Rick Carlisle

“ESPN is an NBA partner, and they've been a great one. But part of that partnership is that the coaches do a lot of things to help them with access, interviews. In exchange for that, they should back up the coaches.”

“Unless you've won a championship, I think there's always unfinished business.”

“I guess one of the most memorable things for me about Kobe Bryant is that when we moved to Dallas in the spring of 2008, our daughter was 4 years old. When she turned 5, one of my most vivid recollections was the first opposing player's name that she mentioned by herself was Kobe Bryant.”

“Caris has obviously proven he's a hell of a starting point guard as well as a hell of a starting two guard. He's a stone-cold attacker, man.”

“Prosperity is always one of the challenges in pro sports because teams can strike back so quickly.”

“Jalen Brunson is a guy you would never bet against if you know him. You just don't bet against that guy.”

“I choose to remember the good things that happened, the opportunity.”

“The chance to spend a week with Pete Newell is like a student of literature getting to spend a week with Hemingway or Frost. The man is the greatest treasure we have in our sport. He is the godfather of modern basketball.”

“Hunger is a moral issue. Human beings should not allow other human beings to go hungry.”

“The wrong types of distractions generally aren't good. But they're going to have to be overcome by any team at some point.”

“There's some guys that step on the floor and bring a presence and energy and confidence to the game.”

“The reality is if they want more scoring, they're going to have to do one thing and that's make the rim bigger.”

“In the case of anything, there is risk, but there are risks worth taking.”

“Lamar Odom is a guy we have great respect for as a person and as an all-around player in this league.”

“Mistakes are how you learn.”

“We know there are a number of important initiatives to work on, but food insecurity is so critical because so many people in our community grapple with it every day.”

“Look, playoff basketball in the NBA is the greatest thing in any sport in my opinion.”

“The worst thing to do if you're let go is to disappear and just go sit in a hole. That's not healthy. It's good to decompress and take a little bit of time. But ultimately, staying active and staying in a growth pattern is very important.”

“Being home doesn't guarantee anything except a friendly environment. And oftentimes what you see is that the road team has a higher level of focus when they're on the road in that environment.”

“Dirk became very Americanized - where Germany and Europe could feel like he was theirs, and the people of Dallas could feel like he was theirs. And no one needed to fight about it.”