A Quote by Dikembe Mutombo
My good friend Yao Ming was the first big player in the NBA to come from China. He gave himself to the game and was successful. That inspired the NBA to invest more and do more for the game of basketball. We're building academies not just in China, but in India, Africa, Europe and South America as well.
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I have to give credit to the NBA, because they've done an unbelievable job of taking our game global and putting us in a position to be able to come here and other places in the world and see how big the game of basketball is. If you have never been here, you might not really understand how amazing and how big basketball is. These fans in China love the sport, and they have more players playing than we have people living in the US.
I always felt that I had to leave a legacy on the African continent. As I was only the third player to come to the NBA from Africa, I felt I had to do my best to recruit more young Africans to come and play in the NBA - and also find a way to bring the NBA to Africa.
Everybody knows the NBA is the top of basketball in the world. The game here is more hard, more physical, faster than in Europe.
I am extremely proud to be a part of the NBA's first game in Africa. Coming from South Sudan and having participated in the Basketball without Borders Africa camps in Johannesburg previously, I am truly honored to be part of this historic event.
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.
Food is an integral part of Caribbean life - it's diverse just like Caribbean culture, with flavour influences from India, Europe, China, South America and Africa.
You're more apt to criticize an NBA player than you are a college players. Some of these guys are freshmen. They are learning the game. The other guys have taken it to the biggest stage there is. That's the NBA. So they are going to get more heat if they don't perform.
Hey, the Clippers are a good NBA basketball school. Helps out all the young guys who come into the league. It's not a fast team, not like a real NBA team. All the players have to worry about is improving on their own. You are there for your first few years. They teach you a little bit about the game, and then they let you go.
A lot of NBA guys translate well when going to China because they're expected to score the basketball, while sometimes in Europe, you've got to fit into a system and not get as many opportunities to be ball dominant.
That's what people don't understand, that in the NBA these are the best 450 players in the world, in the game of basketball, are in the NBA.
It gets bigger every time you go over. In China, there was Yao Ming stuff everywhere. I'm just fortunate to have a good-looking face to where they recognize me.
What's being considered now is solidifying my place in the NBA. Keep focusing on the grass roots, because I want the next guys to be good. Right now, all I'm doing for camps and academies and stuff, I'm just finding the next NBA player.
Yao Ming is the best thing to happen to the NBA in a long time. He is just a beautiful person inside and out. The vision, the creativity, the gentleness of spirit … he has it all.
When I came in the NBA, it was more a U.S. game. Now you can watch the NBA anywhere in the world.
I remember I came into the NBA in 1999; the game was a little bit more rough. The game now is more for kids. It's not really a man's game anymore.
It was kind of good to get my feet wet with my first NBA game. I felt comfortable out there, let the game come to me. I played within myself and I thought I did pretty good.
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