Top 100 Quotes & Sayings by C. J. McCollum

One of the advantages of going to a small school is that you're expected to be the man. They have to give you the ball, and there's more room for error in a situation where you can play your way through mistakes (and no matter how good you are, this is a valuable coping skill at the NBA level).

Other fans get antsy when their team's offense struggles to score for a few possessions. Blazers fans give us standing ovations, like they're trying to will their energy into us.

As a kid growing up in Canton, Ohio, you never see yourself in a position to play in the NBA, much less have somebody pay you to wear shoes.

I had a few brief, brief interactions with Coach K. Mainly us beating them in the NCAA Tournament back in 2012.

Life in the NBA can be one big constant distraction, especially when you're on the road. You're always moving from one place to the next, always on the phone, checking texts, social media, all of that stuff. It takes you out of yourself.

I've won league championships, and I helped pull off a massive NCAA tournament upset - our 15-versus-2 win over Duke in 2012.

You gotta really enjoy off days.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Portland basketball fans are the best basketball fans in the world.

Harden throws his body around a lot and is a master at drawing fouls. It could be considered borderline flopping sometimes, but he's a vet who knows how to get to the line.

When you're watching from the bench, you can pick up on everything - where guys like to shoot the ball from, how teams defend the pick-and-roll, which big men are good at hedging the screen and so on.

Everything in the NBA is sped up. Lanes close much faster than college.

Competitive people, especially in sports, want to learn about everything. So when you're interested in something, you become a bit obsessive. You start to research it and ask questions about it, and before you know it, you have a serious hobby because of how you're programmed.

Draymond Green is one of the best in the league at grabbing a defensive rebound and starting the break.

I'm just trying to diversify my portfolio and put myself in a position so when I do retire, the options are limitless.

Preparation is everything. You don't like being interviewed by someone who hasn't done their research.

It's nice to say you have goals and that you want to win championships. But until you get thrown into the fire, you can't truly grasp what it takes to accomplish those goals.

Lowry is a pitbull. He's a gritty player who scores in a variety of ways, but he's also one of the few guards who also does the things that go unnoticed on the stat sheet.

The intensity and importance of each possession. That's the thing about the NBA that doesn't always translate to television.

At the combine we went through medical exams from every team, the most extensive physicals I've ever had: blood tests, MRIs, heart monitors, everything. Because of my injury teams really paid attention to my lower body.

I think being able to make the playoffs alone is an outstanding accomplishment alone and something not a lot of people get to experience in their careers.

Growing up I was a Cleveland Browns fan and my mood would change based on how they were playing. If they were losing I wasn't as happy, I wasn't as excited, I was a little sad.

When you're in the playoffs, you have to get easy baskets and you have to limit their easy baskets.

I've been playing basketball since I was five.

I like Zach Lowe.

If I could go back in time and give Rookie C.J one piece of wisdom, it would be that sometimes less is more. Off the court, sometimes it's just better to shut up and be quiet.

Other people need to be forward thinkers. Not just basketball players. Not just people in the sports world. But people in general.

When you have an almost seven-foot wingspan and can guard multiple positions, you're going to get minutes.

You have to learn how to win in this league. It's a process.

For me, understanding your heritage and wanting to leave a legacy was always important to me.

Sometimes recruiters and scouts are missing on players. Going after the guys who are really hyped, five-star players and guys that are playing in grassroots and are seen all the time. Then there are the players that developed internally. They go to small schools and they continue to work on their games and they blow up later.

Other fans might stop coming to games when their teams fall in the standings. Blazers fans just pack the house even more.

One thing I love about guards in this league is that you can be a 5-foot-9 pit bull or a methodical 6-foot-7 jump-shooter, and still succeed in your own way.

Offensively, Lowry is a great catch-and-shoot player from deep, and he's very comfortable shooting the trey off the bounce in isolations and pick-and-roll.

I think, in moderation, taunting is a part of life.

Kyrie is the ultimate versatility weapon. He's good in isos, he's good in pick-and-rolls, he's good in transition. He got game.

I graduated from Lehigh with a degree in journalism.

In college, the line is so close that you can kind of half-heartedly shoot the ball off-balance and fading away. To shoot an NBA three, because the arc of your shot has to be a little higher, you have to be squared up and get your legs into it more, which can be tough in the fourth quarter.

I don't care how much you traveled in college, and I don't care what kind of shape you're in. Travel is the one thing you're absolutely not prepared for as a rookie.

I was 5-6, a little chubby, spot-up 3-point shooter. So I couldn't blame the schools for not recruiting me. But then my junior year, I was 5-11, hit a little growth spurt.

I ended up breaking a bone in my foot early in my rookie season, and honestly, it was kind of a blessing. I had so much free time while being laid up that I put a lot of time in on film to understand the game from a different vantage point.

I have a responsibility and a job as a guy who gets paid a lot of money, I'm expected to perform. And 82 games in 6-7 months is a lot, and it's hard on the body, and you're not gonna play perfect every night. Even Ray Allen misses shots, even LeBron misses dunks.

Yea, I wrote my college thesis on why college athletes should get paid. I think there's a way to do it based on the amount of revenue they generate.

I like to take it back, cause I'm an old soul. Growing up, my brothers, I'd grow up hearing what they were playing, and that's how my taste has evolved.

I accept who I am. Rapping is not my forte.

I'm a fan of Stance socks.

A lot of people have compared being an NBA rookie to being a fraternity pledge. It's not really intense like that. It's more like being an intern.

I got hurt my senior year of college. I ended up breaking my fifth metatarsal after I pulled out of the Draft. That was a good experience for me to kind of find myself, figure out a plan for post-basketball because obviously it doesn't last forever.

You want to see range? Dame has range.

For me personally, I like a smooth pinot noir with a lot of cherry fruit flavor. In the proper mood, I like a little earth and a little spice as well.

There's just so many great artists out there, but I think growing up, J. Cole has been the guy that I've always been listening to, even in college. Going from that struggle to stardom, that rise to stardom, 'Dolla and a Dream,' all that stuff - I've listened to all his classics, all the old J. Cole stuff.

America certainly is a great country with plenty of freedoms, but there are a lot of systemic issues that need to change.

It's mentally draining to be on 100% of the time on both ends of the floor, especially when you're the team's undisputed shot creator.

I like watches.

When I think about defending Kyrie, I think about respect. His shooting percentages were close to 50/40/90 as a 19-year-old rookie. When you come into this league with numbers like that, defenders have to respect your jumper.

It's been a part of my game for life. It's tougher to finish in the lane so you've got to find different areas to score efficiently and the mid-range contested shot is a shot a lot of teams will live with. And it's a shot I'm willing to live with as well just because I've gotten so many shots at it and I'm comfortable with it.

When games get tight in the playoffs, especially in the Finals, there's no space. There's no clean looks.

I like Malcolm Gladwell.

You got to be able to hit mid-range shots, you got to able to hit threes and you got to be able to finish in the lane.

We don't have those bougie, not-into-it, wouldn't-be-caught-dead-in-the-free-t-shirt hoops fans in Portland. We've got those pinwheel-tattooed, bleeding-red-and-black, still-rocking-that-Walton-jersey, ride-or-die, realer-than-real hoops fans in Portland. The love is real. The support is real.

Like, if I'm assessing someone's game and they can't shoot, they can't shoot. And they know they can't shoot. It's not like I'm making fun of them. I just keep it real, man.