Quotes About NBA

If you look at the history of the NBA, guys that came out of high school are the guys that held the NBA together. You look a Kobe Bryant, you look at a LeBron, these are household names.

I wasn't drafted. I was just playing really good basketball, enjoying playing basketball with my national team and never really thought: 'I have to get to the NBA.'

It's not that I set out to say, 'I'm going be the first assistant coach in the NBA.' That really - it was never my intent. It just kind of happened very naturally.

Had China been a small autocratic country without much financial clout, where the NBA occasionally played a demonstration game, Kerr might well never have spoken out in its defense. The catalyst for his candor was money and hope of more money, not principle.

Here was Knight on Jordan that summer, long before MJ played his first NBA game: "The kid is just an absolutely great kid. If I were going to pick the three or four best athletes I've ever seen play basketball, he'd be one of 'em. I think he's the best athlete I've ever seen play basketball.

The thing that happened in Washington -- it happened. All you can do is just grow from it. That took a toll on me. That was probably -- I think if I could've bounced mentally out of that situation faster than I did, I would probably still be in the NBA. But since I couldn't understand why they were trying to treat me like that, I basically gave up. I just didn't want to be a part of it anymore.

My best moment in the league came when I scored my first bucket. Against Cleveland. I stole the ball and made a layup. I thought, If I never play another game again, it'll be in the record. Two points. Gilbert Arenas was in the NBA.

My observance as a practicing Muslim in the NBA is somewhat uncommon. Since joining the league in 2011, my dedication to my faith has aroused the curiosity of teammates, coaches, trainers and fans.

As you get more experience out there, as you get more comfortable with the NBA system, the offense, the schemes, you begin to understand where you're going to get your looks from. And I think a big part of playing well is not having to look over your shoulder and just understanding that you're consistently be counted on.

Larry Bird is a hard man to deal with. He tries to make unfair trades.

I wasn't sure how it would unfold once I got to the NBA, but I knew if I got to the NBA, I could then have the platform and have the resources and the connections and the people around me that had more connections and more resources to help me really impact a lot of people's lives.

To be honest, I think NBA experience and years trumps everything else. It's unfortunate but when you come from somewhere else it's known that you don't have NBA experience and the NBA is so different to everywhere else so in that sense you need those years.

I grew up playing sports, so I think of what it would be like to be in the NBA if you were a great player when Michael Jordan was playing. You could've been a phenomenal player, but you're in the Jordan era. That's the unfortunate thing about the competitive nature of entertainment. But we know what we signed up for.

Overall, I think Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete in any particular sport. He dominated the game for the Chicago Bulls and brought the NBA to its greatest peak of popularity.

I'm a big sports fan - mainly basketball.

NBA players are intense competitors, and it is truly humbling to know that my peers see me as someone who exhibits sportsmanship and respect on the court.

Now, seeing little kids that were in my AAU program, seeing where I came from, the same spot that they're in, now I'm in the NBA gives them a little hope and, I guess, just opening their eyes a little bit that, with hard work and dedication, anything is really possible no matter where you're from.

Of course you want people to notice you're back, and you're playing well just to be respected. Because I was an All-Star, a first-team All-NBA guy. But I don't need the media putting a spotlight on me.

NBA, that's the biggest spotlight I've ever been in before. It was crazy at first. I just had to take a step back. Get back to what I know: having fun.

I never was able to be a Lakers fan - I'm more of a Spurs fan.

The Spurs are a great organization.

We really have some of the best fans in the NBA, in sports in general. Here, you get a consistent base, people support. People love the Spurs, and that's special. That's not everywhere.

Obviously, anybody in the NBA would love to be on a competitive squad.

The year after Russell retired, in the famous seventh game of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, Willis Reed, the New York Knicks center, limped onto the court against the Los Angeles Lakers, inspiring his team and freezing Chamberlain into a benign perplexity.