I like jazz, rock n' roll, some hip hop - I can't think of any music I don't like.

I didn't want to disrespect my parents, so I never played blues around the house. But I knew then, same as I know today, that I wasn't doing anything wrong. I think that before they died, they both felt very proud of me.

My last divorce was in '68. What made it come to a head was a promise. See, I had promised her that the next year I wouldn't work as much. But then I got in trouble with the IRS, and I had to continue working just as much to pay the government. So she said I lied, which is something I never did.

Water from the white fountain didn't taste any better than from the black fountain.

Back when we was in school in Mississippi, we had Little Black Sambo. That's what you learned: Anytime something was not good, or anytime something was bad in some kinda way, it had to be called black. Like, you had Black Monday, Black Friday, black sheep... Of course, everything else, all the good stuff, is white. White Christmas and such.

I have a nice car, a Mercedes. And then I have an old El Camino truck that I'm crazy about. I like to get in that truck and go up in the hills near where I live, in Vegas, and take my camera. That, to me, is Heaven, being out in nature, taking pictures of the wildlife.

Once in a while, the thumb that fits over the neck of the guitar kinda bothers me a little bit, but not that much yet. I figure in time I won't do much because of my age.

I almost chopped my thumb off once. Just before I left home, I was about ten or eleven years old, and I was trying to open a bone. Can you imagine that? A bone! I was trying to get the marrow out of a bone, and I took the ax, and I went to chop it, and something slipped, and the ax went right down there and damn near cut it off.

I'm more careful about my hands than about what I eat and most anything else, because my hands have been my living. My hands have been able to help me learn. My hands have taken me around the world. So I'm very proud of my hands.

I tell my children now that they are older, 'If something happens to me... don't make no big fuss over me. Don't make no big expense on my funeral. Don't put any pressure on the rest of the family. I've loved everybody, and I hope they loved me. But don't create this big expense for the family.'

If my fans want to do something for me when that time comes, I say, don't waste your money on me. Help the homeless. Help the needy... people who don't have no food... Instead of some big funeral, where they come from here and there and all over. Save it.

I've been a loner all the time throughout my life... I haven't been the best father... Many times... my children have accused me of not giving them enough attention. And, frankly, I never have been good at handling that.

I would sit on the street corners in my hometown of Indianola, Mississippi, and I would play. And, generally, I would start playing gospel songs. People would come by on the street - you live in Time Square, you know how they do it - they would bunch up. And they would always compliment me on gospel tunes, but they would tip me when I played blues.

Do I love the road? Honestly? No - but it's how I earn my living. I also don't have the blues, like it's some kind of fever. The blues is my job. It's what I do.

Whenever I'm in Kansas City, I think back to all the jazz-blues greats who played the blues here - like Count Basie, Charlie Parker and Jay McShann. I watched those guys jam in different places and heard a lot of things - but I couldn't do what they did. They were too good.

In our local Baptist church, I sang in the choir and formed a gospel quartet. When our minister caught me messing with his guitar, he taught me three positions - one, four and five. After that, I taught myself to play.

I was a singing disc jockey who heard every type of music there was - and loved it all.

In 1989-90 I became one of the group known as the Jordanaires, a.k.a. the Bulls. From the day I arrived in Chicago, I knew what everyone else on the team did: Michael Jordan was a phenomenal talent.

LeBron James has proven he can lead by example. My wish for LeBron is to understand the following: He's an exceptional leader because he leads by example. The next step on the road to Legend, which he's already on, is to trust he's the best player in the best system anywhere in basketball.

Greatness is empowered in a system where you pass the ball, not pound it.

Isolation basketball will always be part of the game. But the system has to be predicated on ball movement and, more importantly, player movement.

I remember as a young player I had this dream of playing in the NBA.

I don't wish stardom on anyone. When I hear people say, 'this guy's a star,' I always say, 'good luck.'

I always say, to this day, that the Air Jordan guy was great and God bless him. But I'll always just remember Michael, the guy.

Michael was the first person to show me what it meant to be a star... but you cannot be that star and not accept all the things that came with it.

All the other things that happen, they don't resonate with him other than winning the basketball game. That's just who he is. He's just a humble kid and he's just trying to go out there and do his thing. I wish I could say some secret formula or training method, but sometimes you got to let things be. That's who Derrick Rose is.

M. J. was M. J. His body of work speaks for itself. We've seen his career, we've dissected his career and had the chance to watch it. That's done.

I've been around enough athletes to know when someone is working, someone's not.

If there was ever a true emotion of a Chicago Bull, Derrick Rose embodies it. Because he is Chicago. That kid will do anything for the city of Chicago.

I'm from Detroit, but Chicago is a second home for me.

My adult life, I grew up in Chicago. When I go back there, I always have fond memories.

My previous experiences taught me my true passion was working with the players. I love the business. I love sports. I love everything about the team aspect. But I have this deep appreciation for the players and their perspective.

The one thing I didn't expect was to learn how much of a sense of humor Jerry Reinsdorf has. He's really funny. I never got a chance to see his sense of humor when I was working for him or playing for him.

Scottie's game changed with where he was at physically. He wasn't the same player at 21 as he was at 30. Both he and Michael aged gracefully in this league and that's the beauty of being a professional player. You continue to grow and continue to change your game, but you do it to be just as effective.

I don't know what position Scottie was; he was just a basketball player. He could dribble, shoot, pass and rebound. Defensively, he was excellent. He had quick hands and quick feet with a great understanding of the game. He could do it all.

Tremendous teammate, that's what comes to mind when I think of Scottie Pippen. He was a very caring teammate who was always concerned about the team. The way he played and expressed himself on the floor exemplified who he was as a player.

If your best players are taking a shortcut, they're going to have problems holding everyone else accountable and responsible.

This is to LeBron James: If you want to be the best, get rid of the comparisons. Get rid of all the comparisons that are out there. That's what Michael Jordan did.

When you're losing by 20 to 30 points night in and night out, that's no fun. You can't accept that as a player.

Now that I've had a chance to play for a team where we won 30 or 35 games, you understand how special winning is.

It didn't work out for me at Golden State, in terms of wins and losses. Still, I tried to exhibit what a competitor is all about.

I have pride, and my pride won't allow me to accept losing by 30 points four games in a row.

You learn a lot of about people in failure.

Winning is the easiest thing that I ever did in the NBA, but being able to come to the realization of what it means to compete in this league no matter what - win, lose or draw - was the most difficult thing.

So much has been said about Michael Jordan as a basketball player, but when I played with him, the Michael I knew was just Michael. I guess more than anything is that I got to experience the human side of the so-called gladiators, warriors and heroes that we worship.

For all that Michael Jordan could run, jump and entertain, he is best known for one thing: He won. If you want to be a great player in this league, you have to focus on one thing - the bottom line, which is winning.

Since I've been a part of this league, I can't recall when they've actually made rules that have actually helped to improve the game of basketball.

When I played, I would never, ever try to run Reggie Miller off the line because I knew Reggie. If I ran at him, and I was trying to run him off the line, I was going to get kicked.

For every LeBron James that jumps onto the scene, or every Derrick Rose that does really well in year one, you have a lot of others that take time to transition. Those guys are just brilliant in their own way, but a lot of other guys need a little help along the way.

In the back of my mind, I always knew I wanted to be in the sports representation business. Being an ex-player, I knew that those were the people I wanted to work with.