“A lot of late nights in the gym, a lot of early mornings, especially when your friends are going out, you're going to the gym, those are the sacrifices that you have to make if you want to be an NBA basketball player.”

“A lot of things get misinterpreted with me, I guess.”

“After I left the Nets, I found out what it takes to not just make the Finals, but to win a championship. I think I have a sense now of how you build a championship structure and how you maintain that structure.”

“Apple has the radio stations, so I go R&B in the morning, and then I'll go with some hip-hop before the game. But after the game, it's more meditation music. It's not artists; it's more whatever is being played.”

“As a player, I always felt confident that if I was caIm, my teammates knew, 'He's going to do something to help us win.' As a coach, my hands are really tied. I got to believe in my players. If they see I'm calm, they'll believe I trust them, which I do.”

“As a player, I can tell them they don't want to rush to become a coach, because there is a lot that goes on. This is all something new to me. You can talk to a lot of the coaches... and they can tell you. Until you go through it, then you can understand what it's all about.”

“As a player, I could have the ball in my hands; I could kind of dictate what happens. I'm still learning, a young coach with young players. Sometimes I'm going to see things. They're not going to see what I see. So it's being able to translate that and help them see what I'm seeing.”

“As a professional athlete, the small print says there could be a trade at some point in your career. Sometimes expected, sometimes not. You have to be able to handle that.”

“Championship teams are built on being prepared, playing unselfishly and being held accountable, and that's how I expect to coach this basketball team. I am truly excited about this next phase of my basketball career.”

“For us as coaches, we're in a different locker room. So we're coming in pregame, halftime. They spend a lot more time in that locker room than coaches.”

“Hard work does pay, and you just have to continue to work, and you got two guys, when you're talking about Gary and myself, we have a God-given talent, but we worked at it and we're happy to be where we are today.”

“I came in the league as not a shooter, not a scorer. My game was to play defense and make my teammates better. The most important stat to me was that left column - winning. Nothing else matters.”

“I definitely will reach out to Cuban in the near future for advice going forward. Now that I'll be on the business side of things - and he's had a lot of success with that - that would be a guy to go to.”

“I don't care what sport you're talking about. What you see with great franchises is structure - a structure that doesn't just take you from year to year, but day to day.”

“I don't have tapes of meditation, but I put on the meditation station. I did as a player, too. I used to always play the game before the game happened. As a coach, I do the same thing.”

“I don't know if we have any action going on, so there shouldn't be anybody worried about the rumors if it entails the Milwaukee Bucks. This is our team.”

“I love 'Gladiator' and '300.'”

“I play on all the consoles, but Xbox, mostly. I'm versatile, though, so whatever's going on, I'll take care of it.”

“I talked to Grant Hill, and I told him, 'I played against you a lot, and now, hopefully, I'm getting to coach a player like you. Jabari has the opportunity to be a special player in this league. But it's not handed to you. He's going to work, and our jobs are to make him better each day.'”

“I think cryotherapy is excellent for anybody and not just athletes.”

“I think if you're consistent in this league, you'll win a lot of ball games.”

“I think sometimes when trades are made the beginning of the season on paper, they look great. It just takes time. Sometimes the process by the media or outside influences or sources want it to be now. Sometimes it doesn't work that way.”

“I think that realistically we can shoot for the title this year. If we stay healthy and be persistent throughout the season, I think we have good chance to go all the way.”

“I think the big thing with O.J. - I've known him since he was in high school - and he's a great kid, loves the game of basketball.”

“I think we're going in the right direction.”

“I thought to myself, 'All right, let's take a look at your resume. You have no financial background. You have basketball, that's what you have, for your whole life.'”

“I wasn't a guy who looked to score first. It was to get your teammates involved, to understand time and clock management and having fun with your teammates.”

“If there wasn't any business and it was just strictly basketball, then there would be no issue, it would probably be done by now. But the team has to protect.”

“I'm a football guy at heart; maybe I should have played football for a living instead, because I play a lot of football videogames; I'm really into them.”

“I'm a high-risk taker on the court in the sense of trying to squeeze things in there.”

“It was part of my recruiting to go to Cal because they knew I loved to play baseball. I don't know if I was good enough to make the team, but I worked out with the guys, and it was a lot of fun.”

“I've got to play free agency out, and I've got to look at all of my options.”

“I've played in small markets; I've played in big markets. For me, basketball is inside the arena. It doesn't recognize what market you're in. It's about wins and losses, and that's the way I approach it.”

“I've played the game for a long time.”

“Kobe enjoys that situation. Stepping up and making the big basket or being involved in a key play.”

“More eyes on the court is better than just two eyes. There's always a time for one voice. But when the guys are working, I believe in those guys working and making the players better. Hands-on.”

“More than anything tough, I play 'Madden'. I'm a football guy at heart; maybe I should have played football for a living instead, because I play a lot of football videogames. I'm really into them.”

“My biggest fear had always been getting hurt, and not being able to leave the game as a player on my own terms.”

“Oh, I think, watching Magic, him being one of my... I'm one of his biggest fans, and just trying to emulate what he did, going out on the playground, and also playing with older guys.”

“Someone gave me great advice. That when you're looked on as a pioneer, or you start a trend, you're not always going to benefit from it.”

“That's why the fears of playing or coaching, you want to do everything possible to make it. A lot of teams make it look real easy, but it is hard.”

“The 76ers currently play very good basketball, and we don't. However, we are still only one win behind them. If we continue to improve, we should be on the top of our division at the end of the regular season.”

“The ball touched the paint a lot of times. When we talk about touching the paint, the ball touches the key for making a layup or making a play for a teammate. We've got to use our length and our speed. Defensively, getting deflections. Give up one shot and rebound.”

“The business always gets in the way of basketball.”

“There are many really good teams in our conference this season. Miami, Indiana and Detroit will be our fiercest opponents this year. But we just have to focus on our game and be patient with the realistic hope that we'll be on top after all is said and done.”

“There's always room for improvement. We have a nucleus that's pretty good. You want players that will help.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity to be named head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and it's a role I have been studying for over the course of my playing days.”

“We're going to turn this team around 360 degrees.”

“When I was a little kid I used to play with guys twice my age, so, I was the last one picked, so if I picked I knew that I had to get the ball to the scorer if I wanted to stay on the court, so that was pretty much my job.”

“When you are on the floor, there's no better feeling than when your teammates are into the game on the bench and are cheering for you and vice versa. When you come out of the game, you are cheering for those guys that are on the floor.”

“When you look at myself, I'm a coach, and that's what it's all about. When you're a player, you get criticized, and when you're a coach, you get criticized even more because it's about wins and losses.”

“Yeah, I play a lot of their games. Going way back to Bulls vs. Lakers to the later Live stuff, I go at it quite a bit. More than anything tough, I play Madden.”