I felt I was good in basketball but I wasn't a blue-chip prospect.

Sometimes it's more fun to compete with your friends, because you can talk a little trash with them.

Defense is something I take pride in. I feel it's just as important as offense. They should have RBIs for defensive plays.

You just get better with age. You learn yourself and the league. I'm starting to understand more about hitting every year.

If you write in the paper 'Lee stinks,' that's not going to affect me. I'll just laugh. And if you write 'Derrek Lee is the best player in the league,' that won't affect me either. I'll laugh.

I want to be on that team that wins the world championship here in Chicago and sees the city go crazy.

I felt I was good in basketball but I wasn't a blue-chip prospect.