No question, everybody knows my back was the main reason I retired.

I have always wanted to spend my entire career in the Charlotte community and concentrate on bringing the city a championship.

I've been in the frame of mind in Charlotte that, O.K., I'm going to play defense. But I've never been in a frame of mind that my defense is going to generate my offense.

Girl-wise, I never got the girl. Because of my mother and our economy, I never had clothes. And I never - like I said - dated. I didn't date at all. I was never a guy who had girlfriends.

I remember in Charlotte, they looked to me every day. I'm 30 now. And now it's, 'Let's just win.' Maybe when I was 26 there would have been ego. Now, I just appreciate the recognition for the defense.

The UNLV championship game against Duke, I didn't shoot the last shot. Choked. It took 10 years for me to say that. I had to be in the NBA five, six years for me to say that aloud.

I want to play 11, 12 years right here and then retire - and win us some national championships, and be the Michael Jordan of Charlotte. This is the place that drafted me, that paid me. This is the place I should be loyal to.

Saw the best boxer, pound for pound: Roy Jones. Not a lot of hype, though.

If I'm on fire, don't spit on me. I won't spit on you. That's respect. You go your way, and I'll go mine.

That was fun with the Grandmama. But it's something I can live without.

If I don't like a person and a person doesn't like me fine, that's mutual respect.

In Charlotte, I thought we were on the right track. It didn't happen.

Did you ever watch the movie 'A Raisin in the Sun?' That lady was my mom, she was the spitting image of my mom.

I picked it up just for relaxation. I can sit down and get into the game and escape that it's a big game tomorrow, escape that we need a win, or whatever. My wife knows, after a game I get home at 12:30, I'm playing chess till 3 o'clock in the morning.

Don't come to me and smile and then stab me behind my back.

I do better in life when my world seems a little smaller.

I had a column in high school for our school newspaper. I enjoy writing.

A lot of things in life, you can be told the right way to do it, but you've kind of got to learn by your own mistakes. It's just human nature.

I have a hard time imagining a life without basketball.

I've always believed the better the players I'm surrounded by, the better I am. I've never tried to think of myself as anything different. I know who I am as a basketball player and I'm never going to try to pretend that I'm more or less, but definitely not more.

It's good to always try to learn and try to grow.

I think some people get just locked into 'this is the way it has to be,' and they're afraid of messing something up. I don't ever want to be that way with shooting or with anything, really - not just shooting.

I'm not afraid of changing something to try to be better at it.

The people you end up hanging out with are the people you become.