Quotes from Mike Conley Jr.

If I had a choice, I'd say I'm right-handed.

I'm right-handed in everything other than basketball. I actually use my right hand a lot more in basketball than people think.

Coming out as a rookie, no. 4 draft pick, you expected to see some playing time.

It's been a rough 2020 for all us. Everybody in the world. Including myself.

I think I probably had to have been two or three when I fell in love with anything that bounced - any kind of ball that bounced, I was running and screaming after it.

I've always been a leader. I've not always been the vocal one, though, I think that's become new to me as the years have gone on.

I don't like shopping at all.

I was a center fielder, and I played shortstop.

Painting, one arm gets tired, I'll use the other one and be just as effective. So, yeah, I've always used both arms. I just like to be balanced in life, I guess. That's my little thing, my OCD, whatever it is.

It's hard to be a team when you're battling yourselves.

Voting when I was 18 years old wasn't a priority. It wasn't something I took much interest in. We weren't watching the news or trying to get caught up on the legislation, and candidates' opinions and what they're going to try to bring to America.

I'm the guy that's always defusing everything and taking the burden off a lot of people and letting everything fall onto me. Obviously, I'm built to handle it, and I don't mind doing it.

With a rim-runner like Rudy Gobert - not a lot of guys can set picks like he does, run to the rim and go get it way above the glass.

This is the pinnacle of the basketball world, you know, in the NBA you're playing against the best guys in the world, and best defensive players in the world, so you have to be able to outthink them and make the right decisions.

Sickle cell disease has personally affected my family.

Winning a championship is everybody's goal.

I think of how serious I treat my job and how much I want to be part of a championship environment and team - I sacrifice everything for it.

It's a blessing to be able to use my platform to bring more awareness to the local causes that are near and dear to my heart.

I've been given plenty of opportunities and been blessed to have the kind of family that I have to give me the mindset to never stop working.

If you're not a scoring point guard, people don't think of you as highly. They don't think of you as the type that's going to make an impact in college because you're not trying to score 20 points a game. You're more trying to get 10 assists.

I'm not afraid to challenge guys. I'm not afraid to put guys in positions to help the team. And I'm not beyond accepting criticism and challenges myself. I think that's why guys are attracted to wanting to play and be around me. They know I'm all in on winning.

I want to be an All-Star and never had the opportunity. There's no animosity toward it or anything. I still enjoy everything that the NBA does, genuinely, with the All-Star weekend.

If I'm not an All-Star, maybe the next-best thing to it is to be a part of that weekend, take my family there and just try to have a really good time.

March Madness gave me both a lasting confidence and a lifelong bond with both my teammates and opponents.