of the offense that he employed, but it was so many other things that went into it.
Mark Fox is always criticized recruiting: he can't keep the Georgia kids home. What that means - he's not cheating and paying. That's what it means.
It's hard to change a roster around. You've got to hit your draft picks right, you've gotta hit free agency right, and a team's got to fit together.
Why is UCLA and Georgia Tech in China to play a basketball game? Missing all that school, and then force-feeding their fans the idea of 'student-athletes.'
As great of a player as Yao was, he was kind and patient with everybody. He wasn't trying to feed an image or cultivate a brand or manipulate a public persona.
When I'd watch myself coaching, I'd say, 'Man, I look bad,' but I never felt I didn't have a sense of humor with the team. Maybe I was too over-the-top serious.
The beauty of growing up in a coaching family, particularly one that isn't at the very highest level, is that you get to be in the gym - that's where you grow up.
There are certain aspects that I miss of coaching. But you can't just pick out the good parts. You've got to be all-in and understand there's some negatives, too.
There are franchise players to build around that have championship-level talent, skill, basketball IQ, and character - it's hard to find those guys. Those guys are rare.
I grew up dreaming about being an Olympic basketball player: Doug Collins getting smashed into the stanchion, making two free throws. Phil Ford and Mike O'Koren in 1976.
I frankly think the NBA All-Star game has run its course, the whole dunk contest... The game - if those guys actually played hard in that game, it'd be the best watch ever.
There have been people who said I was a Pat Riley clone. But I don't think that's true. While I did learn a lot from him, I could never be him. I mean, we even dress so differently.
I think everyone talks about talent. It's really one of the most overused terms. It comes down to, do you play, and do you win? Talent is one factor, but certainly not the only one.
There is a goodness about Yao that is unique, that never left him through all the pain and injuries and disappointments that accompanied his unprecedented accomplishments and successes.
The best player's responsibility is to unite and inspire your teammates to play up to their full maximum ability, and that never occurs if you try to separate yourself as part of the problem.
Goaltending was brought in because of Mikan and Chamberlain. So rules do change for specific players, in concert with a need to stay up to date on how coaches are taking advantage of the rules.
I think the beautiful part about Yao is that his main legacy won't be about the game. His legacy will be about helping people. His legacy will be taking on important world causes to better his world.
It's hard enough to coach in this league when you're doing what you believe in. But when you have to try to coach something you may not be sold on, it becomes even more of a challenge. It's really hard.
You have to be careful as a news organization that you don't fall into voluntary censorship, that you worry about offending your 'league partner.' I never worried about that. I worry about fans listening.
I think there are much bigger differences between players in this league than between coaches. There is a big gap between LeBron James and the small forward for whoever. Far bigger than between two coaches.
Among the hardest-working players I've ever been associated, Yao stands at the very top of the list. Beyond that, though, here's what truly separated him from everyone else: His ability to enjoy other people's successes.
At first, you can play into the naivete that people think you have because you don't dress well. They almost give you the benefit of the doubt. But when success comes, that's no longer a good angle, so now you're 'a political animal.'
Everyone wants to focus on what Ben Simmons can't do, which is shoot and try to rush him into being a range shooter. I think Simmons in Philadelphia has done a good job in focusing what he does great versus what he doesn't do as well.
I think fans oftentimes get an inferior product on back-to-back games, and I think that has to be the number one thing that gets addressed for the fans and for the players - the elimination or the drastic reduction of back-to-back games.
Providence had a graduate assistant job opening. They asked me if I wanted to apply, and I applied. That break right there put me in position to learn from great coaches. It really jump-started every other good break I ever had in coaching.
I quit the Knicks so I know what quitting is, I did. I quit. And it's something I regret to this day. I live with it every day and I regret it. And I let my emotions come into it. And I was just emotionally spent. I made a bad decision and I quit.
I quit the Knicks, so I know what quitting is. I did. I quit. And it's something I regret to this day. I live with it every day, and I regret it. And I let my emotions come into it. And I was just emotionally spent. I made a bad decision, and I quit.
Manu Ginobili - I like to watch him. I would pay to watch him play the game. He will try things that will drive a coach crazy, like a full-court bounce pass, but he has such a flair for the game. I love his energy and his spirit and his unpredictability.
If you are going to call out your teammates, you have to call out yourself, too. You can't just separate yourself from the rest, because if you are going to get 90 percent of the credit when you win, you have to be willing to take 90 percent of the blame when you lose.
I broadcast games. I think there is a huge difference between print journalism and broadcasting. I don't have to say, 'sources close to LeBron James,' five times a game. I can just put my name to it. I say what I believe. It doesn't mean it's right. It's what I believe.
My dad told me this a long time ago, never worry about what your next job is, just worry about what you are doing right then. As I grow older, I couldn't agree more with that advice. Sometimes you get so worried about what's next that you fail to appreciate what you have.
I don't ever remember wanting to do anything but coach. My dad obviously influenced me. But it wasn't because he sat there and drilled coaching stuff into our heads. We were on the bench keeping the scorebook and traveling with the team on weekends. It was such a great upbringing.
People talk about Kobe's 81-point game, the second-highest scoring game in NBA history. I saw the game. I don't care if it was 79, 81 - I just remember the game. I remember the moves. I remember the shots. I remember the beauty of it. The numbers? What he shot from the field? I don't care.
To be successful in anything, you have to have a passion for it, and that leads to being enthusiastic and demanding. I didn't have it for history. So I wouldn't have been a good teacher in that area. But I had it for basketball. And that's what coaching is at every level: it's about teaching.
When Jordan was averaging over 30 and shooting over 50 percent, he was doing it with less shooting on the floor for himself. He had less spacing to work with. He was going against defenses that were allowed a lot more liberties as far as physical contact, how hard they fouled, and all those things.
Sometimes I look like I was under interrogation. Some people just don't look good in clothes. In New York, Armani and all those clothing people used to call me up and tried to pay me not to wear their clothes. This is as good as it's going to get...and then it's all downhill. I'll be fine. I never feel as bad as I look.
My father and mother have given me so much love, so much support, that it would trivialize their parenthood if I would reduce it just to basketball. But my dad does call me before and after every game. And when we lost a game we shouldn't have, he told me it wasn't my fault. And I appreciated that, because he was trying to pick me up.