DWANE CASEY

Fred VanVleet's story - here's a kid who's not very fast, not very tall, undrafted, had every excuse to not make it big and here he is and he's gonna be one of the top free agents.

I'm not a big car person. I'm not into lots of fancy things.

The unwritten rule in college basketball is the black assistant goes and gets the black players. Don't worry about the X's and O's. Just recruit.

Make or miss, you still have to shoot the same shot with confidence.

When I first became a head coach, even back in Minnesota, I'm going to go with the known and leave the unknown alone.

The NBA made a big move to become more stylish and business-oriented a few years back, and it's made a big change.

I totally can relate to guys going in for job interviews, and not having a tie, not having a white shirt, and that type of thing to wear. That's why I think as coaches we can do things to help. We have plenty, we as NBA coaches and players are all very blessed to be in a profession so that we can provide for.

I have confidence in my manhood to be able to cry at a movie or at a wedding, too.

To me, there's no honor to say, 'I'm going to start.' As long as you're getting minutes, you're closing games, that shows more of the value to the team than to say you're a starter.

Basketball is like society - you're going to have good and bad.

There's no disrespect in playing in the G League.

KeyArena was rocking, loud. The Finals in '96, I thought that was loud.

I love watching players improve - even as a Little League coach.

Black, white and brown people have to work together to find new answers. The only way we can stop the systemic problems that people of color have faced all our lives is through honesty and transparency.

When I first became a head coach in Toronto, I was more of a dictator, wanted to do everything, all the development, defense, offense, whatever it was.

It's a different animal when you're in the NBA. You come in this league and you've got 7-footers who play 7 foot who are going to protect that rim come hell or high water.

Help me help you help yourself is kind of the motto I have.

I'm a firm believer in young, old, tall, short, doesn't matter. Basketball is basketball. It's the way you approach it.

The only way young players learn how to get better is by playing or get the experience is by playing and getting out there and doing it.

That's the problem with our industry: patience. People want instant NBA stars, and that's not going to happen.

In fact I only had one sports jacket when I was in high school. It was all sneakers and tees.

When it comes to playoff time, the game slows down, the offense slows down and you've got to be able to get stops.

As you get older, as a father, you hope your kids can make that kind of impression on somebody who will say, 'Hey, here's a guy that you want, a guy of character, got his head tied on right, a good student, a good basketball player,' whatever it is.

In Minnesota, we were caught between rebuilding or trying to continue to build around Kevin Garnett. I got caught right in the middle of that. KG was at an age where he was a good player, but he couldn't carry a team anymore. I think my inexperience as far as being a head coach hurt me there.

You can't allow yourself to get typecast as a recruiter, because that label sticks and carries. I fought it. I made myself learn the game and teach the game.