It would be easier if I didn't even make the playoffs, it would hurt less. But then I start thinking about how much fun it is.
There is no room for Donald Sterling in our league -- there is no room for him.
I mean, when you grow up in the inner city and you grow up in a single-parent household, that's -- those are humbling times, you know?
My game is really played above time. I don't say that like I'm saying I'm ahead of my time. I'm saying, like, if I'm on the court and I throw a pass, the ball that I've thrown will lead my teammate right where he needs to go, before he even knows that that's the right place to go to.
Once you squeeze toothpaste out, you can't put it back into the tube. The same is true with our words. Once we say something hurtful, we can't take it back.
Once you get on the playing field it's not about whether you're liked or not liked. All that matters is to play at a high level and do whatever it takes to help your team win. That's what it's about.
D-Wade is the unselfish guy here-he is welcoming Chris Bosh and LeBron James to his team.
I've always been an unselfish guy, and that's the only way I know how to play on the court and I try to play to the maximum of my ability -- not only for myself but for my team-mates.
The Greater Man upstairs know when it's my time. Right now isn't the time.
Certain money is not always good money. It could be just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I mean, if you have your priorities in check then for the most part it's easy.
Steph is scary. I've never seen anyone who can shoot the ball off the dribble like him. He got it going in 4th. Every game is different.
Basketball is my passion, I love it. But my family and friends mean everything to me. That's what's important. I need my phone so I can keep in contact with them at all times.
I enjoy the competition and whatever it takes throughout the competition, I will do it.
I love seeing my teammates succeed. That's what I get more excited about than anything.
My dream has become a reality now, and it's the best feeling I've ever had.
If I could have gave more, I would have done it. I gave everything I had.
I'm LeBron James, from Akron, Ohio, from the inner city. I'm not even supposed to be here. That's enough. Every night I walk into the locker room, I see a No. 6 with James on the back, I'm blessed. So what everybody says about me off the court, don't matter. I ain't got no worries.
I'm not afraid of nothing, I just like the challenge, and I love being here.
You have to do what's best for you and what's going to make you happy at the end of the day because no one can live with the consequences or anything that comes with your decision besides you.
I was blessed with a God-given talent and my mother raised me the right way.
In this fall -- this is very tough -- in this fall I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.
Am I responsible or are you', a senior official asked his pilot, dubiously beginning a flight to Baghdad, 'for seeing that this machine is not overloaded?' 'That will have to be decided at the inquest.
You lose in the Finals, they're all disappointing. Doesn't matter if I'm playing in Miami, Cleveland or on Mars. You lose the Finals, it's disappointing.
I started thinking about what it would be like to raise my family in my hometown. I looked at other teams, but I wasn't going to leave Miami for anywhere except Cleveland. The more time passed, the more it felt right. This is what makes me happy.
We hated Cleveland growing up. There's a lot of people in Cleveland we still hate to this day.
I always believed that I'd return to Cleveland and finish my career there.
I never wanted to leave Cleveland. My heart will always be in that area -- in a perfect world I would have loved to stay.
I got a goal, and it's a huge goal, and that's to bring an NBA championship here to Cleveland, and I won't stop until I get it.
If it wasn't for the determination and the will power we have in each other, we wouldn't have pulled through and got this win. Much respect to Spain, but the U.S. is back on top again.
People who say It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all never felt a broken heart.
But I get a thrill out of bringing a group together and helping them reach a place they didn't know they could go. I see myself as a mentor now and I'm excited to lead some of these talented young guys.
Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It's where I walked. It's where I ran. It's where I cried. It's where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart.
In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have.
My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn't realize that four years ago. I do now.
Akron, Ohio, is my home. It will always be remembered. Akron, Ohio, is my life.
The modern athlete is an individual corporation. I'm not quite sure it's very good for sport, or good for team work, or those different things that sport says it's about. This is about business.
There's that moment every morning when you look in the mirror: Are you committed, or are you not?
We did what we are supposed to. We protected home. We have to try to do it again Thursday night.
As loud as fans were , they need to go home now and start soaking up a lot of tea, drinking a lot of tea for the next 36 hours, whatever the case may be, 'cause they need to be just as loud Thursday night.
But then I lock back in and I start thinking about how fun it is to compete during the playoffs and the first round, the second round, and Eastern Conference Finals. If I'm lucky enough to get here again, it will be fun to do it.
When I miss you, sometimes I listen to music or look at pictures of you, not to remind me of you but to make me feel as if I'm with you. It makes me forget the distance and capture you.
I hear my friends and my mom tell me I'm special, but honestly, I still don't get it.
Well, I mean, to me, I think my ultimate -- my ultimate goal is winning championships and -- and I understand that me going down as one of the greats will not happen until I, you know, win a championship.
For me, already being part of a single parent household and knowing it was just me and my mom, you'd would wake up times and hope that the next day you'd be able to be alongside your mother because she was out trying to make sure that I was taken care of. But all I cared about was her being home.
I played football for a team called the East Dragons on the east side of town. We only had six regular season games. And six games I played tail back and I had 18 touchdowns in six games. That's when I knew I had some athletic ability.
As a kid, we would drive up and down 77 North -- that's our highway -- there would be office buildings on the side of the highway and I'd be like, that's what my house is going to look like when I get older. I'm going to start making my house look like this.
There is a lot of pressure put on me, but I don't put a lot of pressure on myself. I feel if I play my game, it will take care of itself.
Sometimes in the past when I played something might make me lose focus, or I would go home after a game where I thought I could have played better and I would let it hang over my head for a long time when it shouldn't.
There are some teams and logos you see, no matter where you are in the world, and you know exactly who they are and what they mean.
You know, God gave me a gift to do other things besides play the game of basketball.
Your teammates give you the confidence. They give me the confidence all year, all postseason.
But now, being a parent, I go home and see my son and I forget about any mistake I ever made or the reason I'm upset. I get home and my son is smiling or he comes running to me. It has just made me grow as an individual and grow as a man.
But sports carried me away from being in a gang, or being associated with drugs. Sports was my way out.
You know, I'm just 6'9\ and 260. And just so happen to be very good at playing the game of basketball.
As a professional athlete a lot is going to be said about you -- but I just try to move forward and try to achieve my goals.
I'm not going to fight because I mean too much to our team, and I can't afford to be suspended for a game or do something stupid to get me kicked out of a playoff game.
Warren Buffet told me once and he said always follow your gut. When you have that gut feeling, you have to go with don't go back on it.
My mom and I have always been there for each other. We had some tough times, but she was always there for me.
You can't be afraid to fail. It's the only way you succeed -- you're not gonna succeed all the time, and I know that.
When I was 5, some financial things happened, and I moved seven times in a year. We moved from apartment to apartment, sometimes living with friends. My mom would always say, 'Don't get comfortable, because we may not be here long.'
I always say, decisions I make, I live with them. There's always ways you can correct them or ways you can do them better. At the end of the day, I live with them.
If a great opportunity opens itself up, I would love to be involved... or star in a movie.
I love watching track and field -- the 4x100 relay, the 100-(meter) dash, the 200-(meter) dash. To see what they're able to do, I love watching that.
When did I know I had talent? I think it started when I first started playing sports, organized sports.
Akron, Ohio, is my home. I will always be here. I'm still working out at my old high school.
You know, my family and friends have never been yes-men: 'Yes, you're doing the right thing, you're always right.' No, they tell me when I'm wrong, and that's why I've been able to stay who I am and stay humble.
Where I grew up -- I grew up on the north side of Akron, lived in the projects. So those scared and lonely nights -- that's every night. You hear a lot of police sirens, you hear a lot of gunfire. Things that you don't want your kids to hear growing up.
When you work out or you're doing anything active, it's more fun as a group. You may lose track of the time, and the next thing you know, you're working out for two hours because you're having fun.
Volleyball, I could be pretty good. After a few practices I could be that striker, or whatever they call it.
I don't know how tall I am or how much I weigh. Because I don't want anybody to know my identity. I'm like a superhero. Call me Basketball Man.