I love to play, and I appreciate the opportunity to be part of a good organization.
— John Stockton
I've benefited from great coaches my whole life, starting in sixth grade. To be able to pass that on is a neat experience for me.
The games can go any way. As we know in this league, you can win by 30 or lose by 30 the next night. That is just the way the league is.
You thrive off everybody on your team. If one guy's playing well, that makes your job easier. If a guy's shooting well, it makes your job easier. If a guy's rebounding well, it makes your job easier.
It's quite an honor to be selected to represent my country in the Olympics.
I just always believed that all comments are better face-to-face, whether they're derogatory or whether they're not.
I had little or no expectations coming in. I was thrilled when I was drafted in the first round because that meant I was going to be given a full year's chance to make the team.
Basketball is a game of streaks. Sometimes a guy will be cold for a month and then get hot for a month.
I've played games where I thought I played one of my better games, and statistically, there's nothing there, and vice versa. I've never based how I feel about my performance on stats.
Magic is the man. No one is in his class.
I'm not a cerebral player. When I'm out on the floor, I try to play.
I don't think you ever hear anybody shoot the last shot and say they didn't think it was in.
I try to exploit things against everybody; that's part of the game: beat the guy that guards me while you're beating their team.
I haven't played quarterback since eighth or ninth grade. I didn't see it get much attention when I completed a pass then.
The key word is 'control.' I have to get to the point where I can do it like Magic does. That means penetrating, scoring more, taking over on offense once in a while, increasing my range on the outside shot to open things up for the drive.
It's not win or die at my house. We're all competitive, but it's not the type to get stressed out by it.
I don't think about the record, because winning games has to be our focus, and if we lost focus thinking about that record, I would really regret it. How will I feel later on? People tell me it will mean a lot after I retire, for the kids and me. But to me, it's just a stat. It's something people enjoy talking about. Me? I just enjoy playing.
For me, the timing has been good, but I also feel very lucky to be playing in Utah. We have a good team with tremendous players who like to win.
Why was I able to be able to pass? What did I do right that allowed me to make a pass - any given pass? There's balance; there's vision.
I never felt I was better than anybody, but I always felt I could compete with anybody.
Obviously, being in the league for so long, you do have something to offer as a coach.
If you think you're doing everything right, then you have a tendency to stand pat.
I'm not much of a numbers guy, and yet that's the way I'm defined a lot.
I don't like to miss games.
It's great to win, regardless of how you did it.
I don't judge my performance on how many assists I have or how many points I have.
If I pass the ball to Karl Malone, he still has to make the shot, or nothing has happened.
You can find advantages to being small.
I was thinking back when Karl Malone and I, when one of us would be in the weight room early in the morning, and the other one wasn't there, the first comment to the other person would be, 'It's mighty lonely up here.'
You never think about being wide open. I don't know if I can describe the feeling. Tremendous.
You have a different personality in front of the world than you do in front of your pals at home. I like to keep them separate.
I didn't want to get caught up in the mind-set that, 'Wait a minute, I'm ahead of Magic. I better slow down.'
I was always the kid dribbling the ball on the sidelines, hoping someone would pick me. I'd go with my older brother to the gym or park, and when I went out there, I'd pass the ball so I could get picked again.
With kids and all the other activities around the house, I'm finding it harder to give my full attention to basketball.
If I could turn into my old coaches, or my parents, then I'd consider that a definite plus.
I enjoy coaching.
The main thing I worry about with the shoes I wear is comfort. What you're comfortable wearing is what you're going to play your best in.
My playing time in 1992 was limited because of an injury I suffered in a practice.
Sometimes you're your own worst critic.
All I know is the same lessons you need to learn at Little League basketball, you need to learn at the upper levels. It's the little things you learn when you're little that apply in college.
You don't get this opportunity many times in life to compete against the best in the world every night. I certainly didn't expect to have 10 or 11 years of chances at it, so I don't want to take that for granted.
My impression is that the NBA always precluded anything else.
I had been told I might be drafted in the fourth round. 'Great,' I said at the time.
I really don't think of myself as the best player on the team.
I heal quickly, and I stay in good shape, and I will stay in good shape.
I really don't look at my accomplishments. I really don't think about myself much.
Depending on the point in the game and what's necessary, if you can deliver the play, whatever that is - heck, if it's a screen - and you get a guy open, and he scores a big basket for you, that gives me as much of a charge as anything.
I just play. I'm not one to think about it. If I get one assist and we win, that's great. Otherwise, I could care less.
I never consciously thought about going all the way through the 'Gonzaga farm system,' but that's the way it happened.
I never thought I'd make it in the NBA, so everything else is gravy.
