All I ever wanted to do was wear Jordans. I think there was only one or two pair I never had.

If I'm not getting older and more mature at 31, then something's wrong.

I couldn't have accomplished the things in my career if I didn't practice, and the worst part about that whole thing is when a kid comes up to me and says 'Allen, I don't like practice, either.' I've got to straighten that kid right then.

I just want kids all over the world to know you have to practice to be any good in this game; it's too hard.

I'm not going to be the same as I was when I've made so many bad mistakes.

You can hide from the devil, but he'll always find you.

Larry Brown molded me into an MVP and a Hall of Fame player.

What makes me feel good is all of the people that rooted for A.I. get a chance to say, 'He did what you never thought he could do. The critics. He did what you never thought he could accomplish.' This is a moment that me and my fans and my family and friends can share together because we always believed in the dream.

That's where I'll get the love in my heart: from, the fact that little young guys can look at the obstacles that I had to go through to become a Hall of Famer and know it's not so bad when it comes to them trying to accomplish the same goal.

I wasn't a fan of the Sixers. My dad was a big Mo Cheeks fan, and he wanted me to be drafted by the Sixers. My thing was, if that could make my dad happy, then that would make me happy, you know what I mean?

I knew I was gonna be the number one pick, but I didn't know.

I'm a Hall of Famer, and I can go outside today and go to a restaurant or wherever, and somebody will come up to me and say, 'Practice? We talkin' 'bout practice?' Man, I am a Hall of Famer, and that's all you can think about?

God gave me all this; why waste the talent that he gave me? Why not go full throttle with it all and try to become in the class with the greatest players that ever played the game? That's just a great feeling.

All my tattoos are tattoos that I wanted to get, but I couldn't afford.

Coming into the league, if I would've had money, then obviously I would've had more tattoos.

Tattoos, cornrows, headbands, hip-hop. I never meant to start any trends. I got my butt kicked, but if that meant that the guys who came after me could be themselves, then it was worth it.

I'm just a regular 24/7 dad now.

Being older, I can't imagine a parent not wanting to be in their kid's life. I will just never understand it. To me, it's priceless.

I surround myself with people who make me laugh.

Guys is supposed to be able to be original and dress like how they want to dress. The NBA can't dress no grown man.

I felt like I was better at football than I am in basketball.

I've accomplished so many things in basketball. I financially secured my kids' life and their future. I'm just happy. I'm just blessed. So anything that I'm not awarded doesn't matter because I've been rewarded enough in this lifetime.

I gotta win games. Because if we lose games, and I score a lot, they going to say I'm scorin' too much.

I've said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie Ray Vaughan missed on both counts, but I never noticed.

The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.

We all have idols. Play like anyone you care about but try to be yourself while you're doing so.

Jazz is the big brother of the blues. If a guy's playing blues like we play, he's in high school. When he starts playing jazz it's like going on to college, to a school of higher learning.

I don't think anybody steals anything; all of us borrow.

The way I feel today, as long as my health is good and I can handle myself well and people still come to my concerts, still buy my CDs, I'll keep playing until I feel like I can't.

The blues was like that problem child that you may have had in the family. You was a little bit ashamed to let anybody see him, but you loved him. You just didn't know how other people would take it.

Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but no one wants to die to get there!

Nobody loves me but my mother, and she could be jivin', too.

I'm no good with chords. I'm horrible with chords.

I've been married twice. Most women would rather not be married to a traveling blues singer.

Growing up, I was taught that a man has to defend his family. When the wolf is trying to get in, you gotta stand in the doorway.

I don't have a favorite song that I've written. But I do have a favorite song: 'Always on My Mind,' the Willie Nelson version. If I could sing it like he do, I would sing it every night. I like the story it tells.

I don't like anybody to be angry with me. I'd rather have friends.

If you want to be a good blues singer, people are going to be down on you, so dress like you're going to the bank to borrow money.

I think of guitar players in terms of doctors: you have the doctor for your heart, the cardiologist, then one that works on your feet, your leg. But I believe George Benson is the one that plays all over. To me, he would be the M.D. of them all.

It seems like I always had to work harder than other people. Those nights when everybody else is asleep, and you sit in your room trying to play scales.

A lot of people believe what other people say.

I never use that word, retire.

If you can't get your songs to people one way, you have to find another.

When I was in the country and I was trying to play, nobody seemed to pay too much attention to me. People used to say, 'That's just that ole blues singer.'

When you don't have much money, you worry that they'll just put you in the ground someplace and your loved ones won't know where you are.

I guess you can look at me, and tell I'm the old man. My name is BB King.

I've put up with more humiliation than I care to remember.

I call myself a blues singer, but you ain't never heard me call myself a blues guitar man.

There are so many sounds I still want to make, so many things I haven't yet done.

What don't I want to learn? I have how-to books, history, nature. Ain't nobody here saying, 'You'd better learn this.' But I still think I've got a head on my shoulders, and it pleases me.