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I have certain guys who I looked up to. Jordan, Kobe, those guys. Passing that on to doing my part to kind of keep that influence of basketball where it should be is kind of why I play the game.

The league is changing, and we don't have many back-to-the-basket players. We now have a game that requires skill and versatility. A lot of that is about being able to think. It makes all the difference in the world to have a player in there with a high basketball IQ who can make the right decision.

I definitely feel like I'm a really good playmaker, a really smart point guard that can lead his team and win.

The thing with NBA teams, a lot of times they just want to get you back on the floor to play, so as a player you've got to be very, very smart.

The people at the top of the league think they need to rein me in so I don't become another Michael Jordan, somebody they aren't able to mold and shape and make their puppet.

You want to play for a guy who's going to be there for you. He's going to lead you. He's going to inspire you. Someone that the guys in the locker room can really rally around.

Amare, Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups - they're virtually unstoppable.

Not sure if that will benefit me or hurt me, but I know I have the skills and am ready to play in the NBA regardless of my ethnicity.

Sure, sometimes guys pass you up in salary, and maybe it's a lesser player, but it's all based on what a team has as far as value in that person.

In the NBA, you're taking a bunch of different talents, and you're managing them. You have to give them a system; you have to give them a belief. That's why coaches like Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich are so great: because they gave the team confidence in the system and in their ability to execute night in and night out.