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If you are black on television, you are probably going to be some kind of thug, gangster, or portrayed in a negative light. If you are some type of Muslim, you are going to be blowing stuff up. If you are Hispanic, you are going to be some type of gangbanger. I've felt like this for years.
I'm always going to be around the game of basketball. I plan to keep my options open as a player moving forward, but that's not coaching. Maybe front office work, working with teams and spreading the game, maybe teaching the game to young people, that's something that's a very big passion.
To let somebody get 30 points on you, and you feel good because you got 35 on them, that's not good for me, you know what I'm saying? If I get 35, I want him to get 12 or 14 because that means I've done something. I've done my job. I went out there and played hard and did what I had to do.
In the media, from the little bit that I have read... there's not a lot of pity. There are some people, usually older people who have been around or people who really know basketball. Other people in the media are usually like, 'Well, stop getting injured.' You know, like I can control it.
I never yelled at my players much. That would have been artificial stimulation, which doesn't last very long. I think it's like love and passion. Passion won't last as long as love. When you are dependent on passion, you need more and more of it to make it work. It's the same with yelling.
The Sixties was a perfect storm of disaffection with political leaders trying to pass off the same old platitudes to maintain the status quo and an unexpected courageousness in the masses of youth. Nothing on this scale had ever happened before in U.S. history and it hasn't happened since.
Not missing games, miss one game due to injury in my career, and that even hurt me to miss that game, but I just love to get out there and compete, both ends of the ball, and I don't think I'm afraid to take the big shot. If I'm 2-for-15, I'm not afraid to take that shot, make it 3-for-16.
My fellow Wilmington, North Carolina native Meadowlark Lemon is a true national treasure. I watched him play for the Harlem Globetrotters when I was growing up and his skill with the basketball and dedication to the game were an inspiration not only to me, but to kids all around the world.
I went through ups and downs as a young player dealing with criticism and things of that nature. To finally win that first NBA championship, it was definitely a relief of a lot of pressure and frustration we dealt with as a team. It was great to bring a championship to the city of Chicago.
Stats don't matter. I care about winning, not stats. If I score 0 points and we win I'm happy. If I score 50, 60 points, break the records, and we lose, I'm pissed off. 'Cause I knew I did something wrong. I'll have a hell of a season if I win the championship and average 20 points a game.
Doesn't matter where you come from, what you have or don't have... All you need to have is faith in God, an undying passion for what you do and what you choose to do in this life, and a relentless drive and the will to do whatever it takes to be successful in whatever you put your mind to.
Mr. Lemon-Man has inspired millions across the world through his gift. I don't refer only to basketball, but also to his magnificent gift of caring, sharing, and loving all people. I only hope my kids would possess an ounce of the Lemon-Man's heart, which easily radiates through that smile.
We have a high ceiling. We're still young. We're still learning coach's system and we're still learning how to play hard every night. I think that's been a bad habit of ours the last few years. It's a habit that's hard to shake, too. I think if we keep pushing, we'll be alright this season.
The actual act of sitting out doesn't directly fight systemic racism. But it does highlight the reality that without black athletes, the NBA wouldn't be what it is today. The league has a responsibility to our communities in helping to empower us - just as we have made the NBA brand strong.
I never had a problem with a coach in my life, no matter what team I've been in on.I put that on myself because I let that space and opportunity start something especially when people didn't know what was going on or people are trying to find out or figure out what's going on with the team.
When I was talking a lot of trash, a lot of the guys knew that when I started getting serious was when I started getting a little bit quieter. If I started locking up somebody, then I'd start talking even more and I'd talk more aggressive. But once I stopped, they knew I was really serious.
I love basketball so much, I love playing it. I just never thought I could make it to college, make it to the NBA or stand up here today in front of you guys and be an NBA MVP. It’s just a surreal feeling, and I had so much help, so many people believe in me when I didn’t believe in myself.
My childhood was never great. We moved from place to place a lot. There were times when we had no definite place to stay. So, a basic level of security was not always there. Therefore, when you finally make it out, and you become who I am, you're humbled by the memories of those situations.
My brother was a huge Charles Barkley fan - my brother went to Miami. He played power forward, and he always used to tell me stories about Barkley and college. And I watched Barkley growing up. I loved what he brought to the game. His toughness and just his attitude, being as strong he was.
It [would have] been very difficult. As I said, the rules ... but if the rules were put in place back when Michael Jordan was in his prime - no hand-checking, the game was more geared toward offense, wanting to promote scoring in the game - he could have probably got close. He did score 69.
To be named as one of the finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2010 on Friday was a special moment for me. As a player, it's something that you dream about. It's an honor that you have to earn based on your career and the respect from your peers around you.
I want to be an NBA all-star and help my team win. That's what it's all about, is winning. I'm a competitor... People said a lot about me being selfish and stuff like that. Getting into the league, I can't wait to shut that down. I'm a guy who wants to play and to win and love my teammates.
About the time you think you are getting to know the moves in this game, someone comes along and does everything but undress you on the basketball floor. Standing there under the basket with your hands cupped - and finding that you dont have the ball in them - is a great little old leveler.
When you have a tough year or a year that didn't go the way you wanted it, especially the playoffs and all that and not being able to take advantage of our team and our talent on our team, you feel that. And whenever something is taken away from you like that, you definitely cherish it more.
You talk about Shaq, I would put Tim Duncan in that same category. Mr. Fundamental, just kept things simple. He is a great teammate, a great player, and a great person. When you have those ingredients in a champion, you just want to be a part of that and have an opportunity to play with him.
Most humans know their own "reason" only in the sense that Hume defined it, as "a slave to the passions"-and by "passions" he meant not moral passions or the passions of transcendent genius, but only low appetites or base desires, which society and economy ultimately shape and spur on in us.
About the time you think you are getting to know the moves in this game, someone comes along and does everything but undress you on the basketball floor. Standing there under the basket with your hands cupped - and finding that you don't have the ball in them - is a great little old leveler.
I wish the media and people that work in media would realize sometimes - and I know it doesn't pay your bills - but sometimes just sit back and think, like, 'Man, what if this was my child? And somebody was doing this to them? And they had to go through it? If somebody bashed them like this?'
Kids are born into the situation they're born into, and obviously, they have no control over that. And we, as adults, it's up to us to take care of kids - that's part of your moral responsibility. I always tell people, 'There's two groups we should take care of - old people and young people.'
I've learned how to be open and bold about my faith, but in terms of my influence, I just try to lead in a godly way. What that means for me is to serve them, whether it's just doing the dirty work, like cleaning up sweat on the floor, or deferring to other people, or carrying equipment bags.
With all the media attention, all the love from the fans, I felt I needed to prove myself. Prove that I'm not a marketing tool, I'm not a ploy to improve attendance. Prove I can play in this league. But I've surrendered that to God. I'm not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore.
I think there is unnecessary conflict right now between the vehemently religious and the LGBT community. The extremes of religion I think and the LGBT community have an issue and because a lot of black families in America are more religious, I think that is where the conflict comes into play.
When you first come out, it's transition. You gotta find your routine, days you don't feel like doing it, you don't have to do it. But you know, it's in you. I like to think anyone wants to look good, I'm no different from that. More importantly, I wanna be healthy enough to run with my kids.
I've been musically inclined since I picked up an instrument in the fourth grade. I just really appreciate music. I love to listen to it; I love to sing. I wouldn't consider myself, like, a natural singer. I just developed it over time, honestly, just listening. I'm a great listener to music.
When God's first in your life and your family's second, the perspective is that the platform as player is for the purpose of lifting up His name and glorifying Him in all you do. No matter what the platform is, that's the goal and that's the prayer before tonight's game and before every game.
At first, I wanted to be a good player in the NBA. When I get to a team where you have one of the two best scorers in the league, I just said to myself that I needed to do something. I need to do something to help my team, something to make my name. That's where I started to focus on defense.
One time, I put up 40, 50 points dunking on Shawn Bradley. After the game, he brought his family over. He was like, 'This is my wife. She wants to take a picture.' I'm like, 'Nice to meet you.' I smile into the camera, take the picture, and then feel guilty about dunking on him so many times.
I would say it was my fault, my choice to not allow people to know who I was. Places I went, people I knew, they knew the way Toni Kukoc was as a person and they all treated me great. Everyone else who just read the newspapers and tried to learn about me, I guess I was not that good of a guy.
Draymond's always talking trash, and he's really good at getting you off your game. He's one of the guys that he'll talk trash, even when you're playing golf. He will knock you off your game... But when you see his swing, you're like, 'How do you talk trash so well, and your swing's this bad?'
A lot of people think that as a player, during the lockout, you just have your whole day free. It's not like that - especially for me. I wake up everyday, train in the morning from 9 a.m. to about 2 p.m. Then I have a business meeting here, have to meet this person there, it's non-stop for me.
I'm rapping, I'm hooping, I'm on a max-contract, I got a big shoe deal. Everything is good now. So of course, the support is going to be there, the love is going to be there, but what's going to happen when it changes or when I'm on the back-end of my career or when I ain't on TV all the time?
You talk about rowdy - in Oakland the players were on you. The refs were on you. The stands were on you. You had to talk back or you were a sissy; you'd get run out of the league. Afterward? Yeah, it was kind of a, uh, struggle to get out of the gym. Cops had to be everywhere. Which was lucky.
My wife has helped me with a lot of things. She's also got me to like a lot of different things like sushi. I never would have tried that if it weren't for her. I also went to Hillsong (Church) in New York for the first time with her. It's fun to experience new things with the person you love.
Playing 16 years is completely unexpected and going through everything we went through. Big disappointments, huge wins, creating that type of union with the coaching staff, with the front office, with the staff, teammates. It's been an amazing journey, way beyond anything that can be expected.
When I say about 'dream is free,' I don't only mean about basketball or to be in the NBA like Serge Ibaka. No. I mean in general, in anything you do. You can do anything you want, anything you dream about. You can do it. You just have to know the dream is free. And dream is free for everybody.
When I first came in the NBA League you were slotted into a position and you did what you were slotted to do and there wasn't much room to expand your role. Today's game with the offensive schemes and the defensive schemes, it really allows to have a lot more creativity as a basketball player.
It's all about winning. Stats really don't matter, I mean, guys have great series and all that, and people take notice and take their place in history with those stats and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, it's all about winning and what you can do to help your team get to that point.
The more consistent a father can be or a mentor can be in the person's life and teach them principles of real solid manhood, character, integrity and leadership, the more consistent you can be in the person's life and teach them those things at a younger age, and then the better off they'll be.
Everything I do is for my parents, None of this matters without them. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here... If it wasn't for them, if it wasn't for the structure and the backbone that I have, I wouldn't be able to mess up and keep coming back and sit in front of you as a world champion.
I wanted to go to San Antonio. I told them I was coming. I had to tell them that I was changing my mind and staying with the Nets. It was a day later when I had to tell them, but when I got back to Jersey, when I started thinking about the process, I felt a little more comfortable staying home.