I want to be the top player in the league, and I want to bring my game to another level. I want to play against the opposition's best players-and I want to beat them.
You want to play in the best stadiums against the best players - your Real Madrid's and Barcelona's - you want to play those teams.
You want to play against the best - at least I do. I want to go out there and compete against the best players.
I was on the sideline with a knee injury and when I came back, I wanted to play at the best level I could. And that's the case for a lot of players, they want the chance to play against the best competition.
If anything, when you play against family, you never want to lose, whether it's your sister or it's your best friend. When you know that person so well, at the end of the day, you want to beat them.
I don't want anyone to get injured. It's a competition: you want to play against the best teams and the best players.
I always say all the time that's what the NBA is all about - getting to play against the best guys and opportunities to redeem yourself against teams that beat you.
I don't want to play for any team. I prefer playing for a lower team and playing against the best. I don't like playing with them: I want to play against them... and beat them.
You want to play against the best defenders and the best teams. You want to test yourself.
As a kid, I just always learned that if you want to be the best, you have to play against the best.
Everybody who comes to my home has to play at least one set against me. I beat them all. The best thing is when they want another set. People like me who can't stand not to win. I beat them again and again until they are furious, then I laugh. That's funny.
We want to play against the best so we can be the best ourselves.
Georges is one of the best guys that's ever stepped in the Octagon. That's actually the main reason I want to fight him. I look for a challenge. To be the best, you've gotta beat the best. And Georges St-Pierre is the best.
What really excited me at the end was the challenge of being the best I can be and prolonging my best level and playing against the best players in the world. But now that I don't have the opportunity to play against the best players in the world when it counts, in front of fans, it doesn't excite me as much.
You never know what's going to happen. You don't want to get in there and not be ready. That's the worst thing you can do. You have to prepare yourself as No. 1, to be the best and play against the best.
I prefer to play against the best players and the best teams and the best coaches. Never personal.