I'm really comfortable in a stressful, leadership position. I need this job. I need to do this. This fits my personality. This is the best thing for me, short of playing.

I'm passionate about coaching and being able to mentor young men in a lot of different ways. I think it's good to be able to do what you love to do. It's been in me since the beginning. I was telling my college coach what to do and he trusted me. When I got into the NBA, I started having conversations with coaches. Coach Gregg Popp(avich) brought a lot out in me. Coach Don Nelson gave me an incredible opportunity to spend some time with him and he molded me but at the same time allowed me to be myself.

Being born is easy. So is taking your last breath. Everything in between, that's the hard part. Life is in between, and it will offer challenges and opportunities beyond measure.

My standards are so high because of who I serve but it doesn't put any water on my fire for winning. I'm still an intense person. You can be intense and saved. You can compete and still be saved. You can challenge a guy and still be saved. There was nothing soft about me as a player and there isn't anything soft about me as a coach. You want to be a man of integrity and you want the players to know that you care about them. Whether or not they still like you or not is a whole other deal.

That MAC gun can put a round clean through a Covenant Capital Ship.

I just want to help people become winners. That's what I'm about. I'm about winning.

Every era of coaches has their own set of problems and challenges. Today's player is different, but some things about them are better than they were in the past. I don't think coaching today's players is any tougher. I think we're a little too hard on the current day player because he's different.