Rowan Ricardo Phillips Quotes

I think the greatest player I've ever played against was Magic Johnson. Next, was Larry Bird. Then, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Magic Johnson didn't play the style that Larry Bird did, and Michael Jordan sure didn't play the style that Magic or Bird played.

Just basketball in general in Indiana is just huge, so that's everybody's getaway. That's our main thing, to think about the history. Obviously, Larry Bird is a very, very big part of that.

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.

A lot of black guys always ask me, 'Did Larry Bird really play that good?' I said, 'Larry Bird is so good it's frightening.'

Every kid who just played basketball knew about the Boston Celtics. They're one of the few teams who were always on national TV along with the Lakers.

Magic was always my favorite. I think Jordan was the best player ever, but Magic was my personal favorite.

Charles Barkley played in an era where he was never the guy. He always had to take a back seat to Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas, because what did they have that he never got? A championship.

The Cavaliers used to play at the Richfield Coliseum, and I actually went to see them when I was a little kid. Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance, all those guys.

I always found it a great challenge playing against Michael Jordan, to play against Magic Johnson, to play against Larry Bird, to play against all those good players because it's something that you can take away from it.

When you get to know some of the history of the game, Oscar Robertson is one of the names that pops up first.

The NBA Schedule was made up by one man, Eddie Gottlieb, who had owned the Philadelphia Warriors. Eddie had a Buddha-like body and a crinkly smile, and because he had also been an owner in baseball's old Negro leagues, he was known as the Mogul.

Guys like Alvin Adams, Sweet D Walter Davis, Larry Nance, and Kyle Macy became my basketball heroes.

I'm a big Bulls fan, Michael Jordan fan, LeBron fan.

It's the Basketball Hall of Fame, not the NBA Hall of Fame. So, for basketball, I played in Olympics; I played in the Junior Olympics. With what I've done and given to basketball is all Hall of Fame.

I always say the Boston Celtics of the 1960s were the only true dynasty, because they won nine titles in a 10-year span.

When I started playing, my mom said there were three players she wanted me to watch - Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.

I watched a lot of Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson, Kevin Durant, and a lot of Paul Pierce. I used to watch Tracy McGrady as well along with Kevin Garnett.

If I would compare anybody to Michael Jordan, it would be Kobe Bryant.

I love LeBron, but Kobe was the first player I actually considered my favorite.

I grew up dreaming about being an Olympic basketball player: Doug Collins getting smashed into the stanchion, making two free throws. Phil Ford and Mike O'Koren in 1976.

I have no doubt that LeBron James would've loved to have played against Michael Jordan, but that simply is not going to happen.

I'm a fan of Kobe and LeBron. People always try to make me pick one or the other, but I think they're both great. They both deliver.

Larry Bird was a talker. He'd tell you something and you'd be like, are you kidding me? You're really telling me that?

There was a time period where I was obsessed with the rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics in the 1980s.