I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success.

It’s hard for young players to see the big picture. They just see three or four years down the road.

Reporters used to ask me the same inane questions year-in and year-out, city-to-city, and it would drive me crazy.

Andrew got right on it – he used some techniques I showed him. Shaq bit on the fake. He’ll have that experience with him the rest of his career. He knows he can compete.

My mother had to send me to the movies with my birth certificate, so that I wouldn’t have to pay the extra fifty cents that the adults had to pay.

I can do something else besides stuff a ball through a hoop. My biggest resource is my mind.

If not for the success that medicine has made, I might be part of a much different story right now.

I want to do as little as possible when I finish playing ball – just spend a lot more time with my family.

I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.

When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That’s a terrible burden.

I’m the baddest among the bad guys.

I allowed him far too much space in my own head, … of these moves worked more than once.

I think black Americans expect too much from individual black Americans in terms of changing the status quo.

Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary.

The game has basically not changed since I ended my career.

Uh-oh. You must’ve been talking to Lanier.

I try to do the right thing at the right time. They may just be little things, but usually they make the difference between winning and losing.

I have been coaching recently. I coached high school basketball in Arizona, and I hope that more opportunities become available.

LeBron James can get a shot off under any and all circumstances and he makes them.

I wanted to play baseball!

If not shown appreciation, it gets to you.

As brilliant an individual that Michael Jordan was, he was not successful until he got with a good team unit.

When the doctor told me I had cancer, I was scared.

He doesn’t necessarily have to learn the sky hook. He just has to learn how to be an effective post player. I think I can help him do that.

Islam is about finding your own space.

Michael Jordan and Magic and myself all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team.

This is what I would have done if I had to have a real job: I would have been a history teacher.

He urged all of us to be the best we can be. He was inspiring.

One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.

I think the NBA players have to be held accountable in a reasonable way, just like any other professionals.

Music is really something that makes people whole.

My biggest accomplishment has been making a transition from athlete to author.

As a parent, I have a job as a role model to my children, and by extension, to other young people.

In a typical history book, black Americans are mentioned in the context of slavery or civil rights. There’s so much more to the story.

There are a lot of authors in the world, so it’s difficult to find a unique niche to present your take on things. That is always a challenge for any author.

[In his 1983 autobiography,] Giant Steps, … Either because I was an athlete or because I was black — probably both — there seemed to be a clear assumption that I wouldn’t be up to the work.

My choosing Islam was not a political statement; it was a spiritual statement.

After practice, I would have to go back to the dorm and take a nap.

Even when there are adverse circumstances, I try to do my job. And I usually do.

Hes not a raw kind of talent. Hes got some sophistication to his basketball game, and I think he will progress quickly.

I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.

The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done.

Practices were tough.

When we went up against teams that were better, I just hoped that we could steal the victories.

Music rhythms are mathematical patterns. When you hear a song and your body starts moving with it, your body is doing math. The kids in their parents’ garage practicing to be a band may not realize it, but they’re also practicing math.

The transition was difficult. It’s hard to stop something that you’ve enjoyed and that has been very rewarding.

Black people don’t have an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or distorted.

He just needs to get an understanding of how to use his considerable talent.

Many people are born into their religion. For them it is mostly a matter of legacy and convenience. Their belief is based on faith, not just in the teachings of the religion but also in the acceptance of that religion from their family and culture. For the person who converts, it is a matter of...

My grandfather and my uncle both died from colorectal cancer, my dad almost died from it and I have the gene for it.