“I just loved being in the gym. It was tough at times. Sometimes I wanted to quit, but I’m glad I stuck with it.”

I’m a big competitor.

I know when somebody is trying to get something out of me for clicks. And sometimes I feel like giving it to them.

I’m always hungry. I want to be the best.

With a versatile player, there’s no spot on the court you can’t pass him the ball. You can do anything.

I miss Seattle a lot. It was my first city that I lived in on my own. It was a great city to play for. It was unfortunate for the fans what happened, but it’s time to move on.

I will be rooting for USAB and look forward to future opportunities with them.

Some guys like to talk. What’s the problem with that?

I’m not out here to be beefing with nobody.

I’m going to be real as hell and show you who I am, because I want the kids to see who I really am and the basketball players to see who I really am, and that’s all that matters to me.

First off, I’d like to thank God for changing my life. It let me really realize what life is all about. Basketball is just a platform for me to inspire people, and I realize that.

I don’t mind talking about the game. I don’t mind talking about what we go through as players, because I want people to get a deeper look inside instead of looking at stats all the time or looking at numbers or just watching the game.

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

I’ve been second in the MVP voting three times. I came in second in the Finals. I’m tired of being second. I’m not going to settle for that. I’m done with it.

I’m not out here to be showing you I’m this perfect person.

I’m sure they’ve moved on. But in the back of my mind, I still have a thing for Seattle and always am going to remember what they’ve done for me.

I don’t have to be anybody I’m not.

The bad thing about small-town life is that everybody knows your business…I suppose that is my central obsession. What we owe to society, what we owe to ourselves.

To know ahead of time what you’re looking for means you’re then only photographing your own preconceptions, which is very limiting, and often false.

When will you know you have enough, and what will you do then?

Mothers and dogs both had a kind of second sight that made them see into people’s minds and know when anything unusual was going on.

The great difference is, that the first knows how to pick and cull his thoughts for conversation, by suppressing some, and communicating others; whereas the other lets them all indifferently fly out in words.

They know they’ve won,” Carter guessed. “They’re making a show of it.” “Yes,” Amos said. “Well, let’s blow up the boats or something!” I said. Amos looked at me. “Is that your strategy, honestly?

What I did. I’ve listened to it, and I think it was more a west coast rock thing, you know? But it fit. It was country, but it was my own interpretation of country.

I don’t believe in pressure. Pressure is when you don’t know where your next meal is coming from.