NBA Legends Quotes

I became real good friends with John Stockton and Karl Malone and am still good friends with them to this day. It was always good to go see them and then play with them in the 1996 Olympics as well. I idolized John Stockton at the time, I tried to model my game after him.

I guess, if it wasn't for Jordan, there would be no LeBron or Kobe who plays like that.

I'm a huge fan of Clyde Frazier and Earl Monroe.

Charles Barkley played in an era where he was never the guy. He always had to take a back seat to Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas, because what did they have that he never got? A championship.

It was larger than life - the 76ers, Dr. J, Moses Malone, Mo Cheeks, Andrew Toney and Bobby Jones - those were the teams that I grew up following.

I think the greatest player I've ever played against was Magic Johnson. Next, was Larry Bird. Then, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

I've modeled my game after Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan.

I would never have wanted to play with Magic Johnson, I would never have wanted to play with Michael Jordan, I would never have wanted to play with Karl Malone or John Stockton in my prime. We wanted to play against the Shaqs, the Kobes.

All truly great shooters - Dale Ellis, Larry Bird, Craig Hodges, Chris Mullin - we always believed that we were the best shooters in the world.

Doug Christie, what skill, what strenght, what power, what quickness. The visionof Magic Johnson, the athletisicm of Michael Jordan, the toughness of larry Bird. Dough Christie has it all

I'm blessed just making it to the NBA. That was my first goal and dream. Playing with Kobe and Shaq and for a coach like Phil Jackson, and then going to play with guys like Jordan and Jerry Stackhouse, it's just a crazy experience.

In 1981, when I went down to visit Georgia Tech, I watched Michael Jordan play and literally get ridiculed for taking a jump shot in the championship game that went off the backboard, and they won. People are forgetting that Michael was just one of the players when they went to the Dream Team.

LeBron and Rondo are arguably two of the best leaders ever.

Yes, I played in '92 with the original Dream Team, and then again in '96 with what they labeled 'Dream Team III.'

They say things happen in three. I won with the great Kobe, the great D-Wade and now it's my job to win one with the great LeBron James. We have everything in place. We just got to get it done.

I try to penetrate the lane like Steve Nash, pass like Jason Kidd, and handle the ball like Allen Iverson. Remember, I said 'try to'.

In the summer of 1963, my second with 'Sports Illustrated,' Jerry Tax, the basketball editor, got the Celtics' Frank Ramsey, the NBA's first famous sixth man, to do a piece for the magazine revealing some of the devious little tricks of his trade. Things like surreptitiously holding an opponent's shorts - nickel-and-dime stuff.

Tim Duncan is one of the greatest power forwards in the history of our game. Being younger and just watching him play, winning championships, that was always cool to be able to play against him.

Guys like Alvin Adams, Sweet D Walter Davis, Larry Nance, and Kyle Macy became my basketball heroes.

Kane is one of the best big men of all-time.

I have no doubt that LeBron James would've loved to have played against Michael Jordan, but that simply is not going to happen.

I had orders from the great Bill Russell. Me and him were talking in Seattle the other day, and he was telling me how rivalries should be. I asked him if he ever disliked anybody he played against, and he told me, 'No, never,' and he told me that I should shake Kobe Bryant's hand and let bygones be bygones and bury the hatchet.

Paternalistic is a very good word. They think they have to look out for these guys? Don't worry about it. Why? Because of history. Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant. They did okay.

When you're talking to legends, they've already went through this process of playing in the NBA and also living after their career is over. Being able to hear their stories, how they've had success and others have had success to get an idea of what we should be looking to do and know what we need to do is just really helpful.

There's a lot of guys that I obviously admire. The Gary Paytons, me growing up in Seattle being able to watch him play. Even my peers now, the Patrick Beverleys and the Kawhi Leonards, I admire those guys.