There ain't much to being a ballplayer, if you're a ballplayer.
My game is based on improvisation. Often, a forward does not have the time to think too much. You have a second, rarely more, to decide whether to dribble, shoot or pass to the right or left. It is instinct that gives the orders.
I'm a basketball player - I rely on instincts and IQ.
I will always listen to my coaches. But first I listen to my body. If what they tell me suits my body, great. If my body doesn't feel good with what they say, then always my body comes first.
I don't like to guess. Just react. Some guys are guess hitters. I just could never do it. If you guess and guess wrong, you have no shot of hitting anything else.
There are a few players who don't like to think about the game.
I think I am good in the department of body language and fighting, and stuff like that. It's just natural to me, maybe because I love sports.
When I race, I don't think about it; it just happens.
When I see Lionel Messi play soccer, he lets the game come to him. He lets the game unveil itself to him, then like a lion he eats the whole thing.
Some of the longest home runs I've hit, I didn't actually realize they were going that far. Everyone says, 'What does it feel like to hit the ball that far?' Actually, there's no feeling at all. I know when the ball meets the bat whether or not it's left the park. It's a nice easy thing.
You can't really teach rebounding. You can teach how to box out, but rebounding, that's something you've got to have in you.
Sports is just something I have a knack to figure out how to play.
They're like, 'Oh, you did a...' and I'm like, 'I did a what?' No, I flipped twice. I twisted twice. They go, 'It's called a...' and I'm like, 'Why do I need to know that? I just need to go and do that.'
I swam the race like I trained to swim it. It is not mathematical. I just let my body do it. It is a lot easier if you let your body do what it is trained for.
These technical flicks and tricks come naturally to me and I don't really think about them. I did a backheel against Udinese and the coach would've strangled me if he could have!
As soon as I got out there I felt a strange relationship with the pitcher's mound. It was as if I'd been born out there. Pitching just felt like the most natural thing in the world. Striking out batters was easy.
Coming up through high school, coaches would tell me not to swing so hard. It's the only way I know. It just happens.
I have no idea what I did. I heard people talk about dead leg, shake, change of pace and all that, but I did things without thinking about them.
I never actually thought about my delivery. I was always just throwing the ball.
One of my favorite things about basketball is that you can't break it down into some sort of science that makes total sense.
I'm not a cerebral player. When I'm out on the floor, I try to play.
If you start thinking about stats it can get too complicated and you just have to go out there and play your game.
Understand the "Gretzky Factor": Cultivate an instinct, a "touch", call it what you will, that enables you to know both where the "puck" is now and where it will be soon.
I don't go out there looking, 'Hey, let me make this throw to show off my arm or anything like that.' But if it's there, I've got to take the chance.
Whatever I am, it's natural... I don't have to pretend to be aggressive, don't have to show the opposition that I am on the field. Being aggressive comes naturally to me, helps me perform.
