It had never been a decision to choose between the French national team or the Senegalese national team because I was growing up in France and playing in the French youth national team, so it was something really normal.

I had to prove everything because I was coming from Milan, and nobody knew me. I was a young talent who hadn't done anything, so I had it all to prove and all to do.

I think what African football needs is better organization, better structure, and I think, after that, we'll help the players to be more professional when they're coming to play for their national team.

When you're in youth development, you have to develop players - win or come in second. But the job where I am and the reality of our industry is to win to be successful, and that is what I have to do. I have to be successful, and I want to be successful, so we'll do everything we can do to win.

I don't ever remember wanting to do anything but coach. My dad obviously influenced me. But it wasn't because he sat there and drilled coaching stuff into our heads. We were on the bench keeping the scorebook and traveling with the team on weekends. It was such a great upbringing.

After spending more than 17 years playing for the NBA, in the summertime, I always came back to community service and different basketball clinics.

This is a business, and no one enters a race not to finish first. I wouldn't say I'm in it for the competition, but I'm certainly not just in it to coast along. I want to be the best I possibly can be.

By high school, I was already tall - 5-foot-8 - and one day I made the mistake of wearing green tights. The football players all started calling me the Jolly Green Giant.