Quotes About Basketball

There's times where I could take all the shots every time I touch the ball, but that's not me. I just play a team game and just take open shots.

I feel like a coach when I'm on the court. I just see basketball as a team sport.

I grew up in Westlake Villiage, a suburb of L.A. There was a guy there who was a fighter and was like, 'I'll teach you to box.' I started a little bit of boxing, then it crossed over into jiu-jitsu. I was into it for a little while, but then I started doing basketball, baseball, team sports.

That's why I play basketball. To play a lot of minutes, and to help my team win.

I just want to be in there at the end of the game to try to help the team win. The last six minutes of an NBA game is where you make your name, so hopefully I'm in there trying to help my guys win.

I feel my overall skill set, my ability to make players around me better, and my ability to help my team win is unique.

I have read that I was a Bill Bradley type. I wish I was a Bradley. He was one of the best. He helped his team win two championships, and that's the ultimate.

Defense is so important for helping your team win games and for the game in general.

I love fast breaks, and I love playing full-court basketball, but offensively in the half court, I kind of take my time, let guys cut, and let the defense move. Then, if I have a move, I'll go. If not, I'll just hand it off to a teammate.

If we're sharing the ball and you pass the ball first, your teammate is going to pass it to you.

You try to get the best shots possible, try to find the open teammate.

When you get blitzed on every pick-and-roll aggressively, you've just got to find the open teammate.

If you've got a teammate around you, you know sometimes they're going to score, sometimes you're going to pass the ball or you won't win games - unless you're Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. And even then, they need a good team around them.

When I come off the ball screen, I'm always trying to draw another defender, so where I can get my teammates open, and if not, I can score the basketball.

My international experience has given me a feel for the game other freshmen and college players don't have. I plan to take that to make my teammates better.

In pick-and-roll situations, I feel like the NBA is all pick-and-rolls, so I want to be able to handle the ball in pick-and-rolls and make the right read, make the right passes, and make plays for my teammates.

I couldn't have come close without my teammates' help because the Knicks didn't want me to make 100.

I think, for me, I'm making the right plays and finding my teammates if I'm not open and finishing strong around the rim.

A lot of my teammates in the NBA call me Little Patty anyway as they are about two feet taller than me.

I just want to go out and play the right way, make sure I get my teammates the ball and then also bring the energy on defense. That's something that I know I can do each and every game, whether my shot's falling or not.

I just try to set good screens and get my teammates open.

My teammates at Duke - all of them, black and white - were a band of brothers who came together to play at the highest level for the best coach in basketball.

In 1983, my second year of law school, I became the only white player in the Ogden Park Basketball League at 65th and Racine. My teammates joked that I integrated the league, which I guess is true. They weren't so much focused on integration as on winning, and they knew you can't teach height. 'He can't jump, but he sure is tall.'

Without my success in basketball, I'm nothing. My family, my daughter, my teammates, my foundation, my acting career - they all depend on that success.