D'Angelo Russell

“It's hard to be so mentally competitive and when you're not competing you try to turn it off but it doesn't work like that. I don't think you can just turn it off, I think you still find ways to be competitive - if it's playing a video game, if it's playing cards.”

“Some players thrive in the open-style, AAU games - the all-star games. But when it comes to playing in an actual system and having to 'think' the game, you see where some guys separated themselves.”

“I think I created my own narrative, being a guy who kind of got chewed up and put through the grinder and coming out on top.”

“I am tired of talking about what I do or what I am going to do.”

“I'm part-time vegan. I try to be vegan when I can. But I dip and dive in everywhere.”

“I can't imagine being in an All-Star Game, knowing that you're among some of the best of the best.”

“It's easy to be just a basketball player, get paid and come here to do that. But to be professional about it is different.”

“I'm a dog lover - I've had them since I was younger.”

“I got ice in my veins!”

“I appreciate the city of New York just embracing me, and Brooklyn in general.”

“I always had the confidence. The platform, guys getting injured and giving me multiple opportunities, that has allowed me to showcase it.”

“Any rumor you can think of, I've been a part of it.”

“When you find your niche, you just gotta continue to be confident and thrive in it.”

“I want to be me - and people know it's me. I don't want: 'He's trying to act like Kobe' or 'His answers are like something Kobe would've said.' Nah. If it's me, I'm going to say it.”

“L.A. has so much to offer. So I want to take advantage of it.”

“Every year you want to keep elevating you. And that's what I want to do.”

“It's almost like going to high school before you got to go to college. You felt a little bit better before you got to college. That's how I feel about Brooklyn.”

“Everyone in the league has a journey or a legacy, whether you're in the league for five years or you're in the league for one year.”

“I've always been my own guy.”

“Me being young, I'm going to definitely mess up a lot more than I'm going to make the right play, but I want my teammates to be able to trust me and look at me as a veteran guard trying to run the team.”