A lot of things change in the playoffs.
— Paul Pierce
I respect LeBron. People think we have a hate for each other, but I totally respect what he's done.
I love the fact that I get to play against the Los Angeles Lakers in a Game 7 on the road.
These seasons, as you get older, they just are so long and draining.
Injuries are a big factor when you're trying to go on a championship run.
I'm happy I'm able to leave a legacy behind. I'm happy I was able to win a championship. I have no regrets about nothing.
I originally was more into baseball and football, but being in Los Angeles, you just couldn't help but to fall in love with the game of basketball because they had such a winning tradition.
I'm an old-school guy. I'm a competitor.
Usually, when you win the championship, you party all summer and don't work out. But when I won, I mean, I had my good times, but I used it as motivation to do it again. When you realize you can accomplish something so great, you want to do it again.
I respect our greats. I admire them.
The gym was my sanctuary. The place where you could forget about all your worries, your problems, people asking you for money, people asking you to do this, do that.
If I had to single one guy out who is the most difficult player to guard in the league, it would have to be Carmelo.
You see more friendships in the league. It's not like in the '80s when you had enemies, or you couldn't stand this guy, and there were fights all the time.
I listened to Tupac and a lot of Biggie Smalls.
I'm a basketball junkie and a real historian of the game, so for me to get a chance to express it and give my perspective on a national stage, I'm really enjoying it.
The '80s, '90s, and early 2000s genes of competitive fire are dead and gone.
The media in Utah is not the same as the media in New York, so that can wear on some people.
It's just something about great players when they play in certain arenas or against other great players. They elevate their play. LeBron is one of those guys. He feels the moment. He understands the moment.
Dislike is what creates rivalries.
I just love the pressure, truthfully, man.
I'm not a guy who goes into the neighborhood, gets beat up by the bully's gang, and then now I want to join their gang. That's just not me. I wanna fight - let's go! I mean, I'm gonna stand up for myself. That's just the competitive nature of where I come from, the era I grew up in.
Sometimes when general managers get a new job, they clean house and start over and rebuild and get the players they want in there.
You can't listen to every little thing that's bad or good said about you. I always used that - whenever I heard it, I used it as fuel to motivate me, man. That's how I was raised, whenever I came up.
Every kid who just played basketball knew about the Boston Celtics. They're one of the few teams who were always on national TV along with the Lakers.
Understanding history means knowing what motivates you.
I think too much of my leadership is done the bad way.
I want to be the dad that my father never was.
LeBron is a great post-up player, but if you get him to settle for the jumper on some nights, you might be able to slow him down if his shot is off.
I just think it's really upsetting when you see a community just go out and burn down stores and trash cars.
You definitely gotta get more rest as an older player than you did when you were young. You're young, full of energy. You're out, up late, watching movies or out hanging out with your friends.
We used to play 'Double Dribble' on Nintendo. Later, in high school, it was more 'NBA Live' and 'John Madden Football.'
It's just something I've always loved to do: talk basketball. It's easy for me to give my perspective, my analyst approach to it, because even when I played, I would watch film, talk about the game.
I always say I wish I was in my prime matching up against LeBron. Let's see how many championships he would have won then.
I can't remember last time I had a soda. It tastes like acid to me now.
If I see LeBron walking down the street, it's not going to be no fistfight. I've got a lot of respect for him.
I love the fact that, if I don't win multiple championships, that I probably won't be mentioned amongst the other guys in Celtics history who've done it before. That type of stuff motivates me.
That is one of my greatest strengths. I am not afraid to face challenges or any matchup in the league.
After 18 NBA years, it's hard to believe I'll be playing in each arena for the last time.
When you come off a losing season - one of the worst seasons in all of basketball - and get guys like Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, two perennial All-Stars, we felt like we had a championship team.
If they're not talking about you, you're not doing something; you're not doing anything. So if they're talking about you, you may be doing something right. And when they talk bad about you, you just use it for motivation.
I understand when you have great players on losing teams who are tired of losing, struggling in the playoffs every year. You're the lone star. I've been in that position.
Understanding who you are is saying, 'You're great; you have tons of confidence, and don't ever forget that.' And that helped me, man. Because when things weren't going right, I thought, 'You've got to remember who you are. Don't stray from that. Don't let these things get you down.'
You can actually get calls by yelling, 'And one!' as you release.
It's crazy how people just don't care sometimes about the kids they have.
Kobe is one of the best scorers in NBA history, but I don't have as much trouble with him in the post as I do with Carmelo.
I've got three beautiful kids that wear me out after I get home from practice. I think that's a good thing so I'm able to get my rest.
I was a typical K-Swiss guy with sweatsuits. I was a ball player, so the ballers, we wore our game shorts to class. We didn't really have a fashion in high school like other kids.
I knew I wasn't going to be a scientist; I knew that early. When they started talking about dissecting frogs, I knew I wasn't going to be a scientist.
I think I've had an illustrious career.
The NBA is changing so much. It's not like when I came up, with that old-school mentality that practice really mattered.
