Greg Oden Quotes

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.

I played softball. I was on an all-star team. I traveled with the team. I loved it.

Football was really my least favorite sport and the last sport that I ended up picking up as a kid. My dad started me off with baseball, which most kids did at that time. I really enjoyed basketball. That was my favorite sport.

I used to go to open gym to play with my friends and teammates, and I'd get there 30 to 45 minutes early so I could play one-on-one against my dad. When I reached ninth grade, I was finally able to beat him.

I love the game of basketball. I love being able to work every day. I love being able to watch film, be a student of the game. It may not show emotionally, but I just love that I'm able to do this.

Basketball is a lifelong game. You continue to learn from the game day in and day out, and all along the way, you get better.

I was eight years old and I was playing rugby for my local club.

I've played and I've been a student of the game.

From the time I started playing... When I tried out for a team in sixth grade and on - I was always starting through high school.

My father got me involved in the game when I was four years old.

I'm happy because I won't have to train again, or travel or sit in team hotels.

If you look at any superior athlete, you will find a strong parental influence. Parents introduce their children to a sport, and then they support them.

The young athlete who aspires to greatness, generally speaking, learns a number of things from several different coaches. The first one taught him the fundamentals; the second one instilled discipline in him and taught him more of the techniques that must be mastered to excel.

I wish I could play little league now. I'd be way better than before.

My real-life athletic career was not very much. I played Little League baseball.

Well, first I have to make the team, of course.

My father was a really good athlete, so his pop-ups really were sky high. Eventually I learned how to judge them properly and catch them well. It was great training for when I started to play on teams, which I did all through school.

I played baseball, and that's pretty much it. Basketball came late, this was, basketball was the sport that I tried to master, I kind of mastered baseball, so basketball was one of those things where I wanted to master this game, so that's why I probably play it the way I do.

What our kids learn to do is fight. So when you watch a Devin Booker, you look at Tyler Ulis - they fight.

The players are out here to help win games and to improve, not to make a movie. They're not actors. They're players.

With every look I can get and every defense I play against I get more experience.

My job is to get out there and try to become the best basketball player I can be.

Since I was a D-team backup quarterback in seventh grade, I've loved the game.

I'm just a basketball player going out there and trying to get wins.

As a young player, you need a lot of playing time to evolve.