When I think about my MVP season, I will also think about the loss to Golden State. But winning the award as Most Valuable Player of the NBA is just a huge honour. I didn't really realise how big it was until Mark Cuban had tears in his eyes at the award ceremony.

As a newcomer, I was often expected to carry the bags of the older players, or get them burgers. That can make you feel pretty miserable.

If you do the best you can, you have nothing to be ashamed of. A defeat is not a disgrace.

I thought basketball was a game for women. My mother played basketball, and so did my sister.

I want to raise a family and have a couple of small Dirks running around. But it will not be easy to win my heart.

I take my sport damned seriously. Basketball is my life. There are other people who go into important games as if they were any other game. I'm a brooder and I spend a lot of time thinking about my opponent, about the things he can do and about what I have to do to win. I don't think I'll ever be able to change that.

Of course parents want their children to confide in them.