The relationships that I've built there, and the people that I've come across, I met some of my best friends in life at the University of Texas.
Mohamed Bamba
You gotta deal with a lot of people, the naysayers... but I've always been the guy who kinda just smiles and laughs at it. I use it as constructive criticism to be honest. Whether they're intentionally trying to be kind of spiteful or not, it's constructive criticism because you can't say there's always truth to it but there's definitely something.
I watched the Knicks when they were at their worst, and I would always root for them because it's always been in my heart.
There's a rumor that my great-grandmother was 6'7''. I don't know if it's necessarily true, but that's a big woman.
Tony Bradley is pretty good.
At first, Coach Smart was big on not overwhelming me. But I told him, 'My mental capacity is a lot more than you think it is. I can take it.'
With that corner 3, it's the highest percentage shot in the game.
My whole thing is if you want to do it, then do it. Kobe told me this, but he said, 'You don't wanna lay all your eggs in one basket, but you wanna lay all your eggs in one basket.' If you wanna do something and be great at it, that's what you're going to have to specialize in. Just take it and run.
I truly believe motivation is internal, but there are so many things that happen externally, and it's hard to not pick that up as motivation.
I'm not a guy who is out there looking to get his game going or put up shots; I'm out there to win, and I don't care if I'm playing three or 30 minutes.
I need to improve on a lot of different areas. I need to improve on my timing on my shot-blocking, when to go, and when not to go. And there's definitely always room for improvement on my shooting.
I don't really want to be cocky when I say this, but I really feel I can be one of the best rim protectors in the league, you know, as a rookie.
I have the natural ability to pick things up a lot faster than I think most people would.
If you look at all the great shot-blockers of all time, they had length, and they had instincts. Even when you look at guards, like Dwyane Wade. He's one of the best shot-blocking guards ever, and he has great instincts. He's kind of cat-like.
Coach Smart did a great job of just letting me come to terms with myself as a basketball player and a person.
A unicorn is a mythical creature that you've never seen before. And a unicorn player, he makes plays and does stuff you've never seen before.
That's something I embrace, just doing stuff not many people can do.
A 7-footer who hits a step-back jumper - that's a pretty unicorn-like thing. Or someone who blocks a shot off the top of the backboard, pushes it in transition, and finds a shooter in the corner - that's pretty unicorn-like.
One of my goals is to be Defensive Player of the Year. One of my goals is to be Rookie of the Year. And one of my long-term goals is to be walking across that stage with a jacket on and a nice little patch on it that says 'Hall of Fame.'
Chicago is a great city.
I want to put myself in the best position to stay out on the floor.
Whenever I guard a guard, I don't want to reach too much, but I will poke at the ball once to get him thinking.
Anthony Davis' lateral movement is one of a kind.
A lot of playcalls are for the corner 3. I thought that's something I should really work on.
Although there's no one I really pattern my game after, I am a firm believer in stealing stuff from other people.
I have game-changing defensive abilities.
I'm looking forward to playing against LeBron.
Some kids have lifelong dreams of wanting to play in the NBA.
I got everything I wanted out of Texas. Obviously, you'd love to win more. You'd love to win a national championship and compete at that level. But as far as relationships and development, I couldn't be happier.
I don't want to take away from anything from my time at Texas. I think it was actually pretty darn special.
Don't be one foot in and one foot out, especially coming up in New York. It's so easy to lose sight of what you want to do and who you want to be.
There was a lot of other people that had their own song or their name in a verse in high school. I was just like, 'To stamp my high school career, I gotta get my name in a song.'
One thing that drives me crazy is when people tell me that I sound good for an athlete. They be like, 'You don't sound like you from Harlem.'
I'd say the best thing my parents passed on to me was to let me make my own mistakes and figure out on my age how to kind of see the world on my own.
I credit a lot of my success to being from Harlem, growing up there.
Coach Smart, he's given me so much freedom to sort of grow into who I was.
There are things that I need to do better, and I need to get to a point where it's hard to not have me on the court.
Having the tools and the intangibles mean nothing unless you are surrounded by the best.
I love fast breaks, and I love playing full-court basketball, but offensively in the half court, I kind of take my time, let guys cut, and let the defense move. Then, if I have a move, I'll go. If not, I'll just hand it off to a teammate.
I truly have New York embedded in my blood.
It feels great when you work on something so long, and you see signs of growth. When you see it starting to pay off, it's such a great feeling.
I don't know why, but I don't really get too nervous before games or practices or whatever.
I'm going to be a guy who can defend a bunch of different positions.
Being told to get out, not being afraid to fail and try new things - that really makes a difference.
Absolutely, I believe that I have the tools, the presence, and all the make-up to be the No. 1 pick.
What makes me unique is my ability to adapt to different situations and switch onto smaller guards and stay out there. Another component to being out there on the floor - and this is something that I learned as my college career went on - was staying on the floor, literally, comes down to not picking up fouls.
As far as what teams need and what I need, I'm open to anything a team has to say about how they envision me in their future.
I honestly think, rebounding, it takes a couple of things to be a good rebounder... It takes motor. It takes effort. It takes a lot of things. It takes game reps.
Rebounding in practice and rebounding in games are two completely different things.
I like to think of myself as a pretty good shot blocker.
