A gentleman pays his debt within a week or two.
Charles Oakley
Potential is like a summer crop. If it don't rain, it don't grow.
I've got too much heart and pride for the game.
I'm a trendsetter. I'm a leader, not a follower.
I'm not a troublemaker. People say, 'You got into a lot of incidents.' Yeah, but it was on the basketball floor.
In the old days Michael Jordan and Larry Bird worked for everything they got. They worked hard on their game.
A shirt look good when you iron it but if you iron too much, it gonna get burned.
I'm cool with whatever. I'll just keep eating my bread, sipping my soup and serving my time. But the chicken is going to lay some more eggs one day.
You can't throw a hook on the side of the road and expect to catch a fish in the grass.
If I would compare anybody to Michael Jordan, it would be Kobe Bryant.
I always try to treat people with respect and I just don't know. I got three assault cases for no reason.
When you walk out here with the Bobcats logo, stand for something. Not wearing your hat to the back, sagging jeans. Be a professional, that's how I present myself to them.
Just because there's glass on the road don't mean there's been an accident.
Coming from the inner city of Cleveland and growing up you never expected a street to be named after you or anything. It's a special honor.
Why complain to the NBA and to the officials all the time, just like Tyrone Hill, always complaining about me on the court?
A lot of guys do the pretty things. Dunking, tattoos, earrings, sagging jeans. That's the league now. They have athletic ability, but they don't know the game.
Every superstar in this league, if you don't go through adversity, if you try to duck and dodge it, it's gonna damper your team.
Every headline in the paper, I don't write them. My story's inside the paper, not the headline.
I'm always willing to work stuff out, because I'm that type of guy.
I'm a veteran. I understand the game. I can control a game. I understand systems. I can play several positions.
People say, 'You're old.' Old ain't nothing. You've got new cars that break down and old cars that pass them.
Even though I retired, I work out four to five days a week, run two to three miles, I play ball.
I love New York, gave my whole heart.
My thing was, if somebody talks about you this and that, you got to go prove them wrong.
You can't shut somebody up by losing.
Some things don't just walk away. A dog got a broken leg, he ain't just going to walk away. He going to try to get himself together.
Don't say, 'I don't want to do this, because, whatever.' Don't give up on something. You got to work hard.
Do me a favor and don't make me out to be no hero.
I'm in New York every two weeks. I don't have to ring a bell when I come to the city. I just do what I'm supposed to do when I'm in the city. I don't shy away.
It's been so overwhelming, the people in New York. That's why they call New York, New York - because they care about things and know real situations. My love for the fans, it's mouth-dropping.
One guy can't make a team better.
They told me many times throughout my career to bite my tongue and I told them my tongue's been bleeding since I was born.
I just don't like when you preach one thing and do something else.
I ask everybody, who's the best between Magic and LeBron? Everyone says Michael's greatest. But, OK, well, we'll give him his props. But LeBron is a better athlete, and he can do more than Michael on the basketball court.
If you see a man kiss me, I better be in my casket.
I just tried to go out there and play with attitude, doing what I was supposed to do and knowing my role on the team. Doing what my team expected me to do every night, not just once a week. It was all about work and I was just a tough guy who would knock somebody down.
We had guys come out of high school, Moses Malone, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, but all these guys could play.
Back in our day and era, you had to have your potential and be ready to play right away. Everybody was talented.
I don't like 7-footers shooting threes, it's a disrespect to the game for me.
If you're picky, you have to learn about cooking.
People hate to go out to eat with me because they know I'm going to send it back. Like, I'm trying to order simple. But don't blame me if you bring out the wrong stuff.
If you're out after 6 o'clock, have a jacket on, because you might go somewhere. People say, 'Oh, I ain't dressed for it.' But if you have a jacket on, you can go anywhere.
My thing is, when Barkley played basketball, he didn't practice, he wasn't a leader, he wasn't this or that, he just had natural talent so he got chosen to the Dream Team, All Star team because he had the talent and he was the franchise player on the team.
If you have a horse that isn't winning any races, sooner or later you have to get a new jockey.
I just want to let the fans know I don't hate the Knicks. I love the Knicks.
You can't play Around the World in the NBA, you've gotta go to the basket.
I was in New York, I went to a Yankees game and I called and said, 'Can I get tickets to the Knicks game?' They said, 'We can't get you tickets no more to the Knicks game.'... They had tickets, but they said they didn't have no tickets for me.
Chicago was a good place for me. Maybe New York will be better.
One of the things about the NBA is anybody could be traded.
I don't just hop in the car. I have destinations. I drive to relax. I'll be gone for two weeks, hit four or five major cities. I don't like being nowhere for more than two or three days. I just go. I don't have a schedule.
