I believe - what did Faulkner say? "The past is not even past."

My grandfather had asked me many times whether I'd like to come to South Carolina with him. He wanted to introduce me to our people down there and I didn't want to go. In those days, the South was still a place where black kids were lynched. Something horrible could happen to you. I've had that feeling my whole life.

That's the beauty and the terror of being human beings: We just have these symbolic languages, these dreams, and that's all it ever is.

To be a survivor as an African American man - maybe any man - you have to be pretty tough. Or at least that's what we all understand.

When you're at the basketball court watching a game, one person may be talking about a fight he had with his wife, another is talking about the last hard-on he got, someone else is talking about the presidential election. The language and the tone and the voice - I'd love to be able to capture that spontaneity.

I get off on anticipating and waiting much more than I get off on the actual event.

Hell, I'm going to play pro basketball. I'm going to maybe be famous. I'm going to write books.