I think with defense especially, you have your core principles. If you do those consistently, then it's easy to make, sort of, game-to-game adjustments. But, when you're not doing your core principles consistently, you end up just guessing a lot. To be honest with you, that's what bad teams do.

I'm not sure my own family liked me at Duke.

I don't own a watch anymore. Literally, that was an addiction. I'm not afraid to admit that. It took me over. My possessions possessed me.

To be able to give back and be able to help people, it means a lot to me. I'm humbled by it, honestly.

I've never valued material things. I've always been more attached to people. The pursuit of material things takes time, and I realized my time is very valuable especially during the season. My time with my kids, what I do to take care of my body, and of course any intellectual pursuits I may have on the side. Those are all things that I value.

When I got done at Duke, I almost felt ashamed of it. I almost tried to distance myself from being the Duke guy.

At the end of every season I look in the mirror and ask myself what can I do better? Where did I screw up this year?

I think the coach-player relationship is a two-way thing. You have to be willing to take suggestions as a player and vice versa.

One of the reasons that the NBA is so good is NBA Twitter.

I'm very proud of my time at Duke, my career at Duke, but as you get older and become an adult, you lose some head bobs. That's not part of the routine anymore.

It's certainly a different feel in the locker room after the game when you win.

I played ACC and NCAA Tournament games in my backyard - these imaginary games - and when I finally got to experience it in real life, it was better than I could imagine.

Kind of making that leap from a team that wins occasionally to a team that wins the majority of the time, a lot of times just comes down with figuring out how tough it is to win, and then executing down the stretch to do it.

I listen to a lot of hip hop artists, and I think hip hop and poetry go hand in hand. The 'Def Jam Poetry' on HBO is just so sick to me.

New Orleans has an incredible culture. Everybody brings up food first, but I realized there's a lot more to that in terms of music and art and people and history.

I feel like I've been mentoring young guys for a long time.

I've certainly benefited from the three-point line and the emphasis on shooting them.

I've been very fortunate to be on some great teams and in great locker rooms.

I'm not naive - I think it's rare in the NBA every day to actually be able to enjoy being around the people you're working with.

My parents always wanted me to do the right thing. My mom, I think her exact words were, 'You're not a chicken in the coop playing in the scraps, you're an eagle.' I was like, 'Oh, OK... ' But really, I've used that throughout my life.

My mother is a nutritionist, so we always ate well.

At the end of every season, I try to assess what I did well and what I didn't do well.

Nutrition is a big part of my life and it always has been.

With social media, I've never felt completely comfortable with it.

I hate to admit it, but anytime you're at a stoplight and your phone is within reach? You pick it up. It's become instinctual. Even if you put the phone down and walk out of the room, you're always aware of where it is. It's become an extension of you.

Twitter has now just become a bunch of angry voices. That for me, I had to detach from there.

We're going to have a generation of kids whose norm will be people just being addicted to their phones. And that's what scares me. The impact on my kids, I think about that daily. Like, what is this doing to me and my family?

I'm very grateful to be able to give back.

I know when I was a kid, I looked up to athletes. So, if an athlete spoke out on an important issue, then I was probably more likely to hear that opinion and to see that stance and recognize the importance of that.

It seems like you have to put so much into winning on the road and playing well on the road.

For me, I spent four years at Duke, and I was 22 my rookie year. For a lot of guys, I was old as a rookie, but nothing could prepare me for the NBA, both on the court and off the court.

As a U.S. History major, there is something very cool about being in cities, and walking the streets of Philadelphia or Boston or New York and seeing historical sites.

Winning is really hard in this league.

As you progress as a basketball player, the world around you becomes more and more chaotic. There's more talent, there are more distractions - and these are all factors that create a lack of control. By having a routine, by having habits that I can fall back on, it's my way of enacting control. It's the only thing I can control.

My closet is my happy place.

You want your kids to grow up in a world that's better than the one you grew up in. I'm not talking about my own family's wealth. I'm talking about the actual world and all the issues that we have.

For me, I can only talk so much about basketball, and I get a little bored.

I think my confidence and competitiveness - that will - comes from my mother. I always knew my mom loved me, and she always made me feel like I was - I don't want to say 'special' - but that I was capable of doing things. Before I ever shot a basketball or before I ever threw a baseball, I had confidence, and that was from my mother.

I won't take a shot unless I think it's going to go in.

Player movement is good, and guys should be able to choose where they want to play.

Some collectors do but no, I don't look at watches as an investment.

I would much rather invest in stocks, bonds, private equity and hedge funds than watches.

My second year in the league I played zip.

When I come to the arena, my mind is on basketball, not thinking I'm walking a runway.

My last four years in Orlando, I was a really good player but I wasn't a full-time starter.

There needs to be a dialogue between coaches, fans, players and administrators to promote positivity in the stands.

I watch video now of me in college, and I just think, What are you doing, man?

I'm from the middle of nowhere, Virginia.

Kobe never got complacent. He always wanted more. And I think, ultimately, that's going to be his legacy.

As a shooter, you always want to be in a rhythm.