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Back home, if you get scored on, you're the weak link. When I started getting good, they were like, 'If you're going to play on our team when we go play pick-up, and you start getting scored on, we're not going to let you play anymore.' I started learning how to help other people out with my defense.
There’s a reason why players that have multiple championships have multiple championships. There’s a certain characteristic and an understanding and knowledge and that’s not something that’s easily taught. You kind of have to go through it and it kind of has to be part of your DNA from the beginning.
It was just weird. Once you get the ball and you get in a situation, it's like haywire, everything goes crazy, and everybody's running around. You don't know who to pass it to or what to do. So Coach said just slow down and just make the right play. I tried to get the best look I could at the basket.
I have the mindset of a mid-level guy or a minimum guy. My path here wasn't expected: my path wasn't that I was going to the NBA and making $16 million a year. So I identify more with those guys, and I want to be a voice for them. I want to help them elevate their status in the league. That's my goal.
I don't really care who's doing drugs in the NBA as long as the scene isn't adversely affecting my team and teammates. I've known enough drug users-going as far back as grade school and the streets of New York-not to view them as pariahs or lost souls. I've certainly smoked more than my quota of weed.
It’s kind of like, I would say, maybe college recruiting. I’m pretty sure a lot more goes into it in the NBA. A lot more money is spent. I’ve heard stories, guys getting called right at midnight. It’s something that I haven’t experienced. I may want to go through it. I haven’t thought about it at all.
We were so happy to be alive. There was a motel there pretty close. We had a big cup of coffee. Everybody had a room to themselves. But nobody wanted to go to bed. Everybody wanted to stay up and drink coffee and have doughnuts. We had made it. The weather was perfect when we woke up the next morning.
When it's time to dress, I have to think. I have to envision myself in a certain outfit. The night before, when I go to bed, I close my eyes and start thinking about the outfit I'm going to wear tomorrow: all the colors, the fabrics, how it's going to look. It's about putting the whole thing together.
I think when you're a kid coming out of college, you're just kinda going with the flow. You don't really understand what's happening around you - you're just out there playing basketball - but now that I'm older and I see where the league has come in my 15 years, it's pretty cool to have witnessed it.
Building discipline, earning respect and overcoming adversity are all parts of a winning game plan. If you don't have a game plan, where are you going? When I'm talking about a game plan, I'm talking about how you go about being the best player you can be and how you go about being successful in life.
Scottie's game changed with where he was at physically. He wasn't the same player at 21 as he was at 30. Both he and Michael aged gracefully in this league and that's the beauty of being a professional player. You continue to grow and continue to change your game, but you do it to be just as effective.
A closing team is so important in the NBA. The last seven minutes is what you are always coaching to get to. Now you have your team set, you have the match-ups you want, you have your time-outs, your chance to finish the game, and that's my job, to get us to that position during the course of the game.
The advent of so much dribbling has created a different kind of player, and it starts at a very early age. We have so many gifted ball handlers. Everything is pick-and-roll. Unless he's a catch-and-shoot guy, a player is going to put it on the floor and attack. Kevin Durant is a wonderful ball handler.
Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath; that's the essence of yoga, too. So, I consciously began using yoga techniques in my practice and playing. I think yoga helped reduce the number and severity of injuries I suffered. As preventative medicine, it's unequaled.
Can I jump over two or three guys like I used to? No. Am I as fast as I used to be? No, but I still have the fundamentals and smarts. That's what enables me to still be a dominant player. As a kid growing up, I never skipped steps. I always worked on fundamentals because I know athleticism is fleeting.
We are in a world where people are understanding that athletes and entertainers are citizens too. Some of us want to leverage our platform for good, and I want to be someone who is thoughtful and real about trying to influence people in a way that will lead to healthier communities and a better nation.
For me, getting your number retired is the greatest accomplishment. There is no accolade with more significance that you can receive from an organization or school. Whether it was my four years at Central Arkansas or all my seasons with the Bulls in Chicago, it's a sign of respect for what I have done.
I've spent half my life in gyms, if not more, and I love physical fitness and health; couple that with the fact that I love for people to be healthy, whether it's mentally, physically, or emotionally, and it's just a great opportunity for me to do something I love and have an impact on people's health.
My good friend Yao Ming was the first big player in the NBA to come from China. He gave himself to the game and was successful. That inspired the NBA to invest more and do more for the game of basketball. We're building academies not just in China, but in India, Africa, Europe and South America as well.
If you put 100 people on an island with no food, no water, no hope of a ship coming, then some will overcome it and be resourceful, some will live in it, others will panic, and others will show horrific character, which is wrong. But not to understand that all alternatives are possible is wrong as well.
As a youngster, my mother and father always drilled into my head having something to fall back on. My father was kind of funny. I'd score 40 points. I'd come home and say, 'Look dad, I scored 40.' He'd never have a smile on his face. He'd be like, 'I saw that move you did. What if you'd hurt your knee?'
I hope I epitomize the American dream. For I came against long odds, from the ghetto to the very top of my profession. I was not immediately good at basketball. It did not come easy. It came as the result of a lot of hard work and self-sacrifice. The rewards, where they worth it? One thousand times over.
I want to hold onto that because I think every kid when they dream about playing basketball, they don't dream about being a role player. They dream about being the man. I have that position in Toronto and to give that up and go somewhere else to be an addition would kinda defeat the purpose of my dreams.
Its tough growing up where I grew up. My family is very small and really tight. Just being around the neighborhood, my brothers were always around. I didnt want to be in any trouble because I knew my mom or brothers would find out. I didnt want to hurt their feelings. I just tried to do everything right.
At 9 years old, I moved in with my father because my mother could no longer care for me. Looking back, I now see so many similarities between my own childhood and that of my sons. My father stepped in when I needed him, and that gave me the chance for a better life. That's what I'm doing for my boys now.
When I was playing, I didn't realize how much of an impact I would make on people, Muslim or non-Muslim. We played a lot of games during Ramadan. On national TV, the announcers were commenting about Ramadan, and this raised the awareness to the general public and we made all the Muslims very, very proud.
It's frustrating - not that I expect to be the same person I was 10 years ago, but I do expect to do certain things. In all honesty, my body for the most part feels really good. But at this point of my career, I have to rely on different parts of my game, knowing how to take some short cuts when you can.
When a player keeps a calm demeanor on the court, it's easier for his ability to shine. The best response to an opposing player's physical or psychological tactics is to keep cool and come right back at him with the force of your game, not your fists. Revenge is always sweeter if your team wins the game.
The medical device tags that are being used [in the USA] are a terrible mistake. Why are we taxing people for trying to save lives and trying to make lives better, make peoples lives healthier? Those taxes should be placed on alcohol, tobacco, junk food, guns. Those are all the things that destroy health.
As I look back on the day I signed my professional contract in 1973, I've never gone to sleep wondering if I could pay the bills or take care of my family. That's what basketball has done for me. It's given me the greatest of thrills from high school to college to the Olympics to coaching to broadcasting.
In late modernity we grow more and more accustomed to politicians and public figures who are indebted to their appetites for their "values," to their intellectual sloth for their "principles," to their rhetorical cleverness for their "conscience," and to their regimented conformism for their "philosophy."
When I was born, the umbilical cord came wrapped around my neck, so when I came out, I wasn't breathing. The cord had cut off my oxygen - not the entire time, just at the end, when my mom was giving birth. When I came out, I wasn't conscious, so they had to work on bringing me back. It was a crazy moment.
Ultimately, if you can say that I'm a bad owner and we're winning championships, I can live with that. But if we're not making the playoffs and we're spending and losing money, then I have to look in the mirror and say maybe I'm not taking the necessary steps to doing what it takes to run an organization.
I've watched all (of Webb's) dunks on tape. I talked to him about what his preparations were going into the dunk contest. He just said he practiced a couple of days before. That's what I did. I practiced for two weeks, I know my routine, and I'm going to go in there, and I'm not going to shy away from it.
I think when you've played in a league for as long as I have, it would be foolish for a coach not to ask a player with that kind of knowledge about other players. A lot of this goes beyond the court. Are they a good teammate? Are they good in the locker room? What's their attitude like? Do they work hard?
I think when I moved to the United States and saw how serious basketball was and how good I was compared to everyone else. You just came from Canada and you're top five in the country; you're young and everyone says you can be a pro. That's when I started thinking: if I work hard, the dream can come true.
We had a chance to see a lot of different styles of play and you had to adapt to the different style each team plays. That?s going to help us come tournament time because the game in the Pac-10 is different from the Big East and we know how to adapt to the different styles. I?m glad I had that opportunity.
One night I was in the players' parking lot at the Fleet Center in my Celtics warm-ups about a half hour before a game, waiting for one of my dealers to come up from Fall River, because if I didn't get my stuff I was too sick to even go through the pre-game layup line, never mind actually play in the game.
Christmas Day was special because everybody is watching at home. That's what I loved about Christmas Day because it shined the spotlight on the Lakers, on our team, and we knew that all of the other leagues were at home and millions of people were watching. So it made it a special day to play on Christmas.
I'm not skilled enough to explain properly how we feel. Not only me, but I'm sure Tony and Tim and Pop feel the same way. Last year was a tough one for all of us. We felt like we had the trophy, that we were touching it, and it slipped away. We all felt guilty. We got to this spot, and we didn't let it go.
I don't do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, I can expect half-hearted results. Most people get it the honest way by setting their goals and committing themselves to achieving their goals. That's the only way I did it anyway. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.
I think everything happens for a reason. With my game being the way it is, if I did shoot 80 percent, I'd be a harder person to deal with. It just keeps me humble. Just imagine me in my game shooting the same percentage that Reggie Miller shoots. I wouldn't even talk to you guys because I wouldn't have to.
You have to rely on your preparation. You got to really be passionate and try to prepare more than anyone else, and put yourself in a position to succeed, and when the moment comes you got to enjoy, relax, breathe and rely on your preparation so that you can perform and not be anxious or filled with doubt.
It's tough growing up where I grew up. My family is very small and really tight. Just being around the neighborhood, my brothers were always around. I didn't want to be in any trouble because I knew my mom or brothers would find out. I didn't want to hurt their feelings. I just tried to do everything right.
I was shocked cause I didn't even know that they made my jersey. I didn't know that they made it so fast, so when I saw it I was like, I had to look three times and I was like, 'Did they customize that?' And then I saw a couple of other ones and I was like, ok, they must've made them overnight or something.
I've been watching basketball for a long time, I'm a historian of the game. I don't know any other team that's gotten to the Finals without two All-Stars... I cannot remember thinking of it. I don't even know if it's ever happened, for a team to lose two All-Stars and still be able to make it to the Finals.
I got the nickname in the preseason of my rookie season. I was playing for the Suns at the (Great Western) Forum. I got a block or a steal or a dunk and (TNT broadcaster) Kenny Smith went crazy. He called me 'The Matrix.' Who wouldn't like it? Players go through their whole career without having a nickname.
I want my kids to have passion for life, to really have a passion for life. I think when you have a passion for something, you can overcome obstacles, if you float through life without having anything to hold on to or get you fired up emotionally and to focus on, I think it's really hard to overcome things.
A lot of us players, if you were to ask them, feel like they have to play overseas. Why? 'Why not? Might as well do it while I can.' For a while, I felt that way - I've got to make the most money that I can. Now, do I feel like I could still play overseas? Absolutely. But I don't feel that pressure anymore.
I feel that each and every one of us as individuals has a responsibility to one another. None of us would be here without the help of someone else - whether it be guardians, teachers, parents, relatives, etc. - someone contributed to your well being as a person. We're all connected in so many different ways.