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" You are overboard in deep open water without a PFD (personal floatation device), or at least that's what your instructor is yelling. Sink or swim, plebe. "

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" In some ways, you have to fail some. You have to figure that stuff out, because if I didn't have an Hakeem Olajuwon, would I have been able to achieve the heights that I did achieve? I don't think so. He pushed me, and I pushed him. "

" I hope the young guys who are playing today realize what they have been given and will take it upon themselves to give back in return. "

" Believe it or not, the Navy requires plebes to actually be able to swim. "

" We went through a nice stretch of big guys. But soon, everyone is going to realize that there's only one Steph Curry. "

" A lot of these teams really forget that part of success comes with having veteran leadership. You see a lot of teams forget that and start letting go of these old veterans. They don't realize how important it is to have a veteran voice in your locker room or on the bench. It's important to have guys who have been there before. "

" It was difficult to step away. I've always been an athlete. And to give that up was extremely daunting. The looming factor of brain damage, to me, was too strong. "

" I think everything works in cycles. I was fortunate enough to come along in the golden age for big men. There were guys like Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing. "

" When all else fails, trust God. "

When All Else Fails

" My fouls used to be ticky-tacky, but I learned real fast to make them count. "

" I played for a long time, and there's not many guys I would say, 'O.K., take any shot you want.' "

" I have the unique distinction of being on the only Olympic team to lose without controversy, and the only Pan Am Games team to lose without controversy. "

" This is sports. In sports, you win and you lose. That's the nature of sports. You can't get away from that part of it. And if you get too hung up on the losing part, then you miss the boat. The competition part, a game like that, is why you play sports. That is as good as it gets. "

" When you get on the floor, you've got to think you're the best player. Everybody does that. "

" Preparation is everything. "

" Popovich is always talking about team. "

" Your peers will respect you for your integrity and character, not your possessions. "

" In the NBA, you're taking a bunch of different talents, and you're managing them. You have to give them a system; you have to give them a belief. That's why coaches like Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich are so great: because they gave the team confidence in the system and in their ability to execute night in and night out. "

" You have to raise your game, you have to be ready to compete, and you've just got to give Hakeem credit. He was great. He really was great. "

" I was probably a naive youth, but I saw that I could make things happen. "

" Your grandfather is and will always be your hero, your inspiration. He fought in World War II, came home to Little Rock, Arkansas, and worked for 50 years as a mailman in the segregated south. Not once did he get a job promotion in five decades. But he kept working all the same. "

" Largely in the beginning, I did a lot of extra work because I was lighter than all the other guys. I was at a massive disadvantage, so I had to put on weight. I started with eating. I had to really focus on my diet. "

" All this stuff doesn't happen to you for your own sake. It doesn't happen to you so you can fill your shelves with trophies or line your pockets with cash; it happens so you can have a positive influence and encourage other people. "

" Most proud moment: Winning the championship in 2003 with a great team, retiring, and going out in the perfect way. Had a great journey and knowing it was the right time to focus more on family and community activities. "

" If you're a better scorer than me, I'll put you down on the block; you score. I don't care. I can do other things. "

" You give a team a month - three weeks - to get together, and you're going to make mistakes. You're just not going to be as sharp. "

" I'm not a great reader, believe it or not. It's not the vocabulary - my father made me read the dictionary when I was little - but my attention span is poor. Takes me months to read one book. "

" Sometimes I feel like hitting somebody. You look at the refs and they say, 'We'll take care of it.' I think, 'Yeah? You won't take care of it the way I'd like to take care of it.' "

" Tanzania sells about 50 million pounds of coffee a year to coffee-shop chains such as Starbucks and Peet's. But Sweet Unity is the only finished, branded product from the East African country to be sold directly in the U.S. "

" Michael, to me, he was an assassin. He was one of those guys that prepared himself extremely well and was relentless in his attacking. And there are a few guys who have that mentality. I think Kobe Bryant has that type of mentality, and LeBron has that type of mentality. "

" My dad was in the Navy, and I was raised with a strong commitment to service. "