I have my own identity ... The whole Michael thing does drive me nuts sometimes because people won't leave it alone. He's bald, I have hair. He's almost 40, I'm 22. Seriously though, I wish people would let it be and let me just be Kobe.
It's just a matter of getting those legs back.
A lot of times things get blown out of proportion in a negative light, especially in the NBA, ... But there are a lot of players in the NBA who really care about the community and want to use their basketball-playing ability for a good cause.
If they want to win right now, I'm all for it. That's all I said the whole time. If you want to wait five years, let me know. My legs aren't as young as they used to be.
I'm just right down the middle, man, ... It doesn't matter to me. I'd love him (Phil Jackson) as a coach. It doesn't matter to me. If they want him here, he'll be here. If he wants to come, he'll come, he'll coach and we'll go from there.
I grew up in front of these people, and now they are seeing me as an 'older' young man.
I'm just so excited. We all are. We've been waiting for this [the gold medal] for years now and it's finally here. This meant so much. It just felt so good.
I felt like when we came back from the All-Star break we needed everybody to feel like they were part of the team, ... I'm just trying to do whatever the team needs at any given time.
Everybody wants to talk about NBA players being selfish and arrogant and individuals. But what you saw today was a team bonding and facing adversity and coming out with a big win.
You just try to take it one day at a time, ... You step on the basketball floor and just play. It's fun. I'm comfortable with it.
I had some shots that I felt like I should've made; I just didn't make them. I'm not going to shoot the ball great every night.
This is an award I couldn't have won on my own. I can't thank these guys enough. These are my guys, these are my brothers.
My role is to make sure we're moving in the right direction, getting points, rebounds, steals, assists and providing leadership.
If you're a basketball player and you don't stop and take pictures with your fans, you can have an amazing game and everyone still loves you.
I really want to start playing basketball. Basketball and ping-pong are my two forms of exercise.
I did quite a lot of fencing when I was a kid, I was a swimmer, and I played a lot of basketball. I was a fencer for Great Britain, but I only did that because I watched Robin Hood, Star Wars, Highlander and The Three Musketeers, and I wanted to emulate Richard Harris and the great British actors that I grew up watching.
It's easier to date a football player for sure. Football players have one game a week, and they practice every day, but they're all at home. In basketball, they're on the road all the time.
I never really called people out. It was more along the lines of teasing a person. It started for me in fifth grade on the basketball court.
Any time you do an Adam Sandler film, it's kind of like a boys' club, because you're hanging out and there are guitars around, and basketballs and footballs and electric bikes and scooters and different people dropping by.
I like playing basketball and going to the gym. I don't box, but I'll ride my bike and go jogging or running in the park. Sometimes my lady and I go hiking.
So we take a lot of pride in that. It's really on us to turn this thing around. I think this last month we've done just that. We've pointed ourself in the direction that we want to be, and I think we're starting to head towards that. Right now we're in a nice rhythm.
I'll play all five positions if my team needs me to.
It's part of my game, getting to the free-throw line and being aggressive. If you say that I get superstar calls or I get babied by the refs, that's just taking away from how I play. That's disrespectful to me.
I wanted to the best player in the state - [the best] the area has ever seen. That's always been my goal. Guys like Elgin Baylor, Adrian Dantley and Dave Bing, it's tough to pass those guys. So I'm studying, working. My project's not over yet. Hopefully, I get there.
I play because I have fun. The vets of this team, I just wanted to say thanks to them. You guys mean so much to me. I can have a terrible day and walk in the gym and have Hasheem smile at me. That will change my day.
