“My friends are happy for me, and that’s all that matters.”

My acting coach I’ve got here, Richard Lawson, he’s been doing good, just telling me to calm down sometimes and just be me.

I want the younger kids, the basketball players in high school and college to hear from me and let them know that when you come to the league, this is what happens and this is how I feel as an NBA player. And it’s not all peachy keen.

With everything I do, I just try to be myself.

Basketball is just a platform for me to inspire people.

I always want to win because I never want to sit out on the sidelines outside.

There’s a lot of falses – out there and if I take up for myself, it’s a bad thing. Sometimes you just got to live with it, but for the most part, I’m like look, I don’t want no problems with nobody.

I’m an old-school type of guy.

Whoever want my spot can play me one-on-one for it.

I’m busy working on every aspect of my game – defense, shooting, rebounding – but I really want to become a better overall team player.

Experience is the best teacher. I’ve been through a lot – going to the Olympics, going to the Finals, having a lot of good games and having a lot of bad games. It’s a rollercoaster ride and I’m just happy I’m a part of it. If it was easy, then everybody could do it.

I’ve got a long way to go to being the ultimate best, but I think my time is now. And I’m starting to enter my prime.

I’ve just got to let my teammates know in practice, without even telling them, that I don’t think I’m ahead of anybody.

You can’t speak openly about everything.

Coaching staff: I know there’s days you look at that film and you want to kill me. I’m not playing defense, taking bad shots, getting too many techs. But you always believe that I can be the guy.

If I come to work every day and do my job, work as hard as I can, be a great teammate, the rest of that stuff will take care of itself.

I’m going to show you my faults, I’m going to show you my insecurities, I’m going to be real.

I draw strength from spirit, from the divine light. I draw strength from the love my sister and I have for each other, from my nieces,

One thing that’s paramount in my life is that I am alone. I’m a loner. And yet I have many friends and I don’t feel lonely.

I always was alone. And I’m alone today. It’s fine. I have lots of friends, but not in terms of working together.

None better suited to the cure of our temporal ills than a friend to whom we may turn for consolation in time of trouble, and with whom we may share happiness in time of joy.

If you can make it through the age of social media and come out with the same friends and lover, kudos!

I’ve had friends get mad at me for not posting what they think I should post on Instagram on behalf of them or our relation.

All of my friends are independent in thought, that’s important.

I think friends are an extension of you and I always say, check out a persons five immediate friends and you’ll know everything about them.