When I come home, I'm not a basketball player, but "dad". While everyone sees me as an NBA player, to my boys, I'm just "dad" and that's very important.
My dad was a professional basketball player, and my mom was a hell of a tennis player.
It was my mom who pushed me. My mom actually pushed my dad to train me. My dad knows what it takes to play at this level and be a really good basketball player, and he just wanted me to make the choice for myself.
I played baseball too, and flag football, but basketball was the easiest for me. Then when I was 12, my dad asked me what I wanted to do, and I said 'Be an NBA player.' Since then, he started training me.
Even before I made my high school team, I'd say I want to be a NBA player, and people laughed at me with, 'Get out of here, you ain't going to be a NBA player. You don't even play basketball.'
My dad was a steelworker but I had the opportunity to become a player. A very average player but a player all the same. But I worked my socks off to make something of myself.
I think school is very important and I personally had a great experience at North Carolina, which helped shape me as a basketball player and a person. Every once in a while, you will have a player who can make the jump and have an immediate impact on the professional level, but most of the players who come out would absolutely benefit from going to college.
I was a mediocre basketball player. But I was there, and I could remember the plays. And my basketball coach, after he retired from teaching, would come to my performances all the time. And I was very happy about that, because I was not memorable as a basketball player.
I never really talked about being an NBA player or a college player. I just really like playing basketball.
Everyone needs a coach. It doesn't matter whether you're a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast or a bridge player.
My mom was a volleyball player, and my dad was a soccer player. I never thought about it, but they always served healthy food at home, and I love it, and it kind of was a regular part of my day.
Just knowing your dad is a professional basketball player, it just makes you feel like you're destined for.
I always tried to be an all-around player. In college, I felt like I needed to add to my game to get to another level, to get to the NBA. The NBA has really turned to positionless basketball, so it was very important to me to have an all-around game so I could stand out in front of other guys.
When his football and baseball careers ended, my dad became an accomplished marbles player. Then dad got really good at pitching horseshoes. And to show you how athletic our bloodlines really were, my mom was a wonderful tennis player.
I'm a wuss. I'm a pushover and a wuss. But it's worth it. And that's the joy of being an NBA player. Because I can go out on the court and be an animal, be a beast. I ain't a pushover. But when I go home when I'm with my family, my friends and my wife and my child, I'm just Dad and a husband.
My dad was a football player - a soccer player - for Manchester United, and I loved playing football, but I also happened to be the guy in class who was pretty good at sight reading. My teacher gave me scripts, and I was very comfortable.
My dad was a soccer player. He didn't know anything about basketball - nothing.