A team will always appreciate a great individual if he’s willing to sacrifice for the group.

I think race has been a burden for black Americans. Being Muslim has also been a challenge because so many people do not understand Islam.

I totally alienated some reporters as I retreated.

The first time I shot the hook, I was in fourth grade, and I was about five feet eight inches tall. I put the ball up and felt totally at ease with the shot. I...

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.