I wanted to show that Asian players could make it in Europe. But it was far more important for me just to become a better player. That is why I came to Europe from Asia.
Of course team spirit and team's strategy matters more than anything else as far as the team is concerned. As far as I am concerned, if the presence of one player is affecting the morale or the spirit of the team, then we might as well rest that player for a while.
Success is a learnable skill. You can learn to succeed at anything. If you want to be a great golfer, you can learn how to do it. If you want to be a great piano player, you can learn how to do it. If you want to be truly happy, you can learn how to do it. If you want to be rich, you can learn how to do it. It doesn't matter where you are right now. It doesn't matter where you're starting from. What matters is that you are willing to learn.
I didn't like it as a player when I felt a coach was fudging the reasons for leaving me out. As a player, I wanted to know where I was lacking in my game and where I could improve in order to get back in the team.
Johann was one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He could do everything. I'm not at that level. I'm more of a classic attacker, a penalty-area player. And after a while, I realized that this was how I could best help my team.
Money-wise, I was probably the best player in Europe. It was safe where I was in Italy. But I wanted to play in the NBA to see if I could.
I was very fortunate when I was little - I played basketball. You really absolutely learn how to be a team player, how to win a game, to accomplish things, not just for yourself.
My illusions didn't have anything to do with being a fine actress. I knew how third rate I was. I could actually feel my lack of talent, as if it were cheap clothes I was wearing inside. But, my God, how I wanted to learn, to change, to improve!
Perhaps the toughest call for a coach is weighing what is best for an individual against what is best for the team. Keeping a player on the roster just because I liked him personally, or even because of his great contributions to the team in the past, when I felt some one else could do more for the team would be a disservice to the team's goals.
Personal success means nothing if it isn't aligned with the success of the team. I consider myself to be a team player more than anything else.
I think the biggest thing I want to learn from Kevin Garnett, with him having a ring, is how do I become a championship player? How do I see how a championship team looks like? How do I use myself to be a championship contributor?
You need experience around you when you are a young player. You need to know how to run a team, to lead a team and to play as a team which means, your team has leaders but you still function as a team.
My dream was to become a big player in Europe. But most of the stars there are either from Europe or places like Brazil and Argentina. How many come from Edmonton, where you're only supposed to play hockey? None. So yeah, I had a lot of doubts. I wondered if I had gone as far as I could.
One single great player doesn't make anything for a team; it has to be a team. I think [American] football is the greatest team sport there is because you have to depend on your brother next to you.
I could have played more complex stuff. I could have been a busier player. But that's not what I wanted to do. I played what I wanted to play.
I really wanted to, but I just didn't understand how people became comedians. I kind of thought it was something you were born into. And so I wanted to be a veterinarian or an architect. I wanted to be in a band, and for some reason I could understand how you could be in a band because I had guitars and all my friends played music. Comedy was a secret want, but it wasn't anything I pursued.