Some games you going to play great. Some games you're not. So, it's all about moving on to the next game, next possession. Just come in there every day working, figuring out what you got to work on and see what you did wrong in either in the last game or the last season or whatever.Collection: Moving
I'm pretty sure I'm not looked at to score 20 a game. I can just do all the other stuff - rebound, defend, make plays.
I've been blessed with the opportunity to play the game I love for a living and it has given me a huge platform to help others.
Everybody has that outlet in life when they're going through different stuff. They like to do different stuff whether it's reading books or watching movies. My outlet was going to comic books because it got me out of this world and put me into that world and let me use my imagination.
I can hedge out on the screen-and-roll, I can fall back, and I can switch. I'm pretty good with everything on the pick-and-roll.
In the past years, I got in a lot of foul trouble because I was out of position, or because I was just too aggressive. I was trying to block too many shots. It's really just learning when to take a chance at blocking shots, and to get to spots early.
When you first come in the league as a big man, they tell you to be physical down there. No layups, all that kind of stuff. So you have to buy into it, because you think it's going to get you more playing time. But it really just gets you more foul trouble.
Know sometimes you might have to sacrifice minutes or scoring opportunities just for the betterment of the team. And I think once everybody buys into that, I think that's how you get tighter as a group and start winning more games.
Whichever position coach decides to put me at, I will be ready, I want to be able to use my jumper as a weapon in whichever position they put me at.
When you bring kids in to the world it's a big responsibility, you're responsible for taking care of those kids and providing for the kids and whatnot. It's been a huge change in my life; it's been a great experience for me.
My mom, she had a challenging job raising three kids on her own and having to work at the same time, you know that shows me a lot. It shows me how hard she worked, how much she cared about us and I want to do the same thing for my kids.
My favorite part about being a father is playing toys with them, or watching movies with them, really just playing around with them. They bring a lot of joy in to my life, even when I'm having a bad day. Just to come home and see them smiling brings so much joy to my life.
Utah was so different, I was so new to it. I didn't expect to stay. But as the years have gone on, I've grown to love it.
I like how calm and chill it is in Utah. It's a good thing and it's a bad thing. The bad part is, maybe after a big game you want to go out and hang out or whatever, and there's really not too many spots like that in Utah.
Out in Utah, it's chill, laid-back. There's not a lot of rah-rah stuff going on. You can focus on your job, your career, whatever else you have going on.
You'll be on one team this minute, then the next day you get traded. So, I mean, I knew how the business works... It happened to me.
Everybody gets the wrong idea because I try to hide it, I try to walk around smiling. But I'm always angry.
I worked out with a lot of guys with NBA experience around Atlanta, guys like Dwight Howard or Dion Glover sometimes or Josh Smith sometimes. They just tell me to keep working hard and it will pay off.
I have watched the NBA draft just about every year, so to see myself up there, that is something I am excited about.
Georgia Tech definitely helped me a lot. I don't know about coming out of high school. But Georgia Tech was good for me. I got a lot stronger, a lot more used to not having the ball in my hands all the time, moving without the ball, setting screens.
As a rookie, I was a pick-and-roll player. I was an energy guy who could dunk, block shots, rebound.
When I set picks and rolled to the basket early in my career, either I'd dunk or it'd be an offensive foul where I run the guy over.
After what happened with my mom passing, I was just like I need to get back. I just need to get back to my routine, get back to playing basketball.
I had to take that time off just to get my mind back refocused and just talk to my family and be around my family so I can feel that love and support.