I love the preparation, the excitement of game day, the nervousness of game day. But I enjoy the day-to-day stuff. Game day is a great day but I enjoy Mondays and Tuesdays, watching yourself on film, watching the next opponent, getting the game plan.
My first game, I played the first play of the game and called a timeout and got sat down, got benched for the rest of the game, and we won the game. It was the longest day of my life. Long day. Very embarrassing.
I think, always, the form of the players is a decisive factor. And a game-plan and the referee. He can influence the game. And in a derby, a cool head is also very important.
Day 1, when I was drafted to the Toronto Raptors, they had this stigma on them: Every guy leaves. Nobody wants to be here. Superstars, nobody wants to play in Canada. From Day 1, my whole mindset and approach to the game, being in Toronto, was I wanted to change that whole narrative to that whole organization.
Every single day since Day 1, to Day 2, to Day 3, to Day 4, to Day 5, to Day 6, to Day 7 to Day 8, whatever day it is now, I've gotten better.
If we lose a game, I change up what I did that day, like if I eat something that day I will not eat the same thing again the next game day.
Basketball is a lifelong game. You continue to learn from the game day in and day out, and all along the way, you get better.
I'm not the sort of person who does my mathematics writing on paper. I do that at the last stage of the game. I do my mathematics in my head. I sit down for a hard day's work and I write nothing all day. I just think. And I walk up and down because that helps keep me awake, it keeps the blood circulating, and I think and think.
I have to stay in my lane and focus on what I have to do and listen to what the coaches are telling me to do. They're going to make sure I'm prepared on game day.
Sometimes in a derby it is not always easy to see a very good game with big quality but the power of one derby means you can see good things happen after one result.
A war is an incarnation. A battle is a day of your life. So we do one day at a time in self-discovery.
How many likes you get on a selfie will not be what you remember 10 years down the line. The relationships that you form and the memories that you make and the connections that you make with people day to day are the things you remember.
Of course you battle despair. It is often a day-to-day fight, but it's one that can be won.
The most important thing for me to succeed in is day by day becoming a better and more prepared person.
It's football all day on Sunday. I wish we had football every day; that would make me way happier. Why can't we have that? You've got all these teams! Why can't we just play a Monday game, a Tuesday game, a Wednesday game?
Whoever uses psychedelics should treat them with greatest respect. When Aldous and I used them, we prepared the ambience and ourselves the day before. The day of the session was kept as a holy day, and there were beautiful fruits and flowers around. The result was, that we had no negative experiences.