Ahmad Rashad

We were doing sports. It was entertainment. It wasn't like it was investigative reporting.

Defense has changed because you can't hand-check guys anymore. Back in the day, if you drove to the hoop against the Bad Boy Pistons, you'd find yourself on the ground.

When I was a wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings, I lost in Super Bowl XI. It was a crushing defeat. Now I don't even think about it. It doesn't even come to mind. Had we won, maybe it would've been in my head longer.

When I was doing 'NBA Inside Stuff' and 'NBA on NBC', I always saw my interactions with players as a conversation.

You don't become great by thinking you're great. Working gives you all the confidence in the world.

NBC producer Dick Ebersol always taught me that if you can show the fans what the players are like - and get the fans interested in them - then they're more likely to watch. I've always taken that approach.

Having been a football player, most viewers associated me with just that. It was tough to go from football to basketball, but what really helped was that my show, 'Inside Stuff', was personality driven.

I wanted to represent African-American athletes in a better way than what I saw when I grew up.

It's always interesting to talk to people who have done something.

I feel like I know a lot of people. But I must've made an impact on them, for them to want to know me, too.

That the Dream Team played against each other every day. The greatest games ever were the practice games they played. Everybody was talking smack. It wasn't Michael the only one talking. Magic Johnson was really good, too.

One of my dear friends became Michael Jordan. That gave me a lot of access there. But I had access to everybody from Larry Bird to Magic Johnson to all of the other guys.

That happens to everybody who rises up in stature: They build you up and then they start trying to tear you down.

If you think I can't do it, I'll show you I can do it. Just remaining confident. Because if you don't, it's going to chip away at you and it'll take everything away from you.

Some people get knocked down and they have a hard time getting back up. But when your mind is right and you have a goal and you're trying to achieve that goal, nothing can deter you from that.

If you were the greatest, you were the Michael Jordan of whatever business you were in.

During the whole time we were covering the Bulls, I would get blasted by every other sports reporter who thought I had unfair access. I don't think it was unfair. It was just fortunate for NBC.

Tiger Woods has been one of my best friends for 25 years. I first met Tiger at an event I was hosting in Chicago; he was getting an award.

In sports, you play until you can't win anymore.

Not a day goes by that I don't see somebody that tells me they grew up watching 'NBA Inside Stuff'. Not one day goes by.