Everyone wonders why I talk junk, but I was doomed from the beginning.

You've just got to earn my respect.

That's one of my strengths, that I can adjust, and I can play with anyone.

I tell guys all the time, you see me messing up, get at me. I want you to get at me.

When you're 250 pounds, you can push more people around, but you can't move as fast or jump as high.

At the end of the day, before basketball, before anything, I'm a man.

I know things that I need to work on in my life, things that I can be better at.

I'm going to be more critical of myself than anyone could ever be.

Wherever you go in Michigan, you find that toughness. I don't know if it's the weather or the hard times. It's like, if I can make it out of here, I had to be super tough.

Michigan State means so much to my life and me.

Four-men aren't used to picking up guys pushing the ball in transition. Let alone, somebody getting the rebound and just busting.

A person who can go out and get 40 is going to get a lot more respect than somebody who goes out and holds somebody to two points. It's just the nature of the game. It doesn't bother me.

No one is going to tell me I'm too small to do whatever, to do anything. That's not up to them, and I'll never give anyone that power to say that.

A guy that's going to do all of the dirty work, that guy that is willing to defend anyone and do the little things and not really care about all of that other stuff. I think every championship team needs that.

I just go out and play my game. Just making sure I keep doing those little things, like playing with toughness, that's just me.

I know what I'm capable of, and I try to go out and prove that.

At the end of the day, I continue to think I can get better, and that's always my focus.

I love playing basketball. And to be able to continue to play as a job, that's the best to me.

You see the guys sign the big contract, you see everybody on TV, but you don't see all the work that goes into that. It's a grind. And a lot of people don't see that grind.

I don't really mind any scrutiny. It doesn't bother me. I'm going to still live my life and do everything I do the same way and not lose any sleep.

I'm blessed. I get to play the game I love for a living and make a lot of money doing it.

I have the mindset of a mid-level guy or a minimum guy. My path here wasn't expected: my path wasn't that I was going to the NBA and making $16 million a year. So I identify more with those guys, and I want to be a voice for them. I want to help them elevate their status in the league. That's my goal.

I grew up in a household where my mom made $16,000 a year. I know the struggle. I know how to keep those things in perspective, and I do keep it into perspective.

I've never been a guy who has said 'OK' about stuff. That's not me. That's not my personality. If I think something's wrong, I express that.

I'm a huge fan of basketball. Any time you get a chance to watch basketball, I do it.

If you've got to second-guess talking to a teammate, what you have will never work.

Let me get my money's worth if I'm going to get some techs.

The goal is to win a championship. Every team enters the season with the goal to win the championship, but realistically, there are five or six teams with a realistic shot at winning a championship.

You learn from adversity more than anything because it allows you to see so much. It really allows you to see things in a different way.

I watch basketball all day every day. So when I'm watching the games, I watch it - I just enjoy watching basketball - but when I'm watching other people play, I'm really just watching as a student trying to figure different things out.

Sometimes it's tougher against bad teams because you can't really get a read on them.

Bogut - I wouldn't be the defender I am without Bogut. He taught me a ton. Angles. How to guard the post. You name it, he taught me a ton.

Every year, I strive to be the best defensive player in the league.

I'm trying to make the Hall of Fame.

People will always try to change you. They will always want you to be who they want you to be. That's fine because I'll always be exactly who I want to be.

The fans at Quicken Loans Arena are pretty hostile. They say nasty things.

All 'potential' means to me is that you haven't proved anything.

I've been pretty broke my entire life. I'm not going to live that same life, but I'm going to keep those same principles.

When the ball isn't in my hands, I'm already scanning for where the next pass is going.

I may not be the most athletic, but I understand the game.

I can see things before they happen on the court.

It just doesn't go with my story to be a first round pick, because I had to grind my whole life.

I will not feel like I've made it until the day I retire from basketball because there's something that I can always get better at, and there's always somebody better, and that's what drives me.

Every time you make a jump, whether it's from high school to college or college to the NBA, you're going to hear questions about your athletic ability.

I'm not going to worry about proving people wrong. My goal isn't to prove people wrong. You can't worry about what other people say.

I have friends in prison. I send them money. I send them food. They say, 'Bro, get me out of here.' There's nothing I can do. They're five years in on a 20-year sentence. They went in at 16, they'll get out at 36. That's a lifetime.

I think it's cool to read that Draymond Green is transcending the NBA. I also think it's cool to read that Draymond Green is terrible.

My fire is my gift and my curse. I harness it 95% of the time, but the 5% I don't, it works against me.

My mom. Growing up with her, she always taught us to say whatever. Like, 'You think something, say it. Don't bite your tongue for people.' I think there's a fine line with that, but at the same time, I'm a firm believer in speaking your mind.

I think when you look around this league, so much is scripted. And not scripted in a sense that the league is scripted, but when guys talk, it's like, 'Say this. Yeah, come out and say that.' Like, nah, I'm not doing that. I'm going to say what's on my mind. I'm going to say what's on my heart. It's just genuine speaking.