RODNEY HOOD

I told my wife, 'Look, I'm going to ask y'all to sacrifice. I need to go to Portland. I need to lock in.' At that time, I felt like my career... was on the line. So I told her, 'This is what I need to do. I'm going to be without y'all for a while. Y'all can come out and visit. But this is what I need to do.' She understood.

For my family, for my loved ones, my priority is to have a job and perform.

Not many young guys in the league are getting to play valuable minutes for a really good team, so I'm trying to take advantage of it as much as I can.

I hit a big growth spurt between my 10th and 11th grade years.

I got tired of walking through Durham with people screaming 'Carolina' at me when I walk through Walmart and stuff like that.

Being a part of a trade doesn't always mean you're not a good player. It means they want to do something different for their organization.

I'm bigger than most two guards.

It's refreshing to see my family. I know they can't always come out and see me play and see me throughout the year.

I haven't played well regardless of what minutes I get, I gotta have a positive impact on the game and that's the frustrating part.

As long as you have a job, I'm providing for my family, I'm blessed and you move forward.

I'm building myself up and working hard on my body.

Me, I'm not a guy who's dealt with a lot of death in my life, so when it hits you, it hits hard, you question different things.

There aren't too many left-handed guys out there who can handle the ball and shoot it.

I want to get to the 'pick your poison' type of situations like James Harden.

I'm a guy that can stretch the floor, make plays in pick-and-roll, and then play off the ball as well.

I play better when guys depend on me.

You're sitting at home in a cast or a boot and it's tough, because all you've got is negative thoughts going through your head. Once you start to move and run a little bit, the confidence comes back, and then it's just a matter of time before you come back to be yourself.

It's a unique atmosphere in Utah, that I don't think a lot of other teams have around the league.

I'm happy to be back out on the court. Whatever role that I'll be in and whatever minutes that I get, I'm just grateful to be playing a game I love again.

I've got to be strong for my family. I've got to be strong for my kids and everybody.

Ever since I was little, I always played point guard. All throughout high school, junior high. I hit a couple growth spurts and the guard thing just always stayed with me. It just comes natural.

Life is not promised forever. That's the biggest thing that I learned and I enjoy and I will take with me past this pandemic, is just being able to appreciate every little thing that goes on.

I used to watch big guards and how they handled the ball and made plays. Guys like Joe Johnson.

I've just got a real thirst for knowledge now, especially seeing how the world is, seeing how the disparity is with African American men, and I want to do something special. And getting a degree from Duke is special, especially coming from where I come from.

It's extremely tough, going day-to-day, not knowing really what you're working for, but for me, I just learned how to set small goals for myself.