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I look back on my career and my time as commissioner with great fondness.

At last, someone came to tell me I'd been selected as commissioner, which gave rise to the line that I took the job with clean hands. I was then taken downstairs to a press conference, and the reporters were as surprised as I was.

One thing that we've invested a lot of in, that we all live by, is the power of the commissioner.

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.

I knew I'd never make it back to the major leagues as a player. Lee MacPhail came to me and asked if I wanted to manage the Yankees' Fort Lauderdale club. I thought about it for a day or two and decided to take the job. That was the turning point. I knew it was what I wanted to do.

Rather than saying that the commissioner is hired by the owners and therefore is subservient to them, you have to look at whether or not the players are getting a fair shake.

When you make the playoffs, it's like you've done your job for the team. I've got that moment in my mind all the time, and I want to be there again.

I'm a huge fan of the game. It's beyond a fringe benefit of obviously getting to work at the league office. I watch a ton of games in person, on television, on all forms of new media I follow the league. And so it's just beyond my wildest imaginations to me to now be the commissioner of the NBA.

This is a coup for commissioner Bud Selig. I'm surprised it's as good as it is.

When I arrived, I felt the spotlight shining brightly on me, and I knew the sharks were ready to strike if I did not pan out and prove myself to be the showman and the player the college ranks had labeled me to be.