Julius Erving

One of the most predictable things in life is there will be change. You are better off if you can have a say in the change. But you are ignorant or naive if you don't think there will be change, whether you want it to or not.

I live my life trying to never appear to be a small man.

In 1981, at age 31, I was voted the best player in basketball, and the most valuable player in the league.

I always try to keep a pretty conservative demeanor on the court.

I had to spend countless hours, above and beyond the basic time, to try and perfect the fundamentals.

In a lot of areas of my life, particularly in my teenage years, I began to think about the world, and to think about the universe as being a part of my conscious everyday life.

I came from a broken home, so my mom was a major influence in my life.

When the crowd appreciates you, it encourages you to be a little more daring, I think.

You can feel the vibes, feel the people pulling for you.

And from the first time I picked up a basketball at age eight - I had a lot of difficulty when I first picked up a basketball, because I was a scrub - there were things that I liked about it.

There's the typical books, Moby Dick and, I guess in my adult life I began to read biographies more than fiction. I started to want to relate to other people's lives, things that had really happened.

Right up until the time I retired at age 37, I felt like there were still things that I could do better.

I think I started learning lessons about being a good person long before I ever knew what basketball was. And that starts in the home, it starts with the parental influence.

If you do things with a certain type of result and cause a certain type of reaction or effect, then you increase your market value. It's very much a competition for the entertainment dollar, and that's never been more clearly evident than in today's NBA game.

They are taking steps, but they are baby steps.

You know, we always tried to rationalize by saying you take the good, you take the upside, you got to deal with the downside, you've to take the downside.

One of the commitments that I personally have now is to a diverse approach to buying businesses, and the operation of those businesses.

With the crowds on your side, it's easier to play up to your potential.

Because of the makeup of the NBA, it cannot afford for the public to turn on them.

Teachers are sort of faced with a thankless task, because no matter how good they are, unless they find a way to personally rationalize the rewards of their effort, nobody else is really going to do it for them en masse.