When I was young, I didn't know a lot about Liverpool, but when I was coming here, my father told me about the history of the club.

My dad loved Deco as a player. He started calling me Deco as a nickname around the house.

I'm the kind of person who thinks that if I score eight goals in one season, my objective must be to score nine goals in the following season. That's the kind of mentality I have.

My long-term aim has always been to play football at the highest level I possibly could for a big club. When that is in your mind, you don't give up; you constantly fight and battle to make that happen.

I obviously grew up on a court, but there wasn't any, 'All right, we're going to name him 'Tennis,' and he's going to be a professional.'

In the media, from the little bit that I have read... there's not a lot of pity. There are some people, usually older people who have been around or people who really know basketball. Other people in the media are usually like, 'Well, stop getting injured.' You know, like I can control it.

Most athletes won't push a sport forward unless they have the incentive to do so - let alone when the structures of a sport have been set up to actually incentivize them to hold back.

When I was 20, I was living in the Alps, snowboarding and studying political science. I blew out my knee, and I began to realize my days in the sport were numbered; the reality was I would never be a pro.