Love me or hate me, it's one or the other. Always has been. Hate my game, my swagger. Hate my fadeaway, my hunger. Hate that I'm a veteran. A champion. Hate that. Hate it with all your heart. And hate that I'm loved, for the exact same reasons.

I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.

I don't think a coach becomes the right coach until he wins a championship.

What people see on court is another side of me; it's not me.

My brain . . . it cannot process failure. It will not process failure. Because if I sit there and have to face myself and tell myself, 'You're a failure' . . . I think that's almost worse than death.

As far as carrying the torch for the years to come, I don't know. I just want to be the best basketball player I can be.

It's just a matter of getting those legs back.