Basketball Opportunities Quotes

If I make it in the NBA or wind up playing overseas, I will be at peace.

If someone were to ask me before I made the NBA, you going to have to go through all this, you're going to have to sign your soul away to play in the league, I still would have done it.

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.

My dream was to be in the NBA. I wasn't really focused on being a star player on a team. I just wanted to make it to the NBA. I've been blessed for the opportunities to be in the Finals, been in the playoffs ever since I've been in the NBA.

I remember as a young player I had this dream of playing in the NBA.

There was no professional basketball for me in the United States when I was in grade school and middle school. I could look to the Olympics and college basketball, but that was only on TV for the Final Four.

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?'

The NBA wasn't a big deal at that time, so it wasn't really in my career plans.

Let the D-League be for players who have been in the NBA, who are on the fringe, and that want to fight like heck to get in the NBA. They should have a living wage, not $17,000 to $25,000. A living wage.

Every person that's in the NBA should experience playing in New York at least once in their career.

This is where young players today want to land. They want to be NBA players because of the money.

I would say moving to Iowa turned out to be the best thing for my basketball career.

Basketball has given me so many opportunities, and it's something that's opened the world to me and allowed me to travel really all over the world.

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've also always known that I wouldn't be playing for the N.B.A.

I don't come from any type of entertainment. I come from a basketball family. My dad still says, 'Trevor, are you sure don't want to play basketball? You can play in college and go to the NBA!' But I did play.

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.

I'm going to be honest, playing in D-League games is tough.

I thought, 'I'm going to play in Yugoslavia, then I'll go to play in Italy or Spain.' Then I'll be 28 or 29 and I'll try NBA. I never thought I can play in NBA because NBA was totally different world for us in Europe.

I really hope that a lot of Georgian players will get recognition, and I can help them get out, play in the European leagues and the NBA. Basketball is in our blood.

I know people that was playing basketball better than me. If they were in the NBA, they could be All-Stars, those people. They just never had the opportunity to go play professional basketball in Europe.

I've seen Canada grow on so many different levels when it comes to basketball. The women's game is huge, so why not have a WNBA team here?