A Quote by RJ Barrett

To be the top guy throughout my life and my career, to have people coming at me every game, giving me their best shot - that's part of the reason I went to Duke. I love that stuff.
It's part of the reason I went to Duke. Coach K came to me. He saw everything but the dunks. He was like, 'It's a dunk. It's two points. Who cares?' He saw every other part of my game that I wanted the world to see.
Growing up, all I saw was my parents trying to be the best people they could be, and people coming to them for wisdom, coming to them for guidance, and them not putting themselves on a pedestal, but literally being face-to-face with these people and saying, "I'm no better than you, but the fact that you're coming to me to reach some sort of enlightenment or to shine a light on something, that makes me feel love and gratitude for you." They always give back what people give to them. And sometimes they keep giving and giving and giving.
When you're up-and-coming in your career, yes, maybe you have to dodge certain guys. 'Hey, my wrestling isn't good yet, let me get it on-point and then I'll come back there,' or, 'I'm not going to fight that guy right now,' because whatever, when you're up-and-coming. But once you're already at the top of your game, you're in there, man. That's it.
I played against Kobe a lot when I was in high school during the summers, even in college, just being that guy in L.A. coming up. He always gave me advice here and there, and even the smallest things stuck with me. I watched every single thing that Kobe did, every game, every move. He made me a student of the game.
I love the game. But I love my wife and kids more. I can't tell you how many sacrifices I make throughout the season. I leave the house at 4:15 A.M. and get home at 7 P.M. and see my kids an hour every night. It's been sacrificing for nine years. It's not just about what's best for me. It's about what's best for me and my family.
For my entire Duke career, people were gunning for us and hating us and wanting us to lose, so I got used to that right away. Every team is going to give you their best shot. Everyone wants to beat you.
I made a lot of big threes throughout my career, but it was the 3-point shot that allowed me to maneuver inside the paint, post-up, mid-range game and so forth.
I still run into a lot of people from Memphis, all around the NBA. I feel like they're with me every game. I feel their love, their support, their pushing. I know they still cheer for me. They let me know they cheer for me. And there's a part of them with me in every game I play.
When I was 15 years old, the Duke-UNC game looked like the funnest game in the world to be a part of. So I chose to make sure I was a part of it for four years, and when I was at Duke, it exceeded all my expectations.
It's hard because, throughout your whole career, you're known as the top player, the best on your team, you're playing the most minutes, and then you might not get in the game. You don't know when you're going to get in the game.
Not missing games, miss one game due to injury in my career, and that even hurt me to miss that game, but I just love to get out there and compete, both ends of the ball, and I don't think I'm afraid to take the big shot. If I'm 2-for-15, I'm not afraid to take that shot, make it 3-for-16.
The guys on 'Game of Thrones' trust me implicitly to take care of the action stuff. I don't mess with their drama, but they allow me to come up with ideas like 'Hey, what if the giant had a bow? And what if he shot some guy off the wall?' With 'Constantine,' too, they really trust me to scare the audience.
When my career took off like a rocket in '97 - me against the nWo and Randy Savage - I wasn't just a top guy, I was the top guy, and then in '98, I blew my back out.
I just have to continue to prepare and try to be the best guy I can be every Sunday, whether that's coming off a good game or a bad game.
We shot every scene of mine in the entire movie in five days. All my coverage, everything. I left. They went back and shot everybody else around me. Insane. The part [Billie in Crazy Six] called for a handsome, coiffed cool guy romantic lead, and I showed up like you see him in the movie. And they let me do it.
When you're facing a different guy every at-bat, he's coming at you with his best stuff. There's no warm-up; there's no 'see a pitch.' You've got to be locked in from the very first pitch... The biggest thing is do your homework before the game starts.
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