Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I guess I'd rather be comfortable and play well because I'm comfortable than to get recognition and play someplace where I wouldn't be comfortable and wouldn't enjoy myself.
I want my kids to have a life like I did growing up. The greatest gift I was given in life was from my parents. Though I can't match them, I'd like to be that kind of parent.
I think there are a lot of ways to play the PG position. Scoring first is a way that works for them and their teams. I personally like to watch PGs that like to work for others.
I had little or no expectations coming in. I was thrilled when I was drafted in the first round because that meant I was going to be given a full year's chance to make the team.
I've been lucky to have great coaching, great teammates, and a desire to keep getting better. That, slowly over time, helped me grow from an average high school player to the NBA.
I have a great respect for people that write. I don't know how they do it every day... or do novels that they have to use their minds instead of just their memories. It's tough duty.
I've played games where I thought I played one of my better games, and statistically, there's nothing there, and vice versa. I've never based how I feel about my performance on stats.
All I know is the same lessons you need to learn at Little League basketball, you need to learn at the upper levels. It's the little things you learn when you're little that apply in college.
I don't care if people even discuss what I did. But if anyone is ever sitting around the kitchen table talking about my career, I hope they say they enjoyed watching me play. That's good enough.
When you're younger, you might make some shots you're not normally capable of, because you're more fluid, maybe stronger, maybe faster. As you get older, you learn not to take those crazy shots.
You thrive off everybody on your team. If one guy's playing well, that makes your job easier. If a guy's shooting well, it makes your job easier. If a guy's rebounding well, it makes your job easier.
I was always the kid dribbling the ball on the sidelines, hoping someone would pick me. I'd go with my older brother to the gym or park, and when I went out there, I'd pass the ball so I could get picked again.
You don't get this opportunity many times in life to compete against the best in the world every night. I certainly didn't expect to have 10 or 11 years of chances at it, so I don't want to take that for granted.
I was thinking back when Karl Malone and I, when one of us would be in the weight room early in the morning, and the other one wasn't there, the first comment to the other person would be, 'It's mighty lonely up here.'
I don't crush the kids. But I do want them to know that they have to earn what they get. I'm not like Jimmy Piersall's dad or anything. I mean, I tell them I'm happy if they just do the best they can. My parents were that way with me.
Depending on the point in the game and what's necessary, if you can deliver the play, whatever that is - heck, if it's a screen - and you get a guy open, and he scores a big basket for you, that gives me as much of a charge as anything.
The key word is 'control.' I have to get to the point where I can do it like Magic does. That means penetrating, scoring more, taking over on offense once in a while, increasing my range on the outside shot to open things up for the drive.
You can't afford to hop around and act like a kid when you have to get back on defense and worry about the other parts of the game. But at the end, when the buzzer sounds, you have the luxury of hopping around and looking foolish for a while.
I don't think about the record, because winning games has to be our focus, and if we lost focus thinking about that record, I would really regret it. How will I feel later on? People tell me it will mean a lot after I retire, for the kids and me. But to me, it's just a stat. It's something people enjoy talking about. Me? I just enjoy playing.