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You know I was a shy guy and people didn't know that and still don't know it today. I'm sure basketball brought my shyness out because of the fact that you have to do interviews, and that people are always talking to you in terms of the fans and everything.

Everybody in the NBA works on their game. I just tried to follow that lead when I was in high school, college - and now.

I really want to do everything I can to try to win a game or win on a play. You get fiery; you get chippy out there, but a lot of respect, I never have anybody, like, talk trash in my career in the league, or I don't talk trash. I think guys respect the fact that I'm coming.

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.

So you're dealing with a coach, and you're dealing with a guy who's actually experienced NBA basketball from a player's perspective and actually goes about it that way.

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.

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.

A lot of guys go into the NBA not being able to shoot the ball well, but then they become great shooters.

People in the NBA are just as athletic as you. That's the game. You have to have the change of pace. You have to change speeds to get around people.

I had never dreamed about the NBA like some guys did. I was a non-scholarship player at an NAIA college. I played on the Boys and Girls Club team in my freshman and sophomore years of high school before I made the high school team. I was our backup center in college.