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People didn't want to accept that I was injured. I played on a bad knee, a really bad knee, for a long time. I actually put team before me and played when I was hurt, but people still would dog me.
Of course you want people to notice you're back, and you're playing well just to be respected. Because I was an All-Star, a first-team All-NBA guy. But I don't need the media putting a spotlight on me.
I wasn't able to explode, jump, run - not even walk without pain being in the back of my leg. Every time I bent my leg, even in a walking motion, I was wondering what was wrong with me. But I stuck with it.
When Grant Hill came back to Orlando after having all of his surgeries, I was the first person to call him and congratulate him for making it back. It seemed like nobody cared about what I was dealing with.
A lot of the kids gave a lot of positive feedback about if I ever became a coach, they would love to play in our program. And I was very confident that we would be able to get the top-tier players to come in.
I went from being very athletic, one of the best guards in the NBA, to barely making it. No speed, no agility. I had to change how I played because I couldn't exercise or train because my knee constantly hurt.
You wanted to compete against Michael Jordan, because they were the best. You wanted to beat them. Never once in my mind, I went, 'I would love to play with him.' I was always like, 'Man, we've got to beat them.'
I'm so appreciative of Orlando. I am Orlando. Orlando made me. So when people link my name, they link my name to Orlando and nowhere else. I'll always be indebted to Orlando for that and grateful at the same time.
My favorite sneaker is the Penny 1. The Penny 1 is an original, man, and I loved them from the beginning, and other people loved them, too. It was a comfortable shoe, and the Penny 1 was definitely my favorite to play in. The Penny II was a close second, though.
It's a huge honor to be put in the Hall of Fame... it's even better because I played there for six years, and I left on bad terms. To be able to come back and be recognized - in hindsight, I wish I would have stayed, because everyone understands my career was large in Orlando.
I'm getting used to this as a coach because it's a little jealousy from a lot of these coaches around the country. I do understand that, because we are NBA players trying to come back, and we didn't have any experience as college coaches. So we didn't, quote, unquote, 'Pay our dues.'
Playing the game at a high level, understanding what it's like to get to where I've already been and where they want to go. I tell those kids that we're going to develop you, we're going to teach you, and we're going to have you ready off the court and on the court to be an NBA player.
Jerry Sloan was a guy that I always respected, but I thought he was mean. Like, he was a guy that was just no nonsense. When coach and I got closer during the Olympics, I said, 'Coach, I always just thought you were this mean guy, but it was really nice to get to know you and your family.'
To be able to bring an entire city together is not easy, and we definitely have one thing in common in the city - that's the Tigers. The history of the school is well-noted around town. It is an SEC kind of country with all the SEC schools, but Memphis trumps all of that in the city. I embrace that.
I have two people that I mainly look up to: Magic Johnson is one of them. He just blew everything out of the water. He didn't make much money in basketball, but since basketball has been over, he's investing in the community and making a lot of money at the same time. The next one I look up to is Sean Combs, who has always been a hustler.