Mahershala Ali Quotes

My hockey comes first compared to everything else.

I had too much respect for the game to leave it behind or to make it my second or third sport in college.

Going to college offered me the chance to play football for four more years.

I went to Ohio University studying arts and history, and playing football. But I was only interested in girls, my pals and sports. I only did the minimum for school.

I did volleyball, basketball, and track all through high school. And then I went to junior college and I stuck with track because I was good at shot put and discus. And then I got a full ride to Fresno State for their track program. Shot put was my main thing. I was the five-time All-American, and I set a couple records.

If I was going to go to college, I had to have a scholarship. By my sophomore year, it was evident golf was not going to be the path.

My focus is basketball, and that's it.

The two most important things in my life were academics and sports. I had to do my schoolwork first.

I started acting when I was at Amherst my junior year, and my lacrosse career kind of started to flop sideways after that.

At 17, I went to Stanford University to study engineering. My time was occupied with the required reading and the extracurricular duties of managing the baseball and football teams and earning my way.

I'm a basketball guy. No sitcom guy. I don't care about all that jazz. I care about basketball. It's not me. And I stayed with what I did, and I'm very proud that I did that because I make a great living and I'm lucky and I get to be involved with the thing I truly love, and that's the game of basketball.

If I'm not asleep, it's probably all basketball.

I'm a basketball player first and foremost. So I want to put basketball above everything else.

Contrary to what people believe, yes, basketball has been a big part of my life. But on the other hand, it's also been a small part.

Of course, in college, you're traveling, especially when you're with Duke basketball, but in the NBA, it's on a whole entire level.

I don't have friends when I'm on the court, besides my team.

I don't do anything else but play basketball.

I played everything. I played volleyball, did track, cross-country, but basketball was my main sport, my main focus.

In college, playing the two guard, I found a way to get drafted.

I played basketball and baseball up until college, yea. Then I lost my discipline and started chasing girls and whatnot.

When it comes time for basketball, everything else is kind of irrelevant.

When I grew up, I never - I wasn't allowed to go out. I missed my prom because I went to an AAU tournament and all that stuff. For me, it was basketball, basketball, basketball.

When I was in school, I was very much into just sports, mostly basketball, and didn't really see myself as much of a student. But once I got into college, I figured I wasn't going to be play beyond college. I started to think what was I going to do, since I wouldn't be able to make a living with basketball. There were a couple of things I liked to do. I wrote poetry, spoken word mostly.

Basketball was always a game to me. One of the greatest things in life for me was to be able to play what I loved dearly and get paid for it. So it was always a game to me and that's how I perceived everything.

The pleasure of sport was so often the chance to indulge the cessation of time itself--the pitcher dawdling on the mound, the skier poised at the top of a mountain trail, the basketball player with the rough skin of the ball against his palm preparing for a foul shot, the tennis player at set point over his opponent--all of them savoring a moment before committing themselves to action.