Be on time, work hard every day, try to help your teammate, look for the team first. If you do that, everybody's gonna respect you.
Jose Calderon
In the NBA you are pretty confident but you are one phone call away from being somewhere else; you've just got to be ready for everything.
I wasn't drafted. I was just playing really good basketball, enjoying playing basketball with my national team and never really thought: 'I have to get to the NBA.'
I feel like a coach when I'm on the court. I just see basketball as a team sport.
You can't compare my numbers to the other point guards. I'm a different kind of player - if you like it or not.
It will be my fourth Olympics. I don't know if I'll have a chance to play more. I think four is a good number. After 16 years on the national team, I'm not going to get to 2020. It's a little bit too far for me.
I didn't expect to be in the NBA.
I left my home when I was 13 years old, I was a professional at 17, and I've been playing basketball since.
I know my weaknesses, and I'm always honest with myself.
I have never worked in an office.
I always said I wasn't the one putting me in the starting role or playing me 35 minutes.
I've been in the league 12 years and I know what I do best or not do as well.
I play a certain way and played like that for a while. Maybe you want a point guard to shoot 20 times, I like more to pass the ball and do my job running the team.
I just want to be myself, just be healthy and play basketball.
I think being healthy can change everything.
I have got pictures of me sleeping on the bench when I was four years old while my dad was practicing. I used to go to practice with him all of the time and they would play until it was late. I sometimes got tired and I would be sleeping there, but it was inside so not too bad.
My dad never really taught me anything about the game, he was never on me in the basketball aspect of life.
I always say that, I never talked about the NBA, I never talked about anything because I was just playing basketball for fun. I didn't think about being a professional and I didn't even know you could be signed.
I watched zero NBA basketball growing up. It was available but it was too late and I had school.
There are so many people who helped me during all those years in Toronto for everything. Not just about basketball, it's everything. Like life, with my family. Everything.
I played for so long with the national team. It was great but it's time for the young guys to play.
The more important thing is I wanted to show that I can play and have fun. In L.A. I couldn't because they were going in a different direction.
I think I can be helpful for a lot of teams.
I don't have family in Mexico. Nothing. I'm just from Spain.
I just try to compete. That's all. There's gonna be faster guys, stronger guys, but you just gotta give effort.
I'm a pass-first point guard that tries to get everybody involved.
When I was 13 years old, that's when my team assigned me - and I wound up living, like, six hundred kilometers from my home to play basketball.
At 17... I went to the second division in Spain, played a lot of minutes, and we actually won that league.
My dad played for... the Villanueva de la Serena, so I guess that's why I play basketball instead of soccer.
You just go out there and try to do your best. Some days are great. Other nights, it's maybe not your day. It's the other guy's day.
It's about enjoying what you do, and that's what I try to tell everybody, 'Hey. When we wake up tomorrow, let's go hard again and let's try to do better.' That's all we can do, and that has been me all these years. I'll keep doing that until I retire.
There is pressure on me, but I welcome it.
I never liked to be the one who did all the scoring, things like that.
To win, you have to involve all your teammates because if not, it is too difficult. One guy, it is impossible to win something big.
This is a sport about the team. There are big stars but without a team, big stars cannot do anything.
If I'm on the bench, it's the bench. If I'm playing five or 30 minutes, I'm good.
When guys work and they put the time in, it's always good to see them have success.
At the end of the day, maybe I'm not like the other guys. Maybe I'm not as fast as them. I cannot jump as high as them. But it's been 11 years for me now. You just play different.
The problem is when you start comparing numbers to other point guards. The league is about numbers, and it's crazy. You make those comparisons, and I'm losing every battle.
When you're with a team and you're comfortable there, everything seems O.K. You play a lot of minutes. You make the playoffs. You don't miss practice - all of that stuff. So when you leave for the summer, you're like, 'See you next year!' You expect maybe some changes, but nothing involving you.
I don't care about my shots or my points or my assists. It's about playing the right way, trying to get everybody involved.
Just try to make the easy pass. Sometimes it's the easiest one that's the best one.
I don't need to be the fastest or be able to jump highest to be effective or do the right things to help the team.
It's impossible to get everyone to love you.
Sometimes I play better. Sometimes I have a bad game. But as a team, it's not about me.
That's the key - there is no secret. Just trust your teammates and play together.
The NBA is getting bigger. Basketball is getting better around the world. There are more players. There are better coaches around it, so that's why there are more international players, not only Hispanic players, but from everywhere.
Trying to speak English, to learn what my teammates were saying, to learn what I wanted to say - basketball, you have to learn the way to play here and get used to your teammates, but for me the toughest part was communication.
I've missed too much of my family life. I want to spend more time with my wife and kids.
At some point, everyone who is playing, their dream is to be in the NBA, because that's where all the best players are.
