I would tell players to relax and never think about what's at stake. Just think about the basketball game. If you start to think about who is going to win the championship, you've lost your focus.

To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don't isolate.

I viewed it as a business, but I always viewed it as a game. An opportunity to show my skills, my basketball skills, amongst the best in the world.

But my drive to win is so great ... I just step over that line. ... It's very embarrassing, ... one of the things you totally regret. So you look at yourself in the mirror and say, 'I was stupid.'

I missed 9000 shots in my career, lost almost 300 games and missed the shot to win the game 26 times.

It doesn't matter if you fall down, it's whether you get back up.

Great players never look in the mirror and think I'm a great basketball player. You ask yourself, Am I the best player I can be?