Ray Allen
A successful man is built of 1,000 failures.
You don't need a corporation or a marketing company to brand you now: you can do it yourself. You can establish who you are with a social media following.
I never question a guy that wants to win, especially on my own team.
I know you want me to let you in on some big secret to success in the NBA. The secret is there is no secret. It's just boring old habits.
I've always been about progress and accomplishment. When you set your mind toward a goal, you continue to have follow-through.
The minimum I run each day is 2 1/2 miles. I'll get to the weekend, and sometimes I'll run 10 miles. I've gotten up to 16 miles on the weekend. Running keeps me locked in.
I want to run a marathon in the immediate future. In the future future, I want to do ironmans. I cycle long distances. The only thing I have to work on is the swimming. I'm a good swimmer, but I've never done long distances like that.
What I learned in my career is to know how to take care of my body and treat it with respect. I will never forget that and never let go of that.
My mission my whole career was just to be somebody that you can look at and say, 'That's the guy I want to go into battle with.'
It doesn't necessarily have to be championship-or-bust for me to go back to the NBA. I want to be in a situation where I thought I could help, play a little bit, and help where they have good young talent.
I want kids to believe that I was just like they were, and to believe that they, too, can aspire to great things.
I've always said I didn't want to coach. But I can't coach in college because I don't have my degree. So I want to give myself opportunities. A degree is something everyone should have.
It's important for parents to put kids in positions where they can succeed and to teach competition because competition exists not only in sports.
I give a lot of shoes away, but there are some shoes that sometimes I'm like, I don't think they ever even released these. Sometimes, I don't know what they've released. But sometimes, friends of mine that work for Nike will visit and say, 'They never made these, so you need to hold on to these.'
If I get into a game, I'm going to win. There's no backing off.
There are so many good players in the NBA, and I just want to be at the top of the talent pool. I want opposing coaches and players to fear me.
Without my success in basketball, I'm nothing. My family, my daughter, my teammates, my foundation, my acting career - they all depend on that success.
Money can make people look at you in strange ways. You get phone calls from people you haven't spoken with in a long time, and they'll leave a message saying, 'Do me a favor, call me back. I have something I want to ask you.' I'm not going to answer those calls, because there's always something behind it, like a loan.
Listen: God doesn't care whether or not you make your next jump shot. God will give you a lot of things in life, but he's not going to give you your jump shot. Only hard work will do that.
As a team, we're all inside a bubble. Each of us only has so much room to operate. You have to carve out your space and recognize that because of someone else's needs, you might have to compromise a bit.
There's always a thrill to see a guy's face when you sent 'em packing because you're gonna be the last person they thought about, the whole offseason.
As a human being, it's in your nature, when somebody says something about you negatively, to defend yourself and lash back. That's what we all have to learn not to do. You have to forgive a person. And when you forgive a person, you have to forgive yourself.
It's a war of wills out there on the court. You have to have a stronger will than your opponent, and every guy on your team has to feel that same way against the guy he's guarding.
I have a taste for a lot of different kinds of music... everything, from hip-hop to jazz to R&B to top 40 to alternative. There's a lot of good music out there. Every now and then, I'll flip through VH1 and watch the videos... the only thing I really don't listen to is country.
The years in Boston were the best of my career, and they mean more to me than anything. Winning on that stage was incomparable to anything else. That's the way I choose to look at it.
I'm always going to be a Celtic no matter what. It's always going to be in my veins. Once you live there and play for that team and win a championship, it doesn't matter where you go.
I like to get on the court three hours before the game. That way, I can get out of everybody's way, and I can do what I need to do for me and get up the shots that I need and then be in the locker room and getting my stuff taken care of physically - if I need treatment or whatever may be.
Sometimes, the best shots you can put up are the ones when you don't shoot the ball - you gotta give your legs a rest sometimes.
When you get traded, the first thing you have to do is self-reflect and think about how you can get better. It has only helped me become a better player and think the game through.
I am a coach. I don't have to have a title. I have five children that need guidance.
Every camp I do, I'm always trying to figure out how I can help kids get better, so holding the actual title of coach, that doesn't matter to me. In life, I'm a coach. I think we all are.
I know what my purpose is. I know what I need to do out there on the floor. Sometimes you won't score a bunch of points, but breathing confidence into the people around you is the biggest key, the biggest role.
What I don't like in my job is somebody who doesn't put forth the effort. Somebody who doesn't come to play every day.
When people say God blessed me with a beautiful jump shot, it really pisses me off. I tell those people, 'Don't undermine the work I've put in every day.' Not some days. Every day.Collection: Beautiful
It comes down to consistency-if you want to be a great shooter, you have to shoot the same way every time.Collection: Consistency
When you work on getting better at something, don't do it half speedCollection: Basketball
Everything I know now . . . the pitfalls, the highs and lows, everything . . . it taught me and made stronger.Collection: Stronger
I'm always ready to step up and take that shot.Collection: Steps
I've argued this with a lot of people in my life. When people say God blessed me with a beautiful jump shot, it really pisses me off. I tell those people, 'Don't undermine the work I've put in every day.' Not some days. Every day. Ask anyone who has been on a team with me who shoots the most. Go back to Seattle and Milwaukee and ask them. The answer is me -- not because it's a competition, but because that's how I prepare.Collection: Beautiful
Everyone has to do their job. Everyone has to buy into it and believe in what we're trying to do regardless of who's playing and who's not.Collection: Jobs
I've ultimately decided that I will not play this NBA season. I'm going to take the remainder of this season, as well as the upcoming off-season, to reassess my situation, spend time with my family and determine if I will play in the 2015-16 season.Collection: Nba
By practicing the virtues we cultivate the soil from which healthy emotions sprout; by letting go of our character defects we drain the swamp in which diseased emotions breed.Collection: Letting Go
God could care less whether I can shoot a jump shot.Collection: Care
I dream about winning a championship, where everybody is hooting and hollering for you. The whole world is drawn to the NBA Finals.Collection: Dream
I always say if the house I live in is comfortable, and I have all the amenities I need, then what more can you ask for?Collection: House
A tough woman. That lady has touched more people than I've ever known.Collection: People
It was Chinese music. I couldnt understand it, but it had a good beat to it.Collection: Chinese
I look at how we got beat and I thought the hustle points and the energy points were all gauged through offensive rebounds. I thought in the second half they got so many second-chance opportunities they could really run. It just seemed like they were going up our guys' backs. When you don't get any offensive rebounds and they start going the other team's way, it's almost like a snowball effect.Collection: Running
Most teams have one All-Star, whether that guy made it this year or earlier in his career, and some teams have two All-Stars. What theyre showing is that a group of five guys that play together and play hard will always beat a team with two All-Stars and three average players.Collection: Stars
My nature is to keep things inside. In time, I'll be comfortable stepping up when I think the team could use my input.Collection: Team