As a former NCAA basketball player, many of the skills I now rely on as a leader took root on the basketball court: teamwork, integrity, and resilience are just some of the traits I've carried over into my professional game.
I know people that was playing basketball better than me. If they were in the NBA, they could be All-Stars, those people. They just never had the opportunity to go play professional basketball in Europe.
I am focusing on the process of making my dream come true, which is to play professional basketball.
A lot of people just think I'm a big man, but I'm a basketball player. I am able to do everything that a basketball player can do - from playmaking and scoring to just passing the ball and just being a leader and post presence.
Just knowing your dad is a professional basketball player, it just makes you feel like you're destined for.
What am I doing, just playing basketball? It was eating at me. Because basketball, you play, you retire, you're done. I wanted to do something more.
It's easy to be just a basketball player, get paid and come here to do that. But to be professional about it is different.
There was no professional basketball for me in the United States when I was in grade school and middle school. I could look to the Olympics and college basketball, but that was only on TV for the Final Four.
My kids know who I am on the basketball court, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter about the basketball. I am their dad, and that is all that matters.
I really didn't want to play basketball for the longest time, but I just wouldn't stop growing. But I always wanted to be a professional soccer player.
I remember dreaming about playing professional basketball as a kid in the gyms of Tbilisi, and now, after a journey across continents that began when I was a teenager, I am coming home with the championship trophy.
To me, first and foremost, basketball is a fun sport. It is a hobby, an interest. And second, it is a profession. I feel that I am very fortunate that I can find a professional job that I really, really love.
I am a basketball player, and I would like to focus my energy on basketball. The other things, I would rather not do. It is not something I am greatly interested in, but I know it is my responsibility.
Just because I had a good game doesn't change who I am,
my identity is in Christ and not in basketball, I love playing basketball and it's my job but at the same time I recognize that I'm a sinner and that's not gonna change regardless of how well I play on the court
I was a professional rehab/workout guy for four years. I wasn't even a basketball player - just a guy who got paid to exercise.
When I have basketball camps and I tell kids my story, they're like, 'You played in Maine? In Israel? You did this and that?' I experienced a lot, and I feel like it made me not only the person I am today, but the basketball player I am.