My dad taught not only tolerance but appreciation for every human being.Collection: Dad
This is always one of my big pet peeves is that 65% of NBA players, three years out of the NBA, are broke. I mean, so, maybe maturing a little more on the front end and getting an education might serve you well down the road.Collection: Pet
One of the very best things about being a coach or student-athlete at UCLA is if you need medical attention, you won't find any better place in the country than at the incomparable UCLA Medical Center.Collection: Medical
How many people do you know who love their jobs? Did your dad love his job? Was he passionate about it? Because I am. I love it. I love the relationships. I love teaching. I love the competition. I love everything about it.Collection: Dad
The summer in Arizona is too hot.
Putting your feet in ice cold water? That's not fun.
You have more control of things if you play defense. And you can control how you play defense, too, with effort and preparation.
One thing a shooter loves is to make his first shot. He makes his first shot from three; that builds confidence.
Winning, to me, is relief; losing is like dying. It's gut-wrenching.
Flagstaff, up in the mountains where I lived, there is 130 inches of snow a year.
I know I'm a really good coach.
The Reeves Nelson debacle, that hurt me. There are certain things regarding him that I couldn't say then and still can't. But I should have pulled the plug on him after his sophomore year. We tried to make it work, but we couldn't make it happen.
For the most part, I've been very, very blessed and been lucky to have great kids. We want to recruit great kids, good people. For the most part, we've done that.
There's no question that I've made mistakes along the way when you look at recruiting in terms of evaluations of players or character in an instance or two.
I don't know where people got that I didn't have a good relationship with my players. I'm demanding, yes; I'm on their butt. I expect 100%, but they all knew I loved them, I cared for them, and I'll always be there for them.
I always think I put more pressure on myself than I feel from anywhere else.
This is UCLA. The expectations are higher here than anywhere. The amount of success both in terms of championships and wins as well as success off the floor has been second to none in college basketball. I knew that when I took this job. I know the expectation level, and no one has higher expectations than I do.
I'm a good person and a good guy.
I'm a good coach. I do the right things for my players, and I try to support them; I try to help them almost to a fault.
Tweeting - let's be honest: it's like I'm the center of the universe; it's all about me. Everybody is listening to my every thought, and my current thought at this very moment is... it's ridiculous.
If you went and did a microscopic investigative report at Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Carolina, Indiana - what are you talking about? You're always going to have some stuff come out that will be looked upon as not being good.
You're not going to see Bill Walton or Kareem coming in every three years. Those days are over. That's what makes the job so difficult. But it's the dream job for anyone who has spent a career in coaching and has a sense of what UCLA means.
I watch a lot of games and analyze a lot.
You should want to run if you're a player, shouldn't you, on offense?
That's AAU ball. That's what you do: 'I want to get out there first and score.' You see it in games during the summer. There are not a lot of great blockouts going on.
Las Vegas is a big draw. There are a lot things to do there other than basketball.
Thing about New York is it is so exciting with so much to do.
I love to visit New York, but Los Angeles, to me, is a great city.
I have a strong belief in God.
At UCLA, there will always be high expectations. That's why you want to play here or coach here.
We need to play tough defense and have a sound offense. But mostly, we have to outrebound the other team.
We've got to get everybody to sacrifice, be on same page, be a team.
That's why I'm here at UCLA - to help them win a national championship.
Field-goal percentage is very important.
I just like to win.
I had a relationship with John Wooden. I spoke at his memorial service.
There are things that I will think about, that I have been a part of because I was the head coach at UCLA, that I will always cherish. I grew up loving this program as a kid.
I get to work with the best and the brightest at UCLA. We get to recruit great kids, and that makes coaching very fun for me.
I don't always show my emotion. You don't always get to see it.
I can't think of much higher praise to give a player than to say, 'This point guard reminds me of Jason Kidd.'
My team at Pittsburgh is the greatest example of unselfishness and giving of oneself. They bought into that, and it's brought those kids championships, and it's brought all those kids so much glory.
I was raised to believe you are supposed to love everybody.
Usually you have a feel for what a kid's abilities are by the end of their sophomore year.
UCLA will always be involved with great players, and those players always draw scrutiny. That's just the way it is.
It's hard to get a job. There are more lawyers within a five-mile radius of wherever you're sitting than there are Division I jobs.
Northern Arizona was a job no one had ever survived, and a lot of people said I was crazy to take it. But to build a program and win there gave me a lot of confidence when people said we couldn't do it at Pitt.
You can never blame somebody for wanting to go home.
Pittsburgh is a football town.
The number one thing in recruiting in terms of making it a great job is players in your own area.
I will never leave UCLA and will stay at UCLA as long they will have me.