Quotes from J. J. Redick

As we grow up and we're developing, our ego needs to be contained, otherwise we'd all be selfish two- and three-year-olds, screaming every time we didn't get our way.

I'm no dummy. So much of the NBA is just fit and situation, and I always say this, for 85 to 90 percent of the league, your performance is often dictated by your situation and your coaches.

I feel like I'm a guy who consistently makes the right play and the right reads offensively and that helps my teammates.

Tattoos are a thing I've never really planned out. They just kind of happen spontaneously, on a whim. It's kind of like curating a watch collection, it just kind of happens. I like it to happen organically.

When I got done at Duke, I almost felt ashamed of it. I almost tried to distance myself from being the Duke guy.

I hate to admit it, but anytime you're at a stoplight and your phone is within reach? You pick it up. It's become instinctual. Even if you put the phone down and walk out of the room, you're always aware of where it is. It's become an extension of you.

As a professional athlete, the onus is on you to take responsibility.

Out of all the records, my proudest was breaking Coach Johnny Dawkins's scoring record.

As I finished up my time at Duke, I certainly wasn't a 'foodie' but I was learning to enjoy the finer things in the culinary world.

I think anytime you have any sort of injury, you know I've come back from a pulled hamstring in college one time, foot injuries. The movement that causes the initial jolt of pain you always kind of are tentative when you have to make that movement, especially as you kind of build back up.

I think the coach-player relationship is a two-way thing. You have to be willing to take suggestions as a player and vice versa.

Kind of making that leap from a team that wins occasionally to a team that wins the majority of the time, a lot of times just comes down with figuring out how tough it is to win, and then executing down the stretch to do it.

My parents always wanted me to do the right thing. My mom, I think her exact words were, 'You're not a chicken in the coop playing in the scraps, you're an eagle.' I was like, 'Oh, OK... ' But really, I've used that throughout my life.

To use a phrase that I don't often use, the NBA is very much a woke league. It's at the forefront of a lot of things - training, fashion, food, diet.

I'm not naive - I think it's rare in the NBA every day to actually be able to enjoy being around the people you're working with.

It's always a great joy to give back.

There's certain points in the season - I think players go through it and teams go through it - where you just have stretches and you're stuck in a rut or you feel like nothing's going right. You just got to keep grinding, and eventually it'll turn.

I feel so fortunate to have great coaching. Coaches that have taught me great habits and taught me great things about basketball and life, but I've always played for coaches who have held me accountable and that's made me a better player and person.

As you progress as a basketball player, the world around you becomes more and more chaotic. There's more talent, there are more distractions - and these are all factors that create a lack of control. By having a routine, by having habits that I can fall back on, it's my way of enacting control. It's the only thing I can control.

I think my confidence and competitiveness - that will - comes from my mother. I always knew my mom loved me, and she always made me feel like I was - I don't want to say 'special' - but that I was capable of doing things. Before I ever shot a basketball or before I ever threw a baseball, I had confidence, and that was from my mother.

My second year was particularly difficult because I had high expectations.

I think with defense especially, you have your core principles. If you do those consistently, then it's easy to make, sort of, game-to-game adjustments. But, when you're not doing your core principles consistently, you end up just guessing a lot. To be honest with you, that's what bad teams do.

I like to write, I like to reflect, and not just poetry, I like to write my thoughts down. I think it's good for people who are more introspective, and it helps me get a better understanding of myself.

To be able to give back and be able to help people, it means a lot to me. I'm humbled by it, honestly.