Paul Pierce

When you're a young player, and you're starting to scratch your potential, you don't know how good you can be.

I originally was more into baseball and football, but being in Los Angeles, you just couldn't help but to fall in love with the game of basketball because they had such a winning tradition.

You can't listen to every little thing that's bad or good said about you. I always used that - whenever I heard it, I used it as fuel to motivate me, man. That's how I was raised, whenever I came up.

I'm happy I'm able to leave a legacy behind. I'm happy I was able to win a championship. I have no regrets about nothing.

When you come off a losing season - one of the worst seasons in all of basketball - and get guys like Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, two perennial All-Stars, we felt like we had a championship team.

Sometimes when general managers get a new job, they clean house and start over and rebuild and get the players they want in there.

Injuries are a big factor when you're trying to go on a championship run.

After 18 NBA years, it's hard to believe I'll be playing in each arena for the last time.

I'm not a guy who goes into the neighborhood, gets beat up by the bully's gang, and then now I want to join their gang. That's just not me. I wanna fight - let's go! I mean, I'm gonna stand up for myself. That's just the competitive nature of where I come from, the era I grew up in.

These seasons, as you get older, they just are so long and draining.

That is one of my greatest strengths. I am not afraid to face challenges or any matchup in the league.

I just love the pressure, truthfully, man.

I love the fact that I get to play against the Los Angeles Lakers in a Game 7 on the road.

I love the fact that, if I don't win multiple championships, that I probably won't be mentioned amongst the other guys in Celtics history who've done it before. That type of stuff motivates me.

Dislike is what creates rivalries.

I respect LeBron. People think we have a hate for each other, but I totally respect what he's done.

If I see LeBron walking down the street, it's not going to be no fistfight. I've got a lot of respect for him.

It's just something about great players when they play in certain arenas or against other great players. They elevate their play. LeBron is one of those guys. He feels the moment. He understands the moment.

A lot of things change in the playoffs.

Kids are the most genuine thing to me: everything they say and do, they mean it.

Eating right is part of my lifestyle now.

I didn't have a dad around to pick me up when I fell, throw the ball to me outside. I always wonder how it would be if I did have a dad there.

I found my father through other people, through my older brothers, my high school coaches, so I had men influences along the way who helped me.

I love walking the streets of New York.

The fans of New York are very knowledgeable about the game of basketball. They love their sports here.

Good things only can last so long.

It's no secret that me and New York got history. It's no secret. This is no secret. It's already known.

I remember I didn't know who Jason Williams was, and he got drafted ahead of me. It was just weird. I thought I'd be in the top five, and I slipped all the way to 10, so it was a strange night for me.

I've been around this game for a long time - a lot of plane rides, a lot of bus rides, a lot of pregame speeches, a lot of national anthems.

I always thrive on wanting to play against the best.

Winning's not easy. In order to win, you've got to see the best.

When I set my goals, I set them to where they fit within the team concept.

I really don't use a personal trainer.

I play a lot of pick-up games; I run a lot on my own.

I want to be that guy that says I was one of the first guys to put a banner in Brooklyn.

A lot of people don't know this: when I was young, I wanted to be a garbage man. I asked my mom, and she said they made good money, and it was steady work.

People don't understand the power of love and family and strength.

My strength comes from my mom. Just seeing what she had to go through to raise us, she wouldn't make excuses; she wouldn't put her head down. So I guess I looked at adversity right in the eye and took it on.

I've been talking basketball pretty much my whole life.

I am a confident player, and a lot of people might look at it like, 'Oh, another cocky attitude,' but I don't look at it that way.

I have an opinion. I have a right to have one, and that's the way I feel.

Everybody knows how much I disliked the Knicks when I was with the Celtics, but I think it's grown to another level.

I don't have to use anything to motivate me, a trade or anything like that, for me to say I want to win a championship.

When you play on bad defensive teams, you get labeled as a bad defender.

When you've been around the game so much for so many years, it's just like it's a part of you.

Everybody is entitled to an honest opinion.

I give my honest opinion, whether it's right or wrong, but it's an opinion that I'll make.

The whole business of basketball with China, it's just a huge business that enables us to come over and connect with them and continue that fan affair.

When you go against the best... a lot of series are won on fear factor or the non-belief. When you have that non-belief, then you have no chance.

Personally, I think I've got split personalities, and I may need a psychiatrist. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Seriously. I'm serious about this.