Basketball Development Quotes

My good friend Yao Ming was the first big player in the NBA to come from China. He gave himself to the game and was successful. That inspired the NBA to invest more and do more for the game of basketball. We're building academies not just in China, but in India, Africa, Europe and South America as well.

I always said in my mind I wanted to be an All-Star and show four-year guys in the NBA can be good players as opposed to just one-and-done guys. If I left after my freshman year, I wouldn't have gotten drafted, I probably couldn't deal with D-League and travel on the bus.

My thing is, I want to play basketball, I would enjoy playing in the D-League, but at the same time I don't want to take an opportunity away from a young guy to get exposure. I'm still thinking about it.

College was a very necessary step along the way to my professional career. As I look back, I realize how much of an eye opener it was for me in terms of moving forward and developing as a basketball player.

College, our job is to get guys to get better. Work hard, get better and be in position so when your time comes you get to play in the NBA.

We have to move the meter in sports in Africa, especially basketball. With the growth of the NBA globally, we have to figure out more ways to develop facilities, coaching, leagues, and youth development in Africa. The talent is incredible. Especially physically. How do we get the youth to start playing at an early age just like in soccer? The future is bright. We now have an NBA office in Africa, we have legends and Hall of Famers, we have African assistant coaches, front office members, and some prominent African players over the last 10 years. So we must plan well for the next 10.

They don't work with you to get better in the NBA. Either you're ready or you're out and you go to the G-League or Europe.

Every basketball thing I do now through my academy is always in a muskie state so I can work both those passions at the same time.

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

The D-League has helped me to get better and develop as a basketball player.

Sometimes you don't go straight from high school or college and get to the NBA from there. Sometimes you have to go when you're a little bit older and try that other route like Jeremy Lin. And he made it.

More than half the G League is going to be high school kids that are trying to make it. I hope I'm wrong. I absolutely hope I'm wrong.

Strong college basketball is great for the NBA.

It's good for basketball to grow.

After I made it to the NBA, I said that I didn't want to be the last player from Africa. After my rookie year, I went to the league and talked about this, and they embraced my idea and started conducting basketball clinics in Africa, and that's when I knew I wouldn't be the last African.

If they're trying to get high school kids to go to the D-League, I will be shouting from mountaintops saying, 'What is this going to do to a generation of kids who say, 'All right, I'm going to do this,' you get one or two years to make it, and now you're out without any opportunities. Who's taking care of those kids now?'

Basketball in Latin America is growing a lot and it's being seen with the quantity of players in the NBA.

Everybody's doing well and everybody's achieving their goals so it's great to see Canadian basketball on the rise.

I'm happy that I helped basketball develop; I was trying to help basketball be the world's most popular sport, to bring people together from all over the world, it doesn't matter the background. We are all the soldiers of basketball.

Coach Smart did a great job of just letting me come to terms with myself as a basketball player and a person.

I think it would've been a little easier if I grew up in America; they've got better conditions for basketball players. At the same time, many people have said to me that having to start playing so late helped me not pick up bad habits.

I watch basketball all day every day. So when I'm watching the games, I watch it - I just enjoy watching basketball - but when I'm watching other people play, I'm really just watching as a student trying to figure different things out.

When I was coming up through the programs with the Amateur Basketball Association, it was height: they looked for the tall players, and they looked to develop us. I was 15 when they first got me.

Here in the U.K., I want basketball to get better. I want the kids to have more playgrounds. I want the kids to have more attention. I want basketball to be on TV more often. But I really don't care if I walk down the street and somebody recognises me or not.

I always felt that I had to leave a legacy on the African continent. As I was only the third player to come to the NBA from Africa, I felt I had to do my best to recruit more young Africans to come and play in the NBA - and also find a way to bring the NBA to Africa.