Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
If I didn't get paid to play this game, I'd still play it the exact same way, with as much intensity and as much focus as I play it with now.
I don't go out there to hurt people, I don't even know how to attempt to hurt somebody. I play hard, bring the edge. I'm an instigator. That gets me going.
I do track, I run football fields, I run hills. I run until you feel like you can't run any more. I do the pool, I do anything that takes my body to the limit.
No matter how much I make or what I get, I still think that I gotta go out there and prove something. That's going to be my mentality and that's my motivation.
I like to bump people, to feel me getting into somebody's jersey. I'm just different. I like contact, like physical play, like pushing and holding. But I'm not dirty.
I'm more of a go-out-there-and-get-it-done-by-any-means type of guy that don't care what name is on the back of the jersey or what name is on the front of the jersey.
Coming from where I come from, I didn't have the luxury of having a trust fund. Or money from generations. Or the luxury of hoppin' into the family business, you know?
Kobe taught people how to work hard, he taught you how to work hard. He gave you the blueprint of what you should do to be a successful basketball player, and work hard.
I just go out there and play basketball. I play basketball the way I'd play if I was at the park. There's no motives with me. I'm all for the team, and that's how I play.
I want to make sure the other point guard can't start his offense until 12 or 13 seconds. Then I've put my team in position to defend just one pick-and-roll and one pass.
I call a spade a spade. If you're doing things the wrong way, I'm going to let you know regardless if you're the max-contract guy on the team or the two-way guy on the team.
The Lakers, obviously, that's L.A.'s team. The Clippers and Clippers fans are put on the backburner a little bit and can go unnoticed due to the championships, due to the people who played there.
When you play me, I'm going to get right up in your grill and let you know it's going to be a long day. It's going to be physical. It's going to be something you don't like. It's going to be hell.
If that's my job to lead and if that's my job to go out there and play defense, take charges, dive into the stands, then that's what I'm going to do if that's what it takes to win basketball games.
I played for Miami, with LeBron. They cut me. I got drafted by the Lakers, they traded me to Miami. Bron got there, they cut me. I remember it like it was yesterday. So yeah, it's a chip on my shoulder.
The biggest thing for me when I got to L.A. was everybody wrote us off to make the playoffs. That was one of my goals. Put that on my mirror. We did it as a team. And that's my thing: Wherever I go, I'm going to win.
Sometimes you don't get in through the front door. Sometimes you don't get in through the back. Sometimes you got to climb through the window. That doesn't mean the opportunity wasn't there. There's a way; you've just got to find it.
I don't like people getting the best of me or saying that they beat me. Every game I play, every competition I'm in, whether it's in a game, playing cards, video games, whatever it is, I'm trying to win. That's always been my competitive nature.
When you're playing a good team, not too many point guards want to go one on one. When you're playing a not-so-good team, teams that are fighting to make the playoffs, guys are going to want to try and get their own. It's just a different read of each team.
They really allow you to play overseas. They let you play through everything - holding, grabbing, illegal screens, tough hand-checking and tough defense. Playing overseas for five years, that's all I knew. When I got to the Rockets, I brought that same mindset.
I'm a Chicago kid. So, of course, I'm open to playing for the Chicago Bulls if that's a team that's interested in me. At the same time, any decision that is made, it's never personal. It's always business. I have to make the right decision for me and my family.
Every team I play, I'm playing them like we playing the Golden State when they had Kevin Durant. Every point guard I play, I'm playing Steph Curry. Every shooting guard I'm playing, I'm playing James Harden. Every three-man I'm playing, I'm playing LeBron and KD.
I look at like this: Any player I guard, long twos or shots like that, if they make them I still think that's good defense. You can't make those shots at a high percentage the whole game. It's just hard to make long two-pointers, step-backs, fadeaways, off-the-dribble crossovers.
We understand that you can't play all 82, trust me, with injuries and all that. But if you're feeling OK - a lot of people have been banged up, but if you're feeling OK, then you should play. That's what you get paid for. That's what fans deserve. The fans definitely deserve that.
I'm a 6'1' guard, but I'm blessed to have a wingspan of 6'7'. I have good lateral movement. For me, fighting over screens and using my hands, I kind of get tips on the ball. People don't understand getting a hand on the ball - not just stealing it - means a lot, especially in this league because everything happens so fast.
Actually when I was overseas I didn't watch any NBA. I was like, 'Forget the NBA,' and this and that. 'Cause I was hurt that I wasn't on an NBA team. I kind of was rebellious when it came to that because I was kind of jealous and envious that I wasn't on an NBA team, so I kind of just focused on my game and focused on overseas.