Zion Williamson

Eleventh grade is when I grew into my body. My athleticism and speed took off.

I don't try to live up to nobody's expectations. I just try to be me, be the best version of myself that I can be.

I just look to be myself. I'm not trying to be nobody. I'm just trying to be the first Zion.

I just like to be around my bros, be around friends in general.

That's why I play basketball. To play a lot of minutes, and to help my team win.

What don't break you will make you.

Losing is just not fun.

Truth be told, nobody likes to lose.

When I'm healthy and competing, I'm just a different type of player. That's the type of player everyone fell in love with.

I do whatever the team needs to do on offense or defense, whatever it is to win. And I'm a competitor.

Once I feel like I know my teammates, know where everybody is going to be, being a basketball player will allow me to attack from anywhere on the court, get better shots and facilitate.

The money thing, that's money, I don't play this for money, I play for the love of the game.

I just loved my experience at Duke that much where I wanted to stay.

It's part of the reason I went to Duke. Coach K came to me. He saw everything but the dunks. He was like, 'It's a dunk. It's two points. Who cares?' He saw every other part of my game that I wanted the world to see.

People tell me I'm not supposed to do the things that I do at my size. I just take it as a blessing.

I just thank God for giving me the body that I have.

My mom sacrificed a lot for me.

If my opponent wants to think of me as a dunker, it's just gonna shock them more when I show them another part of my game.

Duke recruits the best basketball players. They don't recruit dunkers or highlight makers. They recruit good basketball players.

Before I got big, I was playing point guard, so I'm kinda like a pass-first person. Some people tell me I should be more selfish, but that's not me.

I appreciate that people think that, give me the comparisons to LeBron, but I'm not LeBron. I'm myself.

It was crazy, like I watched him on TV growing up. And you know, I'd be a little starstruck sometimes, because we'd be in a game, and then you know, I'm looking over at Coach for the play. And I'm lookin' like, Man, that's Coach K right there! He's my coach.

I want to win at everything.

I don't play basketball for the money; it was the last thing I thought of when I was a little kid.

When I was like nine or 10, my stepfather and my mother would just say 'if you want to be one of the greatest, you've got to work when nobody's working,' so I'd get up at 5:30 A.M. and head to the outdoor court and play.

You know, my stepdad taught me growing up, you know, if the team has success then the individual things will follow.

If you know me, Thanos is my favorite character.

I love Duke. Wish I could've stayed a second year, but I had other things to do.

Kobe meant a lot to me growing up.

I'm going to do anything to win. I'm just going to do anything to win.

You know, times change. That's why there are so many debates about who people think the greatest players of all time are.

I feel I have to earn everybody's respect.

I'm a basketball player - I rely on instincts and IQ.

Just to be able to play one minute in an NBA game, I'm grateful for that.

I love the fans here in New Orleans. They show so much love.

I feel like I don't get enough credit for my low-post game.

It's just basketball, man. I think people try to make it something it's not, sometimes.

Some people want to stay with one team but they get traded.

Growing up, I loved what Kobe did and Dirk did. My intentions are to stay with the Pelicans my whole career, but if something happens, I wouldn't leave because I hate the place. It's just the business.

Since I was a kid, I dreamed of making it to the league and having the type of impact on the game Michael Jordan had and continues to have today.

I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of the Jordan Brand family.

People always say you have to grow into your body, but for me, it wasn't even growing into my body - the more weight came, it didn't faze me. It made me faster, stronger. It helped me become a more versatile player.

I can't afford to do the highlight dunk and miss it because, if I do that, I'll be sitting right on the bench beside the coaches.

I could never go anywhere without people going, 'Are you Zion?'

There's really no comparison to me. I try to add every level to my game.

People aren't used to guarding this kind of size and I'm able to add a little finesse to my game so it has flavor and I'm a playmaker so I can create for my teammates and when I have to finish I'm gonna finish.

It's just basketball. It's what I do. I've been doing this since I was 4.

New Orleans is my kind of city. I think there's a lot going on, but it's also very calm. It's a place where I can actually drive a car without being stuck in traffic for for 40, 50 minutes. It's my kind of city. A lot going on but still calm.

I don't think I'll ever tell you I had a great performance in a loss. That doesn't make sense to me, to be honest.

I can guard guys my size and bigger, because, typically, I'm stronger than them, but sometimes guys get by me on the wing. It's not as big a deal because I can recover pretty well and I'll block their shot at the rim, but I hate when guys go past me on the wing. I hate that.