Top 148 Quotes & Sayings by Iman Shumpert

I need music all the time - just to get my vibe where I want it.

I make sure I do a lot of core work in my training.

If I bring positive energy to the court, most times, I can get that back.

I like Batman, I like basketball, and I like to rap.

People sometimes think that if someone plays basketball, they have to do that one thing they're great at. But I like being able to show that you can do more than one thing and do it at a high level.

Keep feeding yourself with positivity.

I never said to myself, 'Get to the NBA, be an All-Star, make a $100 million contract.'

Rap isn't that time-consuming for me, compared to an ordinary artist. I do not stay in the studio all day.

There are certain guys that are obviously a lot more talented than myself and a lot of the other players in the league, but... once you gotta play against me, all that's out the window.

I'm playing basketball. It's my dream job. So I'm a pretty happy camper.

The way I have played throughout my career has been sporadic.

I wish I was in my 20s during the '90s to really fully live it. I feel like that was a pretty exciting time being from Chicago, seeing Jordan win six rings.

I feel like I can defend three different positions: point guards, shooting guards, and small forwards who don't want to play too much in the post.

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.

I have respect for everybody in the league.

It's cool to be on a team where we don't know who's going to score it.

I think I am a good help defender as well as just bringing a lot of communication to the floor.

I'm going to miss shots. I'm going to make plenty of mistakes. It's not going to be perfect.

I was called fool's gold. That's what I was called in the draft combine. That's how I remember it. I took it personal.

As long as my daughter likes me, I'm good.

Usually, if I do a good job in the plus/minus category, I know I've had a good game.

If an athlete plays the guitar, they say, 'That's so cool, he can play the guitar.' But if a guy raps, they say, 'Please don't be another rapper,' only because the rappers are so bad. I promise I'm not anything like that.

Love is one of the only reminders besides pain that things are real. It's one of the only things worth fighting for.

I ain't got time to pay somebody to drive my vehicle.

I'm a taco guy, so I like Mexican food, and any form of a taco, I'm going to eat it. During the season, I'll make it a grilled chicken taco. But after the season, give me a regular beef taco and fill it to capacity. I need meat, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, pico de gallo, and everything you got.

My worst day, I'm just going to try and smile.

You may have to change how you guard somebody because of how they play. But the mindset stays the same - making people uncomfortable, making them do what you want them to do instead them dictating on offense.

I used to be an angry person.

I always enjoyed writing.

I can't have people always having their opinions floating my way.

It don't matter who scores; we just got to win.

I'm a Type A person who doesn't want to get stuck in any one type of workout. I need a variety of things to stay interested, and that way, you make sure you get the most out of yourself.

When I was growing up, all my cousins had high-top fades. I thought it would be cool to see how long I could grow a high-top.

My brother's been cutting my hair since I was in 7th grade.

My job is to pay attention to the feel of the game and always add a positive energy to it on my team through the ups and downs of the game.

I was told I was going undrafted. That's what I was told by everybody. I guess I wasn't good enough in everybody else's eyes.

All the time, I play with a rhythm; if I'm too far out of the rhythm, I feel out of place.

If the offensive player starts losing confidence, that gets the defender's confidence up - and I think the team can feel it.

Some guys play so straight, and that may be their thing; like, a lot of guys are good playing like that. I can't play like that. I have to flair out. I have to yell. I gotta scream. I gotta talk trash - that's how I get myself going.

I joke about it a lot, but I be serious as a heart attack when I say it: I don't wish that on nobody, not being able to play.

Off the court, I think people will like me.

I like playing in Chicago.

If somebody scores on me, I'm going to be mad.

I'm a culture guy. I sort of know all the familiar ingredients to get something going. Once everyone starts to buy in collectively, then that culture can start being built.

A lot of people celebrate the '80s. I was a '90s guy. The best music, and basketball, was at its high in the '90s, with all of the best players, playing the best style of basketball in that era, and Michael Jordan winning six rings in the city I grew up in.

In high school, I had gym, and with me just being so competitive, I would go too hard in gym class.

I've been doing music since sixth grade.

Some people are going to like me; some people won't.

In Chicago, growing up there, that's how we played. You play for something more than just yourself. You play to win, and that's all that really matters.

I've been doing music for the longest time.

Some people read. I like to put words together.

Everything was always a pretty up and down for me. It's always been an uphill battle as far as getting respect goes.

I wanted to go the NBA and win a championship because I've never seen a grown man cry the way Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan cried when they won a championship.

When I was growing up, I didn't really have a lot of different things I could wear. As I got older, the more I could look different on an everyday basis, the better.

I love fashion.

Ray Allen's diet was insane. He was trying to break it down to me what he ate and how disciplined he tries to stay. When you're a 21 year-old, you're not used to that. He was doing Paleo and experimenting with all types of things.

I'm a Kanye fan.

I'm a people person. I'm a hugger.

I think that for my sport, the core is the most important. I mean, really in all sports, but especially in the sport I play, I keep my core right and try and keep that up no matter what I'm doing.

Ever since I was little, I wanted to win the NBA championship.