For me, it always goes back to something I learned in basketball. There's winning and there's losing, and in life you have to know they both will happen. But what's never been acceptable to me is quitting.

Any guy who can maintain a positive attitude without much playing time certainly earns my respect.

Everybody on a championship team doesn't get publicity, but everyone can say he's a champion.

I never think that there's something I can't do, whether it's beating my opponent one on one or practicing another hour because something about my game is just not right.

Even when I went to the playground, I never picked the best players. I picked guys with less talent, but who were willing to work hard and had the desire to be great.

They said playing basketball would kill me. Well, not playing basketball was killing me.

On the best tactic when playing alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar- Just give him the ball.

I only know how to play two ways: reckless and abandon.

I've always studied business. Even when I was a ball player, I'd read business journals and the business sections of newspapers.

It all started when I got injured early in my second season. This turned out to be as difficult emotionally as physically.

We cut him off and there was nowhere for him to go but out of bounds ... It's still the greatest move I've ever seen in basketball, the all-time greatest.

The score never interested me, only the game.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

He’s [Gerald Ford] a nice guy but he played too much football with his helmet off.

I'm a big sports fan in general.

Golf and dating don't mix.

This was an extremely difficult decision as I take great pride in representing our country. I know that I owe it to my USA Basketball teammates to be totally invested in the experience. After going through training camp with USAB, 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. I will be rooting for USAB and look forward to future opportunities with them.

Jeremy, Perry, Andre, Steve and Reggie, Grant, You guys make me so much better without you even knowing man. 'Cause I know I set the example for y'all. I know there's days where I have my bad days, And I say some words I'm not supposed to say sometimes, But when I need an extra push, You guys are there man. And I appreciate that. I appreciate that because I'm not always the best leader, I'm not always the best player, I don't always shoot the best in the games, But, Our little handshakes that we do before the game, That gets me going.

When Russell was out, you stepped your game up for me, for the team. There were nights where you made me look way better than I am. You clean up so many of our mistakes, man, and we appreciate that. From everybody on the team, we appreciate that, man, and I thank you so much for giving me confidence when I didn't have it, for always being there when I wanted to talk to you, when I wanted to call, for arguing with me all the time, making me better, and realizing I'm not always right. Thank you, man. I appreciate you.

And last, my mom. I don’t think you know what you did. You had my brother when you were 18 years old. Three years later, I came out. The odds were stacked against us. Single parent with two boys by the time you were 21 years old. Everybody told us we weren’t supposed to be here. We went from apartment to apartment by ourselves. One of the best memories I had was when we moved into our first apartment, no bed, no furniture and we just sat in the living room and just hugged each other. We thought we made it.

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. Through the tough times, you guys never left my side... That's something that I really appreciate and I never want to take you guys for granted. I thank you so much for being part of my life. And not just on the basketball court, but giving me talks about growing as a man first, and a basketball player next.

To all the staff members that take care of us every single day, From Donnie Strack, to Joe Sharpe, Tony Katz, Dave Bliss, Josh Longstaff, Will, Wilson, St, Mark, Dwight, I could down the line, All you guys have made me a better player. I wish I had a Sharpie, So I could write all your names on here 'Cause you had a hand on this. You made me believe in myself. You made me a better person, A better player. Your words of encouragement, Your love, Your positivity, Got me through. And I thank you guys.

Reggie when I first met you, You didn't say two words to me, I didn't know who you were, But we instantly clicked, And you became one of my best friends man... Words can't express how much I care about you, Your well-being, How you feeling, Not even just basketball man, But off the court, I always make sure you're alright. You're such a humble person man. You do everything for the team. You always put yourself last. And I learned a lot from you. Thank you man, thank you.

Russell... I love you. I thank you so much man. You made me better. You know, Your work ethic. I always wanted to compete with you. I always wanted to pull up into the parking lot of the practice facility, And if you beat me there, I was always upset. I always wanted to outwork you. And you set the bar. You set the tone. And thank you so much man. Thank you. You had a big piece of this MVP trophy. You're an MVP caliber player It's a blessing to play with you man.