“No one missed more basketball in the history of NBA than I did. I played 14 seasons, on the roster for 14 years, and I missed more than nine-and-a-half full seasons.”

My life changed irrevocably four-and-a-half years ago when my spine failed and collapsed. I spent two years on the floor, in excruciating, debilitating and unrelenting pain.

I’m a fan and a friend, I met them in 1974 when I first joined the NBA and my life has never been he same since. I became the basketball player I was because of the Grateful Dead.

[Peter] Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” was my first go-to song in terms of getting into the zone and getting ready and then I quickly gravitated to rock and roll music in the mid-’60s with the Grateful Dead,

Bill Russell was my favorite player of all-time.

Mick Jagger is in better shape than far too many NBA players. It’s up in the air whether the same can be said of Keith Richards.

The NCAA is working night and day trying to get Jerry, but no one from the NCAA ever questioned me during my four years at UCLA!

Growing up, my parents were very, very strict. And then I went to UCLA with John Wooden, who was just off the charts.

Basketball, Sports, Winning, Average

I was a skinny, scrawny guy. I stuttered horrendously, couldn’t speak at all. I was a very shy, reserved player and a very shy, reserved person. I found a safe place in life in basketball.

Kazemi has to understand that nobody is going to tell him he has to go back to Iran if he misses a shot.

Never rank, rate, or compare coaches, children, concerts, or championships or congratulations. Just enjoy them all.

If you’re living for today, if you’re only dreaming about yesterday, it doesn’t work. You got to know that tomorrow is going to be better. Then you’re on your way.

I like a lot of other music and listen to a lot of other music, but one of the greatest things about the Grateful Dead is they played all the time.

I went to my first show [of the Grateful Dead], got right up front and never left. The incredible excitement, the family, the spirit, the hope, the happiness, all the different things I love and live for in life are there.

There are no guarantees in life. The simple twists of fate and the breaks of the game are the two maxims that define so much of the success and failure in life.

I might be the most injured athlete in the history of sports. I’ve had 31 operations. An endless string of stress fractures.

Wherever you go, things change you. I mean, obviously moving to Miami and becoming part of the NBA has given me a different perspective on style than I had when I lived in Chicago or Milwaukee.

For me, as a 14-year-old aspiring to be in the NBA, I wanted to hear from players.

I guess when people ask what is the biggest transition to the NBA from college, it is definitely defense and the mental part.

I wanted to compete at the highest level again – and that’s the NBA.

In the NBA you could lose tonight and you have to put that game behind you because you have another game the next night.

One game I’m always on is ‘NBA Jam.’ And ‘Bejeweled,’ games like that, and ‘Temple Run.’

I’m not trying to be like what I thought an NBA player is supposed to be growing up.

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.