A Quote by Nick Nurse
The Energy job was probably the key. It kind of transitioned me back into the States. It gave me a link to the NBA. And I got to make some contacts and meet some players and get players set up and learn the NBA game and terminology and coaching those type of players. It was certainly a huge, huge key to getting to the NBA.
Related Quotes
The key about playing internationally is the confidence that you gain. Not only do you train with some of the best players in the NBA, but you compete against some of the best players in the world.
You're more apt to criticize an NBA player than you are a college players. Some of these guys are freshmen. They are learning the game. The other guys have taken it to the biggest stage there is. That's the NBA. So they are going to get more heat if they don't perform.
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.
You can ask all the best players in the NBA - there's not one player in the NBA that guards them like me.
I remember when I came into the NBA, eighteen years ago, there were maybe nine to twelve international players playing in the NBA. Today we've got more than 85, so that tells you how our game has grown at that level.
When you look across the board at the count of NBA quality players that are on various international teams in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, there are good players all over the world now. It's just not in the NBA where America has the most talent.
As NBA players, so much of the game is mental, as far as confidence and playing against the best players in the world.
When I was doing 'NBA Inside Stuff' and 'NBA on NBC', I always saw my interactions with players as a conversation.
I am always playing hard trying to win. Just knowing that at one time I was once that kid that looked up to NBA players and NFL players. Today these kids look up me.
I'd read about NBA players in magazines when I was growing up in Congo, but I had never actually seen what NBA basketball looked like because we didn't have access to a satellite for TV.
I thought I would make it (to the NBA). I believed that I would make it. But I had a Plan B. I was going to get my Master's degree at Tulane University had it not worked out. I think the pressure of making it wasn't on me as great as some other players that had no other options. I was going to do something special in life and I wanted to play in the NBA. I had a backup plan but I went full speed ahead with my Plan A.
This is always one of my big pet peeves is that 65% of NBA players, three years out of the NBA, are broke. I mean, so, maybe maturing a little more on the front end and getting an education might serve you well down the road.
The NBA is getting bigger. Basketball is getting better around the world. There are more players. There are better coaches around it, so that's why there are more international players, not only Hispanic players, but from everywhere.
Actually when I was overseas I didn't watch any NBA. I was like, 'Forget the NBA,' and this and that. 'Cause I was hurt that I wasn't on an NBA team. I kind of was rebellious when it came to that because I was kind of jealous and envious that I wasn't on an NBA team, so I kind of just focused on my game and focused on overseas.
There are so many good players in the NBA, and I just want to be at the top of the talent pool. I want opposing coaches and players to fear me.
Most people won't play basketball with NBA players, because you have to be in the NBA, but you don't have to be a pro to play against pro gamers. There's a chance they could load in and play the same game as them.
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