For us to be the team that got him that historic 10th championship is special for us.

I've played with IVs before, during and after games. I've played with a broken hand, a sprained ankle, a torn shoulder, a fractured tooth, a severed lip, and a knee the size of a softball. I don't miss 15 games because of a toe injury that everybody knows wasn't that serious in the first place.

When I'm finished playing, I want people to say, 'He handled this well, he kept his cool.'

I'm reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose.

I write all day and outline stories, a sports mythological universe.

I didn't expect this award [the 2008 MVP] would come to me. I'm surprised. I've played pretty well in other seasons. Our team hasn't been as good. Things just fell into place.

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.