I became real good friends with John Stockton and Karl Malone and am still good friends with them to this day. It was always good to go see them and then play with them in the 1996 Olympics as well. I idolized John Stockton at the time, I tried to model my game after him.
Really, the club is like a big family. The locker-room spirit is also similar to what I had experienced at Liverpool, but I really like it here at Juventus, because it's not just a set of champions. The sense of a team, the group, is strongly felt.
I've played more golf with Joe Montana and Steve Bono than I've played with anyone else. We've played a ton of golf. I always tell people; my relationship with Joe was as good as it could be.
I'm an athletic junkie - I play in all the celebrity all-star games, and I've become buddies with a bunch of athletes.
When it comes down to it, you win a bunch of games or maybe things don't go the way that you plan - those relationships that you build with the guys around you last a lifetime. To me, that's meaningful.
For once in my career, I won't have to hold anybody's hand and they won't have to hold mine. I'm surrounded by veterans. We had a great battle last Thursday at HealthPoint. It was something I never had before - three, four, really great players all in one pickup game.
I always wanted to play with Kobe Bryant. I used to tease him all the time. Every time I was a free agent, I was like, 'What's up, bro? You got a chance to get the pit that you need. You feel me? This is your chance.'
That's what is cool about football: you build life-long relationships.
Baltimore was like a small town when I got there - the Colts, the Orioles, guys like Frank Robinson, we all knew and respected each other. Everyone would cross paths at one point at Lenny Moore's Sportsman's Lounge, trading stories and having some fun.
We (Derek Jeter and I) want to kill each other. I think we both drive each other and motivate each other. But, when we're off the field, we're like family. I think the nice thing about it is we became good friends before we even mad it to the big leagues. That makes it more of a healthy relationship.
We don't see a lot of models for male social interaction. There's sports and barn raisings.
I love sports, and I love the camaraderie of it.
Sports create a bond between comtemporaries that lasts a lifetime. It also gives your life structure, discipline and a genuine, sincere, pure fulfillment that few other areas of endeavor provide.
I think almost every player has a few very good friends on tour. Mine are: Yves Allegro, Roger Federer, Michael Lammer, and Ivo Klec.
Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.
You always feel for your fellow players when they are going through tough times, losing and things like that.
I'm pretty close with a majority of the black tennis players.
I love team environments, like the Celtics, the Bruins. I love going into the locker room and meeting these guys.
I was great mates with Muttiah Muralitharan, dating back to the days when we both played together at Lancashire.
It's awesome to be running down the field, and your brother is next to you. We get to block together sometimes, and it's fun to put a guy on his back together.
Yerry Mina's a great guy. He's also a great dancer! When he played for Palmeiras, he'd always celebrate with a dance. We became friends, and I speak to him regularly.
Personally, I've always got along great with Mesut, found him extremely pleasant as a human being. He always supported me and was one of the best players I've ever played with.
It's exciting to play against old teammates, old friends.
I don't think I am competing with Hardik. He is a terrific cricketer. Yes, we are all-rounders, but we are different from each other.
I had a couple friends from all the different cliques in school, but my true friends were my gymnastics teammates. I grew up competing with them for ten years.
