I always believed him. If Coach K said the sky will be purple when you get outside, I would have believed him.

I played some ping pong with the guys on the T'Wolves team. I might have been the champ on that team, too. But ping pong is a big part of my life. I grew up playing it against my brother and my father when I was young. They used to kick my behind for a long time, so I got very good at it.

I think every basketball player I know loves ping pong. Everyone played in on the Dream Team. I played Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullin and even David Stern once. David Stern saw I was pretty good.

For whatever reason, the people that don't appreciate Duke basketball or don't pull for Duke basketball, they have a tendency to vilify one of the players. And a lot of times, it might be a white guy. And has it happened over and over in the past? Yes.

You can't do something stupid at any time. If you do, you're going to get technicals or flagrant fouls, or you're going to get kicked out of the game or whatever.

I think if you are a player going to Duke, you have to expect a little bit to be not liked when you go and play in opposing team's gyms. Like, when I signed with Duke out of high school, I knew it would be playing in hell where they hate you. That's what I loved about it.

People don't know how awesome Minnesota is... I love it up here. And when I was playing up here, I loved every second of it, even if it was minus 20 degrees.

I don't need you to love me. I don't want you to hate me, but just don't judge a book by its cover.

I loved my time in Minnesota. I loved it so much that I lived up there until 1999.

I know I used to play basketball every day, whether it was for fun with my older brother or if it was organized basketball on teams.

It's very important to know how to dribble and pass and catch and cut at a very high level if you want to be a good basketball player.

Well, my last year was 04-05 with the Heat, and I relaxed for a few years, and I said, 'Well, what am I going to do?' I've got to do my passion, and my passion is basketball.

A layup or two early will help your confidence.

I had an older brother that would beat me in everything, and then he would rub my nose in it, and that made me work even harder.

When I'm older and my children have grown up, I would like to coach in the NBA.

The Olympics in '92, I didn't contribute that much. I had more to do with winning the National Championships than I did the gold medal.

If you want the whole college basketball experience, you have to go to a game at Cameroon Indoor!

You earn playing time on the practice floor.

I'm up in Minneapolis all the time. I love being up there.

I was unique and still am unique.

I want to see kids go to college more.

Sometimes you've just got to will it into the hoop.

You cannot just allow your team to stink.

The only thing I can control is winning on the basketball court.

People can think what they want about me.

At Duke, the coaches would cover up for you. But with the Wolves, something happen,s and it's in the papers, and I'm blamed. Things are run differently here - the wrong way, if you ask me. One man wants to blame another.

As a thrill in my career, the Olympics rank right up there with my two NCAA championships at Duke.

Part of me would like for not all the Kentucky, Carolina, and Connecticut fans to despise me, but another part of me realizes that's not important.

It's not good to be a hater.

All I wanted to do was win. People have to remember that when I came to Duke, they'd started to get a reputation that they can't win the big game. We were aware of that, and we hated it.

You can't cry yourself to sleep every night because people from a distance hate you. So you gotta do with it what you can, and if that means using it as motivation, then that's what you do.

I'm not gonna say I'm the greatest guy, but the reason I don't hate is I know what it feels like to be hated. So I always pull for Tom Brady.

I root for John Calipari.

I always pull for the best of the best.

My freshman year, the hate was all directed toward Danny Ferry. And every year, there's some new poor sucker at Duke who draws the ire of everybody.

Larry Johnson was fun to watch.

I went to Duke, and I stayed at Duke all four years because I wanted as many years under Coach K's tutelage as I could get. I think every year you get with him, the more it's going help you for basketball and life. So I wanted to play for him as long as I could.

When you're the king of someplace, you don't voluntarily leave.

I pursued to have my team win as much as we could.

I can't say I go through life liking it and that I pursue to be hated, but I did pursue to be a good basketball player.

I've been on teams in the NBA where we don't play the right way.

Anytime the premiere sports channel calls you and says they want to do a movie about you, you're going to say, 'Yes.'

There's gotta be a villain; there's gotta be a good guy.

It's hard to live up to the expectations. Besides that, I think I had a very good NBA career, and I'm proud of it. I might not have been an absolute monster, but I thought I did pretty good.

I don't watch any NBA games today, because it makes me sad: I want to be back out there.

I really looked forward to the opportunity to play for the Timberwolves. I went up there and gave it my all. I fell in love with the city and the people up there, even to the extreme where I met my wife up there.

I don't believe many teams can do it just with one really, really good player. You have to be surrounded with a good cast.

I used to tell my mother, 'Mom, when they write really flattering things about your son, don't believe it all. And when they write really negative things about your son, don't believe it all.'

I realize everyone has the image and perception that I was the worst person.

You can only be that confident if you know you've done the work.