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"I just have to like the way it looks. I don't even have to like the
guy to buy his throwback. For instance, I have a Bill Walton throwback."
- Jason Williams, Memphis Grizzlies point guard.
"Tim Thomas is about excuses. It's always somebody else's fault. He
said I was jealous? He should thank me for helping him get that contract.
He said I didn't show? They traded me, they traded Ray, they traded
Big Dog [Robinson] and Tim Thomas still wasn't the man on that team.
Michael Redd became the man there. I think I'm doing quite well for
myself here. Right now, he needs to focus on his game. Right now, he's
not a good basketball player. And I like Tim Thomas. He just has too
many damn excuses."
- Sam Cassell.
"People say my game wasn't where it should have been, but...sometimes
(circumstances prevent) you from getting to a place where you want to
be. So for Ray to say that I never stepped up is cowardly. Go ahead
and print that. Because when I see Ray, I'm going to choke the (heck)
out of him."
- Tim Thomas, on his tenure in Milwaukee.
"If the guy can't take somebody saying the truth about him, then what
are you? You just want yes -men around you all day long? That's what
it seems like he wants, yes-men to say, 'Tim you're great. You're doing
this and that.' Nah, that's not the case. Tim was getting paid $10 million
a year, and he's only averaging 13 points a game. That's not good enough.
I don't care how you look at it. I think he got in the New York media,
and he tried to make excuses for everything he didn't do right."
- Ray Allen's response
"Just tell me. Did you do it on purpose?"
- Danny Ainge, to then-Celtics coach Jim O'Brien after O'Brien
hit his boss's Acura with his Escalade in the Celtics parking lot.
"Where's your head? Damn, we go to you every time."
- Nick Van Exel, to Zach Randolph, after Randolph complained
about not getting the ball enough.
"It feels good to be in the second round"
- Tracy McGrady as his Magic team went 3
-1 up in the first round. They lost 4-3.
"Leave your car keys here and run home. I'll give you the keys tomorrow."
- Yao Ming
"I think the team that wins Game 5 will win the series. Unless we lose
Game 5."
- Charles Barkley
"Tell him Shaq doesn't respond to juvenile delinquents without a college
degree. Tell him to get his degree and we can talk. In the meantime,
he should call me Dr. Shaq because I'm working on my PhD."
- Shaq to Andrew Bynum
"Star Splanged Banner, I listen it 82 times every year."
- Yao Ming, when asked about his favourite American song
"I've never taken medication (to control moods) in my life. Doctors
have suggested it and I say, 'OK, give it to me.' But I throw it in
the garbage immediately."
- Ron Artest
"It's beyond explanation. It's mind -boggling. There are some things
you can't understand - the Kennedy assassination, where the aliens are
hiding and our ups and downs. Oh, and Stonehenge."
- Troy Murphy, on Golden State's inconsistency.
"Nothing. I was confused for two years. I didn't understand anything
and I'm still confused."
- Gregg Popovich, on what he learned in his two years as an assistant
to Don Nelson.
"We could use a little more strength at the five position, the four
position and shooting and point guard position."
- Danny Ainge
"[LeBron] was banging those little boys around in high school, but once
he goes against the men, they're going to beat his butt and make him
cry."
- Charley Rosen
"I didn't even know Elvis was from Memphis, I thought he was from Tennessee"
- Drew Gooden
"You can't even jump high enough to touch the rim, unless they put a
Big Mac on it."
- Charles Barkley about Oliver Miller
"I'm not worried about the Sacramento Queens"
- Shaq
"You can bet the last thing Coach Bob McKinnon wants is a repeat of
last Friday night's blow job"
- Bob Costas
"The added muscle and bulk from pushing that steel and the natural maturation
process now enables this grandmaster to regularly accomplish the unimaginable
without dragging around excessive bulk and baggage. Most top players
get to the point where they truly believe that anything is possible.
Most are also governed by gravity, the laws of physics and self-regulating
mental control mechanisms. Kobe has left all these behind. The extra
strength and stamina have made him a superior 3-point shooter, a most
dominant defender and arguably the game's top rebounder."
- Bill Walton on Kobe Bryant's offseason weight training
"The NBA is 50% sex and 50% money"
- Dennis Rodman
"I will miss him a lot. He was a good friend. And he owes me $80."
- Yao Ming, on Bostjan Nachbar getting traded
"It was like they were using cheat codes or something."
- Emeka Okafor, on the Seattle SuperSonics
"I got theories with this woman, this Joumana Kidd who wants to be a
TV star. She wants face time on camera. The great way to get face time
is to bring the cute, little precocious kid. Oh, great. I'd like to
smack her."
- Bob Ryan, sports columnist for the Boston Globe.
"We also have a war we have to fight, too. The Washington Wizards are
trying to make the playoffs...It's pretty much the same thing."
- Tyronn Lue on the US war against Iraq.
"I needed a rest anyway."
- Andrew Bogut after getting ejected from a summer league game
"I think if he was 6
-2, he probably would have been the No. 1 pick in the draft or the No.
2 pick in the draft."
- Isiah Thomas on Knicks No. 1 pick Nate Robinson
"On a scale of one to 10, I would say 60 to 65 percent."
- NBA union rep Billy Hunter, talking about how far apart the
union and the owners are on the CBA negotiations
"I'm always trying to see what the joke is, so I miss the play that's
called and I've got to ask a teammate."
- Joe Johnson on the Phoenix's gorilla mascot
"You've got idiots in the office running things; that's the problem."
- Reggie Miller, on a suspension of Ron Artest.
"It was one, a lack of experience in a situation like that, and two,
they were bombing on Betty."
- Steve Francis, on the Mavs blowing out the Rockets.
"I'm 250 [pounds] - I should be able to flex my muscles when I want
to."
- Ron Artest, on flexing to the Miami bench.
"It's all right. It sort of looks like Terry Porter, but that's OK.
TP's my man. It's not an insult or anything like that. TP has a good
smile and everything, so I'm rolling with that."
- Kevin Garnett, upon seeing his Celebriduck, which was handed
out at a T-Wolves game.
"It looks like my grandfather's rug."
- Bimbo Coles, on a sweater worn by Smush Parker.
"I played football for one day. I gave my equipment to the coach and
said 'Thank you, this is a bit to stressful for me.'"
- Charles Barkley, on playing high school football.
"He was like the guinea pig for Rogaine for black men."
- Charles Barkley, on Karl Malone.
"Just put the ball in the basket. All of this french pastry is not necessary."
- John Thompson, on Utah's Greg Ostertag after a poorly executed
play.
"The most underrated player in NBA history is Dominique Wilkins. Right
behind him is Gary Payton. He never has gotten the respect he deserves.
If he doesn't spend the rest of his days in Seattle, I hope he goes
someplace where he has a chance to win a title."
- Charles Barkley.
"Gary Payton, in his first year, was no great shakes."
- Bill Cartwright.
"It's a lot better. I'm not medically inclined to give an opinion."
- Grant Long, on his sore hand.
"I don't know who is calling the shots, who is pulling the switches
on and off but this team has gone downhill ever since. The team was
broken up and there was no reason for them breaking it up."
- Charles Oakley, on the Raptors.
"They don't know polo from lolo."
- Charles Oakley, on Canadian fans.
"He'll land some good middle-school job; you've got to start somewhere."
- Oakley, on former Bulls coach Tim Floyd.
"I'd like to see him exert himself a little bit more."
- Phil Jackson, on Shaq posting a four rebound game.
"I was 19, but when I didn't get drafted by the Knicks, I had to go
get a drink. They still put minibars in 19-year-olds' [hotel] rooms."
- Ron Artest.
"To make that type of analogy actually just shows stupidity. You've
got to realize, this is the same guy who said he wanted to play in Madison
Square Garden because of the aroma. He meant 'aura' but he said 'aroma.'
So you've got to put everything in perspective."
- Flip Saunders, on Stephon Marbury saying that Amare Stoudemire
is better than Kevin Garnett.
"This is news?"
- Latrell Sprewell, to a photographer waiting outside the police
precinct where Spree was paying an overdue parking ticket.
Barkley: "I can not believe that Dan Rather didn't just kill
Saddam Hussein when he was interviewing him, and that would have saved
us all that money going to war."
Ernie Johnson: "How do you reckon Dan Rather would have pulled that
off?"
Barkley: "He could have said 'Hey Saddam, let's go get something
to eat' and then stabbed him in the neck with a fork. That could have
saved us $26 billion dollars we're giving to Turkey. We could have used
that money to fix the public school system here in America...You think
a real fork or a salad fork?"
EJ: "I don't think a salad fork is getting it done."
"Let me put it this way: One day, when we go on and play the game up
in the big sky, I'm coming off the bench. I'm backing him up. I believe
that in all my heart"
- Willis Reed, on Patrick Ewing's place among Knicks all-time
centers.
"I'd take Willis ahead of Patrick, no question."
- Walt "Clyde" Frazier, on Patrick Ewing's place among all-time
Knicks centers.
"I think he should have got the surgery before at the beginning of the
year instead of waiting."
- Shaq, on Phil Jackson's kidney stone problem.
"I've been patient with everything - management, coaches, players -
but I want to play. I think I took my time eating my soup, the soup
is gone. Now it's time for the main course. The appetizers, throw them
out the window."
- Charles Oakley.
"The whole thing is great for my situation."
- Kenny Anderson, on being traded to New Orleans.
"You know what Ernie? Damn! I mean the good damn. There are different
kinds of damn. This is not the kind of damn that you use to describe
Mike Tyson."
- Charles Barkley, on the picture of Serena Williams in the Sports
Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
"I don't know. The guy doesn't talk about it to me. I don't know anything
that's going on with the guy."
- Alvin Gentry, on Andre Miller's mental state in the wake of
the death of his stepfather.
"I wanted to ask if he planned to expand NBA basketball to the moon."
- Yao Ming, on his meeting with the David Stern.
"I make big shots everywhere. I get accustomed to it. I'm not afraid
to be the goat. I don't worry about what you (reporters) say about me
in the papers. In fact, I like it. It tickles me."
- Sam Cassell.
"He already has a pro body."
- Kendall Gill, on LeBron James.
"I don't know anything. I'm just a mute around here."
- Tim Thomas.
"He is one of the best power forwards ever, always in shape, plays hard.
I also think he's one of the dirtiest players of all time. And he's
really into himself, with all his contracts and renegotiations and renegotiations.
Great power forward. Selfish. Dirty...I wouldn't want to play with him."
- Joe Klein, on Karl Malone.
"I'm not embarrassed by America. I'm embarrassed by humanity. More than
embarrassed, I think it's really unfortunate in the year 2003 that we're
still using violence as a means of conflict resolution. That's what
I'm speaking out against."
- Steve Nash.
"I saw Charles Manson do an interview once and he sounded normal too...Ron
Artest has cost that team homecourt advantage."
- Barkley.
"We also have a war we have to fight, too. The Washington Wizards are
trying to make the playoffs...It's pretty much the same thing."
- Tyronn Lue, on the US war against Iraq.
"We don't pay Chauncey any mind. We let him gossip all he wants. Colorado
hasn't done anything since he left. He's still the all-time leading
scorer and he only played there two years."
- Rip Hamilton, on Chauncey Billups' claims that Colorado will
knock off Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament.
"For our team, every game is the key to opening the door to the playoffs."
- Yao Ming.
"Any Cub Scout with Boy Scouts can do Boy Scout-ish things. When the
(expletive) was in the Cub Scouts, he was a Cub Scout. When the (expletive)
was with Vancouver, nobody heard about his (expletive) punk-(expletive).
Now that he's with Sacramento, that's some (expletive) that he's on
the (U.S.) team. I ain't goin'."
- Shaq, on Mike Bibby.
"If this is not micromanaging, I need to look up the [word] again."
- Kwame, on Doug Collins' handling of him.
"Just too much Chauncey Billups tonight. He made me want to throw up."
- Phil Jackson.
"He did interview me once, in New Jersey. He comes across as a bitter
person. Someone who does not like life. Like Gerry Fraley from the Dallas
Morning News, who never seems to have anything positive to say about
anything. Kinda sad."
- Mark Cuban, on ESPN.com's Charley Rosen.
"I would tell any free agent not to sign with them because you can't
trust anyone in upper management. If you're in the room with them and
you plan to walk out, you better face them backing out so you won't
get stabbed in the back."
- Bimbo Coles, on the Cavaliers organization.
"Maybe I'm just always thinking."
- Troy Hudson, on why he rarely talks.
"It'll never happen. I might push one of my guys down there to help
her out, but it won't be me."
- Byron Scott, on whether or not he would help out if someone
forgot the words to the national anthem at a Nets game.
"What are you doing here? Why aren't you going to Kansas University?
The girls down there are much hotter. You belong there."
- Larry Eustachy, Iowa State basketball coach, to a female student
at Kansas State University.
"He already kissed an animal."
- Kenny Smith, on Barkley losing the Yao Ming bet, forcing him
to kiss a donkey to pay his bet.
"Let's not talk about your girl now."
- Charles Barkley in response.
"We don't make up names, 'The Warriors' or 'Alternatorz' or any of that
sh*t. We just go out and play."
- Shawn Kemp, on the Magic bench.
"Red Auerbach taught me a long time ago you never make your enemy comfortable,
so I was out there with a screwdriver. Evidently, I was successful."
- Don Nelson, on the Trail Blazers plane breaking down in Dallas
after game one in the first round of the playoffs.
"I'm a very smart man. I speak when it's time to speak."
- Doug Collins.
"You've gone plum damn goofy on the first night."
- Barkley, after Kenny Smith said that Yao Ming is the best player
in Houston.
"That guy's got hot breath just like Kenny."
- Barkley, after TNT aired a shot of a male Hawaiian dancer with
fire in his mouth.
"I'm not Nostradamus or anybody, so I don't know. Luckily, this is the
worst injury I've had in my career so far."
- Drew Gooden, on the severity of his toe injury.
"We buried the hatchet a couple of years ago, and if I ran into him,
I'd offer him a beer."
- Scottie Pippen, on his relationship with Jerry Krause.
"I forgive him. He's my teammate, he made a mistake, and I can't retaliate,
trying to fight him or beat him up, because I'm on probation, so I would
get in trouble."
- Ruben Patterson, forgiving, sort of, Zach Randolph.
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