Do I need my number retired throughout the course of the league to acknowledge what I've done? No.

Being afraid on the court, means you're not confident of your skills

I make shoes for white suburban kids, not the poor black kids. That would be like opening a restaurant for people without stomachs.

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.

When I step onto the court, I don't have to think about anything. If I have a problem off the court, I find that after I play, my mind is clearer and I can come up with a better solution. It's like therapy. It relaxes me and allows me to solve problems.

The game has its ups and downs, but you can never lose focus of your individual goals and you can't let yourself be beat because of lack of effort.

You have to be able to say, OK, that happened back then. Now let's take it from here and see what happens. It would be very easy to hate people for the rest of your life, and some people have done that. You've got to deal with what's happening now and try to make things better.