A Quote by Ted Leonsis
When you look at the last 20 years in the NBA, there have been seven teams that have won the NBA championship. Six of those seven teams drafted the number one or number two pick; their foundational people.
Related Quotes
Now, everybody knows the basic erogenous zones. You got one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven. ... OK, now most guys will hit one, two, three and then go to seven and set up camp. ... You want to hit 'em all and you wanna mix 'em up. You gotta keep 'em on their toes. ... You could start out with a little one. A two. A one, two, three. A three. A five. A four. A three, two. Two. A two, four, six. Two, four, six. Four. Two. Two. Four, seven! Five, seven! Six, seven! Seven! Seven! Seven! Seven! Seven! Seven! Seven! Seven! Seven! [holds up seven fingers]
Seven has always been my lucky number. It's on my guitar pick; in sports, that was always the number I was, and 'Riser' is my seventh album. With this album kind of coming to an end and having seven nominations at the ACMs, it feels like a bigger story in play for me, and it's the perfect number. I wouldn't have wanted eight!
I've been lucky enough to play on NBA teams I really enjoy, teams where I've liked everybody and had fun, and had that college kind of experience with an NBA team. When you have that, and I don't know that everyone does, but when I've had it, that's what it's all about.
A lot of people don't understand that playing in the NBA, the toughest thing is to win an NBA championship. I was in the NBA 15 years. I'd been in the playoffs. I'd been in the Finals. But it took me 15 years to finally win one.
First I wanted number seven since my roll number in school was seven. But, someone was already wearing jersey number seven. Then a BCCI manager said I should take 18 since my birthday is on 18 July. At that time, I didn't know that Virat Kohli also wears number 18.
You have a lot of great teams in the NBA. I watched San Antonio against Dallas, and they're two great teams, and there are great teams in the east, as well. So it takes time to gel, as we've all seen.
Winning teams at the NBA level, the college level, and the high school level all play team basketball. Championship teams have five players on the same page at all times.
When you look at coaching in the pros 25-plus years, I have been with rebuilding teams and I have been with championship teams, and so I know all the steps in-between.
In every game, there's three teams out there. There's the two basketball teams and the team of officials. If the two teams are evenly matched, it can come down to number of possessions. If one out-of-bounds call goes the wrong way, that can be the difference.
I really think just the honor of playing on five championship teams in seven years is the best thing.
I think it's hard to compare the NBA and the WNBA, but the thing about the NBA is they just have a ton of movement every year, but the WNBA doesn't. Free agency is not set up that way; the money is obviously not set up that way, so when one player moves, it could set the stage for, literally, like, six or seven years.
Maybe NBA teams won't want me and maybe I'll play in Europe the last one or two seasons.
Jeff Bzdelik is one of the smartest, most knowledgeable, hardest working coaches I have ever worked with. His teams in the NBA and college have achieved beyond their talent levels. Recruits to Wake Forest will play for a coach who was successful in the NBA for a long time and will teach them what they need to know to make it to the NBA.
When you look across the board at the count of NBA quality players that are on various international teams in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, there are good players all over the world now. It's just not in the NBA where America has the most talent.
I've been very fortunate throughout my life with a number of opportunities, a number of great people that have helped me be in the position that I am today to be an NBA basketball player and to be living out my dream.
The best example is the NBA, with high intensity and long breaks. During the season, the NBA teams play every three days. That's a lot, and they also travel far. But from the end of May until October, they have their break.
Related Authors
Irving Kahn Quotes
American
Investor
Walter Schloss Quotes
American
Investor
Warren Hellman Quotes
American
Investor