My mother and brother made me strive to get good grades and get through school.
Kyle Lowry
Free agency is free agency. I love when NBA players get paid.
Growing up, there were not many people I trusted. There are stories for days about how my attitude was. A lot of it's true. A lot of it's not true.
The regular season doesn't matter.
I just go out there and try to help my team win no matter what.
From Rick Adelman to Kevin McHale, it was a big difference. Things are a lot stricter with McHale, and with Rick, things are a lot different, offensively, defensively. You go from being successful as hell with one coach and being comfortable with the coach to, yes, I was really successful with Kevin McHale, but I just didn't do it the right way.
The advantage of playing in Toronto is not playing for one city, you're playing for a country.
We understand it's a 48 -minute game and for us it's always win or go home and that's what we do.
My freshman year, I was such an immature kid and I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know what I wanted or what I could do or what my abilities were off the court.
It's always special to be an All-Star.
Being able to provide for me and my brother and my family, that's pressure.
I believe I had an unfair reputation. If people think I was a bad kid, I was a bad kid to them. But people close to me know I'm not.
My rookie year, we used to play all the time, literally play 'Call of Duty' all the time, because it was like all of the younger guys on the team would get into the communication with the headsets and talking trash.
I believe that every single game in the Playoffs, round 1 to Eastern Conference Finals, every single game is a different game.
I don't want to be a guy that's just out there to be out there; I want to play and contribute.
Our fan base in Toronto is crazy. Every single night we sell out. The fans come there and support us and they do a great job of coming out cheering loud and showing their passion and electrifying the building.
I'll never be satisfied with where my game is. I always think I can get better.
Game 7 is what you play for. It's what you work for.
My job is, as a player, to go out here and do my job.
I've always been second fiddle, man, to everything. Everything. But I never believed that I was lesser than this person, that person, anybody. I always thought I was on the same level.
You're not just playing for one city in Toronto, you're playing for Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton.
When I see a play one time, I've got it. When I see it twice, I master it. When I see it three times, I know where the loopholes are.
Going through rough times will only make me and my team stronger.
I get paid to do a job that I love to do, so I'm going to go out there and give it my all every night.
I do play with a chip on my shoulder. That's who I am. That's how Philadelphia basketball players are raised.
We have to let our defense dictate our offense.
If you drive right, and your big is standing to the right, dish and keep going to their big - you grab an arm, maybe pull - so that they can't contest. You only get called for it once in a while.
I understood even in college, when you win as a team, everyone gets their own accolades, individual accolades.
I know I can shoot when I want. I know I'm going to have the ball. It's about seeing what the team needs at that time.
Bringing a championship to the city of Toronto and the country of Canada has been one the best things I've done so far in my career, and I'll push for that goal every single year I play this game.
We gotta play hard and leave it all out there. Dive for lose balls, take charges, just do whatever it takes to win the game.
I don't mind being a second fiddle. I don't mind that. I don't care whatever happens, whatever helps my team get a championship is what I want to do. Whatever helps my team win is what I want to do.
I'm never satisfied.
Go out there and play hard, understand your teammates, understand the other team's gameplan, understand your coaches' philosophies and what they want you to do. There's nothing better than showing, though; more than talking, you have to make your actions speak louder than words.
It's cool to make the playoffs. It's not cool to lose in the first round anymore. The goal is to make the Finals.
I grew up in a horrible neighborhood.
That's a big thing for me, being a guy that upholds himself to a high standard.
There is a sense of frustration because we are losing games that we know we are capable of winning.
I think everyone is just expanding, with the centers shooting 3s. I think that just opens the floor up a lot more. A lot more shots are going up, a lot more freedom of movement. It makes it more of an exciting game.
If you go to a team that's fighting for a playoff spot, you just want to fit in. That's all you want to do. Go in with an open mind and let yourself take it in.
I would be a very demanding coach. I wouldn't yell and scream, but I want players that want what I want. And that's why I couldn't coach, 'cause I know how hard it is and I know how hard I want you to play. But everyone's not going to do what I want.
I love being an All-Star and continue to want to be an All-Star because that just shows you my talent and who I am. But I've always been a team player.
I was always in good shape.
To have a high basketball IQ, I think you have to be unselfish, but also selfish at the same time. To be able to say, okay, I know this is going to work, so let's do it.
I don't count no one else's money. I want everyone to be taken care of and be able to take care of their families and be successful.
In this world, and all the things we have going on, we're all human beings.
You've got to be able to go out there and do the small things. I went to Villanova, and I didn't start my freshman year until the last two games of the season. And I think that continuously not being 'The Man' helped me as an individual be able to say, 'Listen, what else do you need me to do?'
Thank you to the wonderful Raptors fans across the NBA, especially in Canada! I am amazed by your passion for our team and the support you have given me.
Personally, I take it really seriously and it bothers me when I don't play well.
People say I'm a natural leader, but I just go out there and do my job and do whatever it takes to win; that's what comes with being a leader, those are the sort of things I've done as I've tried to grow into a leader and I'm just going to continue to do them.
