When I was a kid, like 14 or 15, I played with the waiters from the hotel, 'cause that was the best game. And these guys, they'd let me play. And they were black guys.

A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.

Push yourself again and again. Don't give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.

Don't let winning make you soft. Don't let losing make you quit. Don't let your teammates down in any situation.

I've got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.

I learned what my weaknesses were and I went out the next day to turn those weaknesses intro strengths.

My coach told me, "Larry, no matter how much you work at it, there's always someone out there who's working just a little harder - if you take 150 practice shots, he's taking 200." And that drove me.

I wasn't real quick, and I wasn't real strong. Some guys will just take off and it's like, whoa. So I beat them with my mind and my fundamentals.

There are many times when you are better off practicing than playing; but most people just don't understand that

I don't think that once you get to one level, you can relax. You've got to keep pushing.

You're all playin' for second place.

...books give a man ideas, they make him want to live.

Where did you get your sadness from? I picked it up on the side of the road. Itwas bleeding and scratched and keeninglike a mangled thing, but it looked toobeautiful for me to just walk away.

I think it's a brilliant tool to have, not only to have a sense of humor, but to be able to use humor to help one navigate life, and I tend not to be that type of person. I wish I were.

Above all, know that ego isn't personal. It isn't who you are. If you consider the ego to be your personal problem, that's just more ego.

Guard units in the U.S. are suffering severe equipment shortages which will affect their ability to respond to emergencies in their home States, such as Katrina

When we know our strengths, we're more likely to use them.

The strong is not the one who is physically powerful, but indeed, the one who controls himself when angry.

Guilt is a gift from Allah warning you that what you are doing is violating your soul

Throwing blondes at Locke Lamora was not unlike throwing lettuce at sharks.

The greatest single cause of a poor self-image is the absence of unconditional love.