When I was a little kid I used to go on the playground and say: today I will shoot like Bird, pass like Magic, jump like Mike, be quick like Zeke. I am thankful to them, since without seeing them do things they did, I wouldn't be in the NBA.

I never took the game for granted as far as not having to work on what I needed to do to accomplish all of the things that I wanted to accomplish.

This is like a tribute to them, the people who helped me to get here. The thing that makes me feel good about the whole thing is, the fans voted me here.

We should because when coaches get fired, the players have a lot to do with it.

We're sitting in here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice. I mean, listen, we're talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, we talking about practice. Not a game. Not, not... Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last. Not the game, but we're talking about practice, man. I mean, how silly is that?.. And we talking about practice. I know I supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example... I know that... And I'm not... I'm not shoving it aside, you know, like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I do. I honestly do... But we're talking about practice man. What are we talking about? Practice? We're talking about practice, man.

Believe me, I am not even that brave enough to miss that many practices.

I love you Philadelphia. I want to thank you for accepting me, and letting me be me and make this my home forever.