Jalen Brunson

“Good leaders, good team players, know how to make the most of everything.”

“I expect myself to be the best player I can be. I really believe I can be one of the best who's ever played. That's how hard I work. That's going to be my mindset no matter where I am or what I'm doing.”

“I want to have the strongest work ethic.”

“I can control how hard I play. This is how I respond to coaching. This is how I respond to my teammates. If I focus on that, the other things that come with that are going to come.”

“You respect people you grew up around.”

“I love holding myself accountable and being held accountable by my teammates. It's never easy, but it comes with the role of being a leader, and if your leadership is not up to par, then the team won't be willing to work as hard.”

“I'm pretty sure everyone in the country wants a bigger role if they're not a star player.”

“Every game's a big game.”

“I want to be a part of a winning culture.”

“There'd be days in high school where I thought I played well, my team got the win, and I'd go to the gym still in my uniform, and my dad would say, 'C'mon, let's go. We have more work to do.'”

“As I grew older, it wasn't just to be in the NBA. The dream was to be successful in the NBA.”

“When you work for something, no matter hard it is, no matter how time consuming, how draining it is, you work for it.”

“I have to make sure I'm making the right play at the right time.”

“I use what God had given me. I don't wish for anything else. I don't wish I can be a high-flier.”

“There's a lot of guys who are drafted and end up not playing in the NBA. They get their money for their first whatever years and end up going overseas or something like that.”

“Let's just say I've learned a lot and seen things differently than any other average high school kid.”

“When you see people from your area do well, you're excited for them as well.”

“I need to be more aggressive, more vocal, be a better defender. I've worked on all those tirelessly.”

“I just feel like there's a lot of things more important than just basketball, and I love basketball. It's what I want to do for the longest time possible. It's what I eat, it's what I sleep about, it's what I breathe, it's in my lifestyle. I just really feel like there's more important things than just putting the ball in the hoop.”

“I loved playing for Coach Ambrose, and I definitely love playing for Coach Wright.”