Basketball has given me everything, but it has to be bigger than basketball. That was the first thing that I said to Under Armour, and they were behind it 100 percent. This isn't about a shoe deal.
I want to thank God, obviously for the health, for the talent He's given me, for my family who supports me, for the things that basketball's taught me on and off the court. For the people that I've been able to meet through the game of basketball.
I look at basketball as like a storm. But it's the eye of the storm. The calmest place of it is to be right in the eye of it. And that's what basketball is for me; it's my eye. And while everything else around me is going on,' he continued, 'the destruction and things like that, basketball keeps me calm.
It was the old psychosomatic side-step. Everyone in my family dances it at every opportunity. You've given me a splitting headache! You've given me indigestion! You've given me crotch rot! You've given me auditory hallucinations! You've given me a heart attack! You've given me cancer!
There are so many people who helped me during all those years in Toronto for everything. Not just about basketball, it's everything. Like life, with my family. Everything.
Truly, when I say the show has given me everything, it's given me everything.
The game of basketball has been everything to me. My place of refuge, place I've always gone where I needed comfort and peace. It's been the site of intense pain and the most intense feelings of joy and satisfaction. It's a relationship that has evolved over time, given me the greatest respect and love for the game.
Going to the Portland Trail Blazers, who actually took the time to invest in me, was perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me in my career. I got to a small market where I could focus on basketball, basketball, basketball. No distractions.
Every time I'm ever in L.A., if I have anytime off - which is rare - I'll go straight to the basketball court and play. That's a way for me to escape and get my mind off everything. I'm so competitive, so if I'm playing basketball, all I'm thinking about is winning.
When I grew up, I never - I wasn't allowed to go out. I missed my prom because I went to an AAU tournament and all that stuff. For me, it was basketball, basketball, basketball.
I'm very lucky what basketball has given me, so I'd love to give back.
Gymnastics has given me everything in my life. I will continue to stay involved and try to give back to the sport that has given me so much.
I'm a basketball player first and foremost. So I want to put basketball above everything else.
A big part of what kept me focused on the music was already failing with basketball. I played basketball all of my life. When basketball didn't work, I knew that I had to make it in whatever I decided to do next.
Before I joined the Clippers I played basketball at the University of Kentucky. There the game of basketball is very important. It is important for the fans. There is not a lot to do there so they really support the team. It is hard to describe. The fans, the coaching staff, the basketball program is everything and the kids who go there love it.
Basketball has given me so many opportunities, and it's something that's opened the world to me and allowed me to travel really all over the world.