Athlete

I do. I vote. People died for our right to vote, you know, and I can't let that go.

I remember in high school, I ate some nachos probably like an hour, half-hour before the game, and it's kind of gross, but a little of it came up while I was running - you know you get that burp - and I literally coughed at the same time, and it got caught in my nose, and it was during the game.

If it's about working out and playing basketball, I'm one of the best in the world to do it - at least two years ago. But I'm still in a space where I can play.

I gave everything I had. All your feelings, all your energy, you put everything out there. And you come up short.

Being in the NBA, being successful, being able to win championships at the highest level in the world, there's certain core values that you have, certain things you have to follow.

Man, I'm just going to be myself. I shouldn't have to apologize for that. If people don't understand that, then they don't understand it. I'm not going to try to be somebody I'm not.

I would want to work with guys that maybe aren't starters, guys that are the fourth or fifth option.

You give me enough shots, I'll average 20. You give me a particular system where I stick close to the basket, I'll average 10 rebounds.

I have millions of dollars, and I don't know finance. I've had some bad things happen in my career. I've got to educate myself. I sit down with my finance guy once a month and go over everything, line by line.

CB4 is never coming back. A few years later, I think I'm a much better player. It's funny, even all the way over here in Africa, people are telling me, 'We need CB4 back.' I can't be that. That's impossible.

People used to ask me, 'What else do you want to do?' For me, the answer was, 'Nothing.' I loved basketball. It's all I wanted.

My house is going - kids running out, my wife is running in and out - but I like to sit down and have breakfast.

I'm used to practicing. I'm used to the schedule. That's kind of what I was born to do. That's what I've been doing my whole life.

I do kind of marvel at my journey. But at the same time, I look back at a lot of the steps, and maybe not every step, but a lot of the steps, and since I was 12 or 13, I look at the people who helped me and the moments that were inspirational to me, and you can recall what my mindset and what my make-up was at that time to try and be the best.

You have to be ready to compete. Because lots of people dream that dream, to be the best at something. But are you ready to commit to the hard work that it takes to get there? For me, it just became a part of my life, and it was what it was. Another day, another basketball practice or another game.

If a doctor tells me, 'Hey, that's it, and this is how it is,' and I don't buy that, then I think I have the right to disagree with you.

If they need me to score 30, I can go do it. If they need me to just rebound and defend, I can do that. I can play this game, just in case people forgot. You just carry that chip on your shoulder, and you go out there and do what I was put on this Earth to do.

That's one thing I pride myself a lot more now, playing defense, I do what the team needs me to do. If we need a stop, I'll do it. That's a major, major part of my game now.

You're playing games every two or three nights, so there's no real time off.

It is a business. I know we, as athletes and owners and people involved with the NBA, never want to say that it's a business and things like that. It is a business.