My dad coached 41 years, and I was always around coaches.
— Stan Van Gundy
I'm pretty sure that every player who's ever played for me doesn't hate me. Now, we'd have to do a survey, but I've coached a lot of guys, and I'm pretty sure there's one or two that don't hate me. I don't know that any liked me. But I'm pretty sure there's one or two who don't hate me.
The NCAA is one of the worst organizations - maybe the worst organization - in sports. They certainly don't care about the athlete.
Coaches are going to adapt to whatever the rules are. The rules certainly change strategy.
Our country was founded on protest. Otherwise, we would still be a colony of England.
We've changed a lot of things to help certain groups of people. We widened the lane from 6 feet to 12 feet to 16 feet to make it so the big guys aren't as dominant. Well, why didn't we just say, 'You've got to learn to play against them in the post?'
I think we get a little carried away with ourselves with sports thinking we're more important than everything else.
I've always believed that. I'm not a guy who comes in with an offensive system, and we try to fit guys to it. I think it goes the other way. 'Here's who we've got. Let's put them in the right spots where they can be productive.'
LeBron is LeBron. They're not going to call offensive fouls on him. He gets to do what he wants.
I really think the people I run into in the NBA, whether it's the front office side or in coaching, everybody wants to work in an atmosphere where everybody's pulling in the same direction.
Our founding fathers declared independence from Great Britain because they were dissatisfied with the laws and policies that they believed abridged their freedoms. Had they taken the stance that many want our professional athletes to take - to just shut up and honor your country no matter what - we would be living in British colonies.
I am more off-the-cuff and wear my emotions on my sleeve more than I should.
I've been around a lot of great coaches in college and the NBA, and I knew Erik Spoelstra three months, and I told my wife, father, and brother that this guy is going to be a helluva coach.
Shaq's a very sensitive guy.
I've argued for a long time here... that I think that one of the things that is absolutely killing parity is the individual maximum salary.
Every coach in every sport, one of their larger concerns is the balance between work and rest. We all think about it all the time.
In this business, if you lose, you're gonna get fired. Now, if you win, you still may get fired. That's the hard part. You see guys having success and getting fired. That's really tough to watch.
The league has been good to all of us in terms of what we get out of all these TV contracts and everything, so it would be a little disingenuous to complain too much. But if I had my way, we'd take a five-day break at Christmas. I mean it.
I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas Day other than watch an NBA game.
Josh Smith, put in the right spots, is an outstanding player. You put Josh down on the right block, in the low post or even on a short isolation - 12 feet, 15 feet from the basket - he can get to the rim. He's outstanding. He's not only a very willing passer but an outstanding passer. I think it's the best part of Josh's game.
I've been privileged to coach a lot of great people, high-character guys, and I don't think I've ever coached a better professional than Joel Anthony.
Rondo's a great player, and most teams look at it that anytime you have a chance to get a great player, you do it.
Holding people presumed to be innocent in jail pre-trial simply because they cannot afford to pay their bail extracts huge human and financial costs.
It's what you do on the court. Talking's easy.
After every loss, you want to trade everybody. I've felt that way several times.
The criticism from the media never really bothered me. I'd correct it when I can, but that's their job. If stuff wasn't personal, then it really didn't bother me.
I certainly would not call myself creative. There are other coaches who are innovative and everything else. I wouldn't be that guy, that's for sure.
We took the handcheck out of the game to give guys like Steph Curry more freedom. Why didn't we say, 'Just get in the weight room and get stronger?'
Christmas to me, obviously, basketball is very important to me, but there are some days of the year where it's got to take a back seat to something.
If I'm going to be grinding, then I want to coach. If I'm not going to be coaching, I want to be semi-retired, at least.
Sometimes expanding your game isn't better. Sometimes shrinking your game is a little bit better and really get to the things you do well.
It's hard to be successful over the long term if you're not unified and there's not that synergy between coach and front office.
People should never be permitted to feel comfortable while trampling the rights of others.
Exacerbating the problem of mass incarceration is that, even after someone is released from prison, the stigma of a misdemeanor or felony conviction makes finding gainful employment difficult, if not impossible.
