I want to do more to create more awareness so that the people in our communities aren't just thinking that you just got to be a basketball player or a rapper, because that's what I thought.
Awareness is not the same as thought. It lies beyond thinking, although it makes no use of thinking, honoring it's value and it's power. Awareness is more like a vessel which can hold and contain our thinking, helping us to see and know our thought as thought rather than getting caught up in them as reality.
I'm just playing basketball. I just want to be a great player. That's it. That's all I'm thinking about. If the other stuff comes, it comes, but I'm just fortunate to play in the NBA Finals and just to play basketball, period.
When I step on that basketball court, I'm thinking about basketball, I'm thinking about winning - but there's so much that goes into thought about how I'm going to open this game up to others. It's so much more than just basketball.
I just want to be able to show who I really am, what I can do, bring awareness, create something because I want to take tennis, women's tennis, into an even more exciting path because I believe we have a lot more things to offer.
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.
It's not that I'm playing a rapper. I definitely feel like I'm a legitimate rapper. I just think that, who I am, there's more to me than just being a rapper.
At the end of the day I'm a basketball player. I'm going to try and shoot more threes than mid-range or long twos or whatever. But if someone gives you a shot, you're a basketball player, you got to make reads and play.
I thought about how easily we are all brainwashed by our society and culture to stop thinking and just assume by default that more money equals more success and more happiness, when ultimately happiness is really just about enjoying life.
I think more like an entertainer rather than just a rapper. My overall goal is to never be listed as just a rapper. You know how Michael Jackson was listed as a great entertainer? That's what I want to be.
I just feel like there's a lot of things more important than just basketball, and I love basketball. It's what I want to do for the longest time possible. It's what I eat, it's what I sleep about, it's what I breathe, it's in my lifestyle. I just really feel like there's more important things than just putting the ball in the hoop.
I can't tell if I want to be a rapper who's funny because I kind of enjoy just doing really stupid songs about nothing. But I want to have a career that's long-lasting, and I don't think people want to listen to a straight-up comedy rapper all the time.
I want people to follow their dreams, yes but I'm not interested in telling young black kids how to be rappers I want to show them that there's so many other paths you can take, besides a rapper or basketball player.
I want people to follow their dreams, yes... but I'm not interested in telling young black kids how to be rappers... I want to show them that there's so many other paths you can take, besides a rapper or basketball player.
The more successful I got, the more scared I got. My name was all over Google. I had a Wikipedia page I was terrified to look at. And so I just snapped. I thought, 'If I'm going to come out with this, I'm going to do it in a big way. And not just for myself. This can't just be my story.'
I think that's a weak excuse, to say because a rapper's getting older that he ain't got it no more. Nah. Don't go by that philosophy. Let's just recognize that talent is within.
As you progress as a basketball player, the world around you becomes more and more chaotic. There's more talent, there are more distractions - and these are all factors that create a lack of control. By having a routine, by having habits that I can fall back on, it's my way of enacting control. It's the only thing I can control.