I want to thank the NBA and U.S.A. Basketball. Words can't describe my feeling. I was a small town kid from Hamburg, Arkansas, and you provided me a platform to live out my passion, the game of basketball, on the world's grandest stage.
For men's college coaches through to the NBA, I think basketball people are basketball people. When you start talking the game, gender has gone out the window, and they just talk basketball with you.
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.
That's what people don't understand, that in the NBA these are the best 450 players in the world, in the game of basketball, are in the NBA.
When I was a little kid, I looked at my mom, stepdad and said, 'I want to be an NBA player,' just because I love to play the game of basketball like 24/7.
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.
I grew up in a small town in Illinois, and my dad was a basketball coach. Thanks to him, I have excellent fundamentals in both basketball and baseball.
I always tried to be an all-around player. In college, I felt like I needed to add to my game to get to another level, to get to the NBA. The NBA has really turned to positionless basketball, so it was very important to me to have an all-around game so I could stand out in front of other guys.
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.
Kobe made an impact on basketball in a big way. He came in the League when he was 17 years old, but he was working on his game every day... The way he played, people all around the world loved the passion that he put in for basketball.
I was at a basketball camp when I was a kid and the lecturer used basketball spinning to teach us a lesson on never being satisfied with what you've accomplished. The lecturer talked about how the game of basketball was about learning to control the ball through dribbling and passing and shooting.
Being from Flint, especially in the basketball community, is a big deal. Basketball in Flint, you're pretty much like a god there if you play college basketball or are lucky enough to make it to the NBA.
You've got to understand, every kid in college basketball, if you ask them where they want to play a game, in the NBA or college, they will tell you Madison Square Garden, a huge percentage.
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 play basketball, and I'm grateful for what the sport has provided for me and my family, but I'm even more appreciative for the voice and platform that has come along with it.
I have to give credit to the NBA, because they've done an unbelievable job of taking our game global and putting us in a position to be able to come here and other places in the world and see how big the game of basketball is. If you have never been here, you might not really understand how amazing and how big basketball is. These fans in China love the sport, and they have more players playing than we have people living in the US.
If you have a kid that loves basketball - that eats, sleeps, drinks, and thinks basketball, and all he knows is basketball - and he gets hurt, and he's your franchise player, you need to hold him back from himself.