“When you have that respect from your teammates, it makes it a lot more comfortable.”

“But now, being a parent, I go home and see my son and I forget about any mistake I ever made or the reason I'm upset. I get home and my son is smiling or he comes running to me. It has just made me grow as an individual and grow as a man.”

“Sometimes in the past when I played something might make me lose focus, or I would go home after a game where I thought I could have played better and I would let it hang over my head for a long time when it shouldn't.”

“Being the only man in the household with my mom definitely helped me grow up fast.”

“My mom and I have always been there for each other. We had some tough times, but she was always there for me.”

“I'm a pretty funny guy, and I would love to do a comedy with a bunch of funny guys - movie-star guys, where they could help me through it.”

“You know, God gave me a gift to do other things besides play the game of basketball.”

“To all the positions, I just bring the determination to win. Me being an unselfish player, I think that can carry on to my teammates. When you have one of the best players on the court being unselfish, I think that transfers to the other players.”

“I'm going to use all my tools, my God-given ability, and make the best life I can with it.”

“I have short goals - to get better every day, to help my teammates every day - but my only ultimate goal is to win an NBA championship. It's all that matters. I dream about it. I dream about it all the time, how it would look, how it would feel. It would be so amazing.”

“You can't be afraid to fail. It's the only way you succeed - you're not gonna succeed all the time, and I know that.”