“It takes a lot of hard work to get to the NBA. There are millions of guys in the world who want to be there. I’m not the most talented player in the league, but it isn’t all about talent. It’s also about hard work and dedication.”
“I never have to worry about what I said to a young man when I recruited him and bring him in. I don’t have to go to an assistant and say, ‘How many minutes a game did we promise this guy?’ I’ve never done any of that. Every player that comes in here realizes they have to work to be able to get on the floor.”
“The one bad habit that we have to stop is, when guys miss shots, their energy just goes so flat. And you know me. The teams that I’ve played on in my career, when we missed shots, it was the total opposite. Our defensive energy picked up twice as much. We’ve definitely got some guys with some fight, but the most important thing is we need to see that fight from the beginning. Resilience is something that these guys do have. They don’t care who they’re playing against or where it’s at, they want to play. The thing is playing the right way.
“The No. 1 factor I would say is that we have to understand and learn how to play for 48 minutes the right way, and that’s providing energy on both ends whether you’re missing or making shots.”
From Draymond Green:
“Their shooting is great but it goes far beyond that. Playing with those guys, the way they conduct themselves, with what they bring to the team, it’s not about them. It’s no ego involved with it, and it makes them a pleasure to play with, a pleasure to be around. When you have guys of that stature — Steph has really already moved into superstardom, Klay is moving into it — and you don’t see a change? It’s still even-keel, it’s still who they are. That does a lot for team chemistry. When your two main guys, your two dawgs, your two go-getters, have an attitude like that, how can anyone else be selfish or have an ego?”
“I’ll take whatever role I can get and try to make the most out of it.”
“You look at that attitude of team-first, team-first, when you’re thinking like that you’ll go help your teammate. You’ll go box out a guy that’s not yours, make the right play. I don’t think we’re a selfish team. I just think at times we get away from what actually makes us good. We got to band together. It’s easy to pull together when things are going well. When they’re not that’s where you see where you’re really at. One guy can’t win a game.”
On guarding Carmelo Anthony:
“I just tried to contest everything he shoots. I knew he was going to get his attempts up, and I just wanted to make sure I had a hand up before he goes up instead of after he released it. With a guy like that it’s tough because he has so much to his game, so I just tried to keep a hand up at all times.’’
“It’s about having self respect, some type of pride and taking your job seriously, coming in every night ready to play regardless of the circumstances. Just man up and play. Play hard. If we play hard and we get our brains beat in I’m fine with that. But to come out and just lay down like we did tonight is inexcusable.”
“There’s a certain way you need to conduct and carry yourself and be, and you don’t compromise on that. You don’t compromise your integrity and you don’t compromise who you are. Things you’ve built in terms of the legacy you want to believe. You walk around excuse free, and rather than trying to find excuses, you try to find solutions and be accountable.”
“Everybody’s journey is different. You just have to be willing to do whatever you have to do, to continue doing what you love to do.”
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY 