I was taught to play that way when I was in high school and even before I got to high school.
I'd like to think that the nature of the two teams - Boston being a championship team over the years and the Lakers, same thing - was a lot bigger than Larry Bird or Magic Johnson.
If you're a basketball player, you've got to shoot.
I think that teaching coaches are the norm now.
It's like all guys want to do is make a dunk, grab their shirt and yell out and scream - they could be down 30 points but that's what they do. Okay, so you made a dunk. Get back down the floor on defense!
But if people are buying the products, naturally they're gonna use them.
Now, I guess, people want stars. People are trying to invent stars.
It's a sad commentary when I have to say that sometimes in our country we are real sensitive to race.
I think that basketball players should get the job done no matter how it looks on the screen.
I don't blame David Stern because a player gets on the court and he doesn't put out competitively. No one can make you play if you don't want to play.
Some players are more physical than others, some play with more finesse. Some are just really great all-around players. So you have to change your game.
But I think the image that's thrown out on television is a bad image. Because you see players who want to imitate hip-hop stars. And the NBA is taking advantage of the situation.
I don't think that players learn how to play any other aspect of the game in high school or college.
You look at today, it's a different situation. You have a game that has been transformed into a game where almost every shot is either an outside shot - a three-point shot - or a dunk.
The Olympics were great, because you had to make the team, and then go to the games. Now, I don't know, these guys today don't want to do anything like that.