I never thought I would be in a situation where I would have to go into the stands and actually help my teammate fight fans. But at that time, there's no way I could have lived with myself knowing that my teammate is in the stands fighting and I'm not helping him.
— Stephen Jackson
I'm not going to let Kobe throw elbows at me.
How many people can say that they've punched a fan?
I came into the NBA not looking at it as a job but the same way I did when I was playing at the Y. I was just getting a paid a lot of money to do it, that's all.
I went to Golden State and helped them get to the playoffs my first year there, and they haven't been to the playoffs in 13 years. I played in Charlotte... and I got them to the playoffs. So, every team I go to, I make them better.
I am Port Arthur. I'm the president of Port Arthur.
Being from the South, I was really into Southern rap, but I listened to a lot of stuff from all over.
I'm never going to settle for losing.
I had a taste of a championship in San Antonio, and that was big for me. I cried when we won, and I hadn't cried in 10 years before that. It felt good, everything I'd been through, to say I was the champion at the end of the year.
I was raised that if I'm with you and we get in a fight, I'm going to help you. We're going down together. That's how it goes.
There's one thing that people will never know about Tim Duncan: Tim Duncan might know more UFC moves and more fighting moves than anybody in the UFC.
All the racial slurs I done heard. All the things I heard about my mom, and my basketball game and my kids, all this. It felt good to punch a fan one time.
If you are walking through the hood and you notice the cracks in the sidewalk where all the weeds, pebbles, dirt and grit settle in, that's me.
People don't understand how it feels to be with a guy who you call your teammate and you're with more than your family during the course of a season.
I don't want to be fake.
Nobody wants to play the game more than Kawhi. Nobody wants to be great or go down as one of the greatest more than Kawhi. So his heart and his passion and if he wants to play basketball should never be questioned.
Mike Brown is a guy I definitely respect.
Kobe can play in any league.
I never met a dollar that could change me. Been the same guy since day one.
I grew up on Geto Boys and of course UGK, who put my hometown of Port Arthur, Texas, on the map. I was about Goodie Mob and OutKast too.
I'm not stupid. I mean, I didn't go to college but I've got a lot of common sense.
God chose me for a reason. My momma tells me that every day. I know there's a million people who want to be in my shoes.
I think Don King has always been an idiot in my mind. He's always been about money. I don't think he cares about anything else but himself.
Before 2 Chainz got big, he used to sleep on my couch.
I played quarterback, safety and receiver.
It's hard for any man to take something thrown at his face and not to retaliate.
Just because we make a lot of money we're supposed to be the bigger person? Fans tell us that our kids are ugly and that they should have thrown our mothers in jail for having us. That's not disrespectful?
You can't expect a coach to win with guys that don't even care about the game.
I don't want to be a guy who's just sitting on the bench stealing money.
I got a lot of respect for my OGs, so when they ask me to do something, I do it.
I couldn't afford to go to the record store to buy new tapes, so I'd tape everything off the radio. Just hit record when my song came on. I used to take my mom's tapes and tape over them. I had a nice little collection. Had my own Stephen Jackson mixtapes off the radio!
I'm a grown man. I have six kids. I'm married now. So I speak my mind.
There's a lot of guys that play the game of basketball for the money, for the fame.
Anytime you want to take time off from a job that millions of brothers work so hard to get here, that's not being humble.
My rookie year, Byron Scott didn't really want to sign me. In New Jersey, the New Jersey Nets. I got there, and Byron Scott didn't really like me, but they let me come to camp and I was having a great camp. Stephon Marbury embraced me.
I'm from Texas, so we used to wear our pants starched down like a cowboy. So when I got to New York, to New Jersey, everybody was laughing at me like, 'Look at his pants! His pants could stand up by themselves!'
I am going to be happy regardless where I am at as long as I am playing basketball with some guys that have the same common goal that I have, and that is to win.
