John Stockton

I had little or no expectations coming in. I was thrilled when I was drafted in the first round because that meant I was going to be given a full year's chance to make the team.

I want my kids to have a life like I did growing up. The greatest gift I was given in life was from my parents. Though I can't match them, I'd like to be that kind of parent.

I know my first years sitting on the bench, largely behind Rickey Green, was a great learning tool for me.

I have a great respect for people that write. I don't know how they do it every day... or do novels that they have to use their minds instead of just their memories. It's tough duty.

I don't care if people even discuss what I did. But if anyone is ever sitting around the kitchen table talking about my career, I hope they say they enjoyed watching me play. That's good enough.

You thrive off everybody on your team. If one guy's playing well, that makes your job easier. If a guy's shooting well, it makes your job easier. If a guy's rebounding well, it makes your job easier.

I really don't look at my accomplishments. I really don't think about myself much.

I think I laid it all out there for 19 years, and you don't always achieve all the goals that you shoot for.

I've played games where I thought I played one of my better games, and statistically, there's nothing there, and vice versa. I've never based how I feel about my performance on stats.

I don't judge my performance on how many assists I have or how many points I have.

You can't afford to hop around and act like a kid when you have to get back on defense and worry about the other parts of the game. But at the end, when the buzzer sounds, you have the luxury of hopping around and looking foolish for a while.

The West is tough. Great teams. Great records, top to bottom.