Maybe it's innate: I have a body built to jump.
In basketball, the legs are the most important part of your body. A lot of people think it's the upper body because you shoot with your arms, but your legs are always carrying you, so if you don't lift leg weights, your muscles will be easily fatigued.
I have really good legs for jumping. I have terrible ankles for landing. I wasn't as good fundamentally as John Stockton or Steve Nash, so I had to play like an athlete, in the air all the time, coming down in vulnerable positions.
Every time you make a jump, whether it's from high school to college or college to the NBA, you're going to hear questions about your athletic ability.
When you're 250 pounds, you can push more people around, but you can't move as fast or jump as high.
I know I'm a dog. I'm a beast especially when it comes to long jump.
I'd hate to be the sort of player who people just regard as being tall and only good for winning headers.
I have great artistry, I can spin well, I have good footwork, and I can jump. I can do the quad jump, and I've done it multiple times in competition. It's definitely a jump that I have in my arsenal. I like to think of myself as the complete skater.
How to you use your lower body is a big thing you got to be able to use in the NBA.
It was only when I got to Tottenham as a youth player that they said, 'You need to be good in the air.' It was made clear I was going be a target man, so I had to start working on my technique.
Usually, when I liked athletes growing up, it was because they could hit a ball very far or they can throw a ball very fast. They can shoot a jumper, or they can dunk the ball.
Calvin Johnson, we've never seen a receiver like him - size, speed and how he's developed his overall route running and toughness.
I tipped one in college and dunked in high school. I can still touch the rim. I've always been a guy who has been able to get off my feet. I've still got a little hop to my game.
In the NBA, there's always a guy who is only around because he can jump. He doesn't have a clue about the fundamentals. I learn more from the WNBA. They know how to dribble, how to pivot, how to use the shot fake.
I don't always match up with guys like Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum, but when I do, those guys are a challenge. Dwight, for example, is quick, explosive, and strong all in one.
I'm afraid Eddie the Eagle was before my time. All I know is that his glasses were three times thicker than mine, but I can jump three times further than he did.
I love basketball players for what they do for their size - so graceful.
I'm terrible at basketball. I have really small hands, and I can't control the ball.
I always like jumping spiders. They're just so darn cute.
If I could palm a ball I probably could have more dunks than I have in my career, but I still can get the job done.
Musclemen grow on trees. They can tense their muscles and look good in a mirror. So what? I'm interested in practical strength that's going to help me run, jump, twist, punch.
I don't always have to dunk the ball.
A rebounder, or a shot-blocker for that matter, is always at a disadvantage if he tells himself the only way he can succeed is by out jumping the guy next to him. Sometimes he will have to, but most of the time he will not. Most of my rebounds came from positioning, where I was able to get the ball while in heavy traffic.
When I played, I had a natural ability to jump and run, and I just wanted to get bigger and heavier.
When I got into high school, I got really into basketball. I had this itch that I wanted to just move. I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew that if basketball became a scholarship or something, it would be a means to that. It turned out I couldn't jump that high.
