Athletes don't like to get up early, but it never bothered me.

A lot of black guys always ask me, 'Did Larry Bird really play that good?' I said, 'Larry Bird is so good it's frightening.'

When you think about the NASCAR brand, it resonates everywhere. They have the No. 1 sports brand.

My work ethic is from sports.

Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers.

For me, it always goes back to something I learned in basketball. There's winning and there's losing, and in life you have to know they both will happen. But what's never been acceptable to me is quitting.

Any guy who can maintain a positive attitude without much playing time certainly earns my respect.

Everybody on a championship team doesn't get publicity, but everyone can say he's a champion.

I never think that there's something I can't do, whether it's beating my opponent one on one or practicing another hour because something about my game is just not right.

Even when I went to the playground, I never picked the best players. I picked guys with less talent, but who were willing to work hard and had the desire to be great.

They said playing basketball would kill me. Well, not playing basketball was killing me.

On the best tactic when playing alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar- Just give him the ball.

I only know how to play two ways: reckless and abandon.

I've always studied business. Even when I was a ball player, I'd read business journals and the business sections of newspapers.

It all started when I got injured early in my second season. This turned out to be as difficult emotionally as physically.

We cut him off and there was nowhere for him to go but out of bounds ... It's still the greatest move I've ever seen in basketball, the all-time greatest.

The score never interested me, only the game.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

He’s [Gerald Ford] a nice guy but he played too much football with his helmet off.

I'm a big sports fan in general.

Golf and dating don't mix.

This was an extremely difficult decision as I take great pride in representing our country. I know that I owe it to my USA Basketball teammates to be totally invested in the experience. After going through training camp with USAB, I realized I could not fulfill my responsibilities to the team from both a time and energy standpoint. I need to take a step back and take some time away, both mentally and physically in order to prepare for the upcoming NBA season. I will be rooting for USAB and look forward to future opportunities with them.

Jeremy, Perry, Andre, Steve and Reggie, Grant, You guys make me so much better without you even knowing man. 'Cause I know I set the example for y'all. I know there's days where I have my bad days, And I say some words I'm not supposed to say sometimes, But when I need an extra push, You guys are there man. And I appreciate that. I appreciate that because I'm not always the best leader, I'm not always the best player, I don't always shoot the best in the games, But, Our little handshakes that we do before the game, That gets me going.

When Russell was out, you stepped your game up for me, for the team. There were nights where you made me look way better than I am. You clean up so many of our mistakes, man, and we appreciate that. From everybody on the team, we appreciate that, man, and I thank you so much for giving me confidence when I didn't have it, for always being there when I wanted to talk to you, when I wanted to call, for arguing with me all the time, making me better, and realizing I'm not always right. Thank you, man. I appreciate you.