Quotes from B. J. Armstrong

Winning covers a multitude of sins. If you play bad and you still win, everyone says that's the sign of a good ballclub. But when you play bad and you lose, all of a sudden you have problems and everyone wants to know why.

I learned this lesson very quickly when I came into the NBA: Almost all the media and accolades go to the No. 1 guy. But if you're building a team, the most important player is the No. 2 guy. Because if the No. 2 guy wants to be the No. 1 guy, you have a major problem.

The one thing I didn't expect was to learn how much of a sense of humor Jerry Reinsdorf has. He's really funny. I never got a chance to see his sense of humor when I was working for him or playing for him.

When I played, I would never, ever try to run Reggie Miller off the line because I knew Reggie. If I ran at him, and I was trying to run him off the line, I was going to get kicked.

Just because you're the coach, you don't automatically have the authority. You have to work the people. You have to gain the trust of the people.

Being an NBA general manager really is a lot of pressure. There's so much that goes into the job.

It didn't work out for me at Golden State, in terms of wins and losses. Still, I tried to exhibit what a competitor is all about.

LeBron James has proven he can lead by example. My wish for LeBron is to understand the following: He's an exceptional leader because he leads by example. The next step on the road to Legend, which he's already on, is to trust he's the best player in the best system anywhere in basketball.

Players who create advantages for their team at one end or the other are rare.

Winning is the easiest thing that I ever did in the NBA, but being able to come to the realization of what it means to compete in this league no matter what - win, lose or draw - was the most difficult thing.

I don't know what position Scottie was; he was just a basketball player. He could dribble, shoot, pass and rebound. Defensively, he was excellent. He had quick hands and quick feet with a great understanding of the game. He could do it all.

Since I've been a part of this league, I can't recall when they've actually made rules that have actually helped to improve the game of basketball.

To me, the All-Star Game is just another step. I try to take all my experiences and put them together. To make the NBA was something, and then to be recognized as an All-Star - although I don't consider myself a star. I see myself as just trying to reach my potential as B. J.

I wanted to learn how the business worked. I wanted to see how people got drafted, how players got traded, how they got picked up in free agency, how the salary cap worked, how do you manage an organization, how do you negotiate contracts. The Bulls gave me an excellent opportunity to answer all the questions that I wanted to ask.

Tim Duncan was a marvelous player. He played the game from the four, the five position. He was one of the unique players, like a Michael Jordan, who could get to spaces on the floor you that you couldn't do anything about.

Either you change with the times or you get rolled over.

If your best players are taking a shortcut, they're going to have problems holding everyone else accountable and responsible.

So much has been said about Michael Jordan as a basketball player, but when I played with him, the Michael I knew was just Michael. I guess more than anything is that I got to experience the human side of the so-called gladiators, warriors and heroes that we worship.

In the back of my mind, I always knew I wanted to be in the sports representation business. Being an ex-player, I knew that those were the people I wanted to work with.

It is interesting that I have gone through the process of representing clients as an ex-athlete. I am certainly not naive to think that the possibility of corruption isn't there.

If I could do anything, I'd ride horses all day.

My signing of Derrick Rose was like anything in life, I think it was just luck. I played in Chicago. Derrick is from Chicago.

It takes an inner strength to succeed.

For every LeBron James that jumps onto the scene, or every Derrick Rose that does really well in year one, you have a lot of others that take time to transition. Those guys are just brilliant in their own way, but a lot of other guys need a little help along the way.