Guys like LeBron, Chris Paul, Kobe... They all speak to me. It's just insane that all these top tier guys who have been in the All-Star game for so many years actually know who I am. I mean not in a million years did I think that Kobe would speak to me.
I feel like I can run the floor well, rebound and block shots and let the offense come.
I am a hard worker, and there's nothing wrong with my motor.
No one knows what I'm capable of doing.
Everyone changes throughout the years.
Detroit, it's just an incredible city overall. The people here are so friendly and very outgoing.
I have a really good relationship with a lot of people in the music industry from Detroit. They're very kind when it comes to us stepping into their field or what they do and they're really willing to help out and help you get better at what you're trying to do.
It's a crazy feeling you know, being a young kid from New York, seeing everybody talk about Jordan, everybody wearing Jordan. Then to being up close and personal with him, eating dinner with him, and to be a part of his family.
You know, I'm really known for being an energy guy and working hard on the floor, grabbing a lot of rebounds.
When I'm out there flying around, blocking shots, dunking the ball, grabbing rebounds it brings everybody's spirits up and gets them going.
My athleticism will go away some day. I'm gonna be old one of these days, so I'm going to be able to use those post moves.
I am one of the last true centers in the NBA, and it's a title that I enjoy to hold.
Detroit has a history of a lot of great rebounders and big guys that have been great defenders. So for me to pick up where they left off and continue that trend, of being a gritty, tough big man is pretty cool.
I think, for me, I'm making the right plays and finding my teammates if I'm not open and finishing strong around the rim.
Spending my 20s in Detroit has been incredible for me.
My job is to just focus on basketball and you know, I don't really get a chance to really pick and choose who I play with.
There's a lot of guys in the league that make music and it's hardcore gangsta rap. None of us really live that life and you can't talk about being a thug.
Obviously, with me being a DJ, I have a love for music. One day I was like, 'OK. I'm tired of playing everybody else's music. I rather play my music.' So, that's kind of how the whole me doing music thing started.
Basketball will always be my first love.
Anything is possible in this league.
The way I play is not to prove anybody wrong. It's to help my teammates win games.
Teams passed on me, that happens.
LeBron - he's LeBron. He just won't be denied, he's the best player in the league and also a great person.
I'm just really just continuing to work on back-to-the-basket stuff and working on getting better from the foul line.
Even if I do miss a shot, I found something to keep me calm and not get myself rattled. Once I missed one, I'd tense up and I'd miss the next one, too. So I found a peace within myself.
Even if I do miss a shot, I'm going to be comfortable to get back up there and shoot the same shot again. Make or miss, I'm not going to be frustrated but move on to the next play.
My sister's a bully.
My mom and sister both make fun of me now. Well, it looks like you're on trade block again. Where we going this year?
The more times you go after it the more times you'll get the ball. So every chance I get I try to chase down the rebound.
You know I've watched the All-Star game as a little boy... and to have the opportunity now to play in it is so overwhelming.
People are going to talk bad about you no matter who you are.
Community involvement is second nature to me. I've been doing it since high school.
I always tell the kids, basketball is not going to be there forever, get a good education and make good choices.
I don't consider myself a celebrity. I don't think I'm better than somebody else. I'm just a human being like anyone else.
Obviously I'm not the greatest scorer in the world or the greatest shooter in the world, but I'm tough and rebounding is something that not too many people want to put the effort into doing.
I want it more. That's all it really is. Nobody wants to get hit every possession to get a rebound, and I want to.
Every season, I've adjusted. My first couple of years it was still banging in the post and doing all the nitty gritty stuff. Over the years, it's changed to bigs being able to shoot and run the floor and be more agile, which is good for me because I'm a very agile guy.
My music is a little bit of everything - R&B, hip-hop, EDM.
I like to eat a lot of fruit and starchy things to give myself more energy before games.
I try to get eight or nine hours of sleep a night, and if I don't, I'll make sure to take a nap.
I drink coffee a lot before my games. I take it with cream and sugar.
You see, some kids, the college coaches are calling them at all hours of the night, saying the same thing over and over again.
Everybody knows the struggles I went through coming into my career with the free throws and how much work I put into it, how many people made fun of me for not being able to stay in games, this and that.
As a younger guy, no one wants to be on a highlight or somebody's mix tape for their best plays of the year. For me, earlier in my career, that was something where 'I'm not sure if I should go for this,' not trying to get dunked on.
I'm a shotblocker and I want to get everything.
Those plays are winning plays, getting those blocks. Somebody's trying to dunk the ball and you get a block and that's demoralizing for the guy that tried to dunk the basketball.
In high school, I didn't have to talk. All I had to say is 'left' or 'right' when a screen was coming.
Just hearing somebody's voice in center field, it helps our guards out to know where they need to go, when the screen is coming, when the back door is coming, when the flare is coming. When different things like that happen and we're talking, it helps us all out in the long run.