Jerry West Quotes

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.

Just seeing the progression, the evolution of the NBA game, I feel like you have a lot of big men shooting 3s.

If you give him a 3-point shot, you might as well count it. I'd rather have Steph Curry beat me 14 points and 14 assists than let him get 40. Because his 40 is just so loud. And it's because of those 3s.

Marc Gasol, he's more of a true center. There are guys who play that traditional center role, but the game is also played differently now.

The league has changed in so many ways. There are no point guards anymore, there are no centers anymore; it's all positionless basketball.

It used to be you a needed a true center to win championships, but now the point guard position holds just as much weight.

I liked being home playing in front of my people, but I just did not like the situation because I was playing shooting guard, and that is not my position. I would play it if someone like Rip got hurt, but to do it for an entire season, that is not my position. I got it done when I was asked to do. But inside, I know that is not me.

Inferior guards play on the sidelines and great guards play in the middle. Isiah, Magic, Chris Paul, all get to the middle

If you get a guy that can play a couple positions, it helps you out a real lot.

Yeah, I play a lot of point guard. LeBron plays a lot of point guard. A lot of people are thinking too much on positions.

I feel more comfortable with the ball in my hands, playing the point guard. But I like playing the 2, too. I think I bring tough defense and the ability to score and also get my teammates the ball to score.

More and more teams are, in the vernacular, 'going small,' with only one big man down deep. Good grief, the position of power forward is in the process of going the way of short shorts.

We talk about players of yesteryear, guys who could play or couldn't play, and I think it's ridiculous to try to even compare people... The things that you can do in basketball today that you couldn't even do then... you can carry the ball; you walk all over the place.

I always thought the objective of basketball was to get the maximum amount of movement to get the easiest shot, closest to the basket. With the three-point rule, the whole strategy changes, and you make a move and then throw it 30 feet out, where somebody takes a standing jump shot.

I've always been the point guard, always been the floor general out there, and it's helped me see things I didn't previously see on offense from a shooting guard standpoint.

When I played, I would never, ever try to run Reggie Miller off the line because I knew Reggie. If I ran at him, and I was trying to run him off the line, I was going to get kicked.

I remember I came into the NBA in 1999; the game was a little bit more rough. The game now is more for kids. It's not really a man's game anymore.

I watch a lot of Dwyane Wade. D-Wade was in the Finals his third year and he was getting to the free-throw line 10 times a game.

I want to get to the 'pick your poison' type of situations like James Harden.

We went through a nice stretch of big guys. But soon, everyone is going to realize that there's only one Steph Curry.

I've always gotten credit for being a big man who doesn't want to shoot threes. Throughout my entire basketball career prior to coming to the NBA, I was praised for doing that.

What is most remarkable to me about Durant's game is what he does given his size. It's so unique to have a player who is 6-foot-9 with the ability to shoot and handle the ball so well. It allows him to stretch the opposing team's defense because he can do those things at such a high level. He's a load to deal with and an extremely tough matchup.

There's a lot of big guys who can play-make. We put labels like, 'Oh, he's a point guard, he's a center.' But sometimes your center can play-make for you and not just be the center, boxing out for rebounds and playing in the post.

I don't like 7-footers shooting threes, it's a disrespect to the game for me.

I don't have the five positions anymore. It may be as simple as three positions now, where you're either a ball-handler, a wing or a big.