You know I was a shy guy and people didn't know that and still don't know it today. I'm sure basketball brought my shyness out because of the fact that you have to do interviews, and that people are always talking to you in terms of the fans and everything.

When you face a crisis, you know who your true friends are.

I like to take walks in the park by myself, where no one can bother me and I can think.

I am and will always be a Laker for life.

Research your idea. See if there's a demand. A lot of people have great ideas, but they don't know if there's a need for it. You also have to research your competition.

Sometimes friends move apart from each other for whatever reason.

I'm building shopping centers and movie theaters in the inner cities. So that means supplying jobs and letting blacks understand that we have to build our communities back, not looking to anybody else.

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.

When I'm under the gun and I've got pressure on me, I don't panic. I look for the right solution, and then I go for it.

I was able to see what I wanted to do, I could see the opportunity, even when others could not, and I stay committed to doing it and doing it well, no matter what.

There's Michael [Jordan], then there's the rest of us.

If people around you aren't going anywhere, if their dreams are no bigger than hanging out on the corner, or if they're dragging you down, get rid of them.

Even as a fierce competitor I try to smile.

You don't have to be Magic to be special. You're already special, you're you.

A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom. Just like right now with the whole mortgage crisis, I want to help people get back into their homes.

When in doubt, take a bath...

A man in the house is worth two on the street.

You can do what you want, but saving love doesn't bring any interest.

Goodness had nothing to do with it.

Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!' 'Goodness had nothing to do with it'.

It isn't what I do, but how I do it. It isn't what I say, but how I say it, and how I look when I do it and say it.

Love thy neighbor -- and if he happens to be tall, debonair and devastating, it will be that much easier.

Cultivate your curves - they may be dangerous but they won't be avoided.

It's not the men in your life that matters, it's the life in your men.