Serge Ibaka

“It's good to score, but there are some other things that are important in basketball too.”

“End of the day, when you do something, you have to do something where you bring people together. You can't do something where you separate people.”

“I had a poster of Kevin Garnett hanging in my room. He was one of my inspirations when I was young. I was at my friend's house - he had a lot of money, so sometimes I'd go to his place to watch some NBA action. I remember the first time I saw Kevin Garnett, I just felt something in my body: 'This feels like me.'”

“My dream is to keep doing the best I can to help kids, give back and make them smile.”

“I think God put me on this earth to play basketball.”

“Whatever it takes to help the team to get wins, I'm going to do it.”

“I can play at four or I can play at five and I think I feel more comfortable because I'm flexible to do whatever I want to do.”

“Taking care of my body helps me to focus.”

“Ask anybody from Africa which country is the best in terms of dressing, and they'll tell you Congo.”

“That's the culture I come from - we like to dress nice. It is my thing.”

“When I don't have basketball practice, I'll be in a gym for 2.5 hours - 30 minutes abs, 2 hours lifting.”

“Defense, in the game, is something that I just really enjoy. Some people enjoy assisting the ball. Some people like to score, score, score, but to me the first thing that comes up is defense.”

“In the playoffs, it's win or you go home.”

“You cannot control everything - you try to control what you can control.”

“I've said that before: I believe in God. With God, anything is possible.”

“Money will not make you happy. It's most important that you need to be happy. You need to do something you want to do.”

“Without pressure, I'm not going to wake up every day to go work, or do extra shooting, or lifting.”

“It's life, man, and life is never easy.”

“Whatever you have, you need to thank God and his blessings. You never know what other people are having trouble with or what is going on with their lives.”

“When I step on the court I'm going to compete. That's one of the reasons I work hard everyday.”