“I think what has happened to our basketball team, we’ve been badly distracted. They’re not reading too many positive things in the paper.”

What distinguishes a great player is his presence. When he goes on to the court, his presence dominates the atmosphere.

If a guy pays you five dollars, you give him seven dollars worth of work.

I think that David Stern is probably the greatest commissioner that any sport has ever had in the history of this country.

Remember that basketball is a game of habits. If you make the other guy deviate from his habits, you’ve got him.

You got to have the killer instinct. If you do not have it, forget about basketball and go into social psychology or something. If you sometimes wonder if you’ve got it, you ain’t got it. No pussycats, please.

I’ve been fortunate to meet and work with a lot of really smart people. The thing that strikes me most about them is how they continue to explore and learn every day. I have tried to apply that approach in my modest career as well.

Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission. I truly believe in the saying “We work to become, not to acquire.”

To love someone is nothing, to be loved by someone is something, to love someone who loves you is everything.

We couldn’t sustain it. And they got a lot of kids that can shoot. We just couldn’t close out well enough.

The magic to a great meeting is all of the work that’s done beforehand.

The most important thing to me is the friends that I’ve made.

Durability is part of what makes a great athlete.

On females officiating in the NBA -Incompetence should not be confined to one sex.

You can do anything you want to do if you want it bad enough.

Friendship is a full-time job.

If Shakespeare can compare all of life to a stage, maybe it’s not odd to believe that part of the play can take place on a basketball court.