National Basketball Association (NBA)

"Actually, I didn't do much working out at all. Played in three charity games, and that was about it for basketball. Summer ball's too much of a letdown for me. Always has been. One day you're playing against Larry Bird in Boston Garden, next day you're playing against Sam Sausagehead on some playground."

"I always laugh when people ask me about rebounding techniques. I've got a technique. It's called just go get the damn ball."

"I'm not paid to be a role model, parents should be role models."

"I don't create controversies. They're there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention."

"I'm like Christmas, because you know I'm coming. The main thing for me is to be the first one off the floor," he says. "Nobody in the league can jump as quick as I can, and that's important. I watch the flight of the ball carefully, whether I'm on offense or defense. I never take my eyes off it. Never. And I can usually tell where it's going. Boxing out, for me, is overrated. I had a coach at Auburn named Roger Banks who used to tell me one thing, 'Go for the ball." There are guys who are great at boxing out who get only two rebounds a game."

"I think the media demands that athletes be role models because there's some jealousy involved. It's as if they say, this is a young black kid playing a game for a living and making all this money, so we're going to make it tough on him. And what they're really doing is telling kids to look up to someone they can't become, because not many people can be like we are. Kids can't be like Michael Jordan."

"I was fairly controversial, I guess, but I regret only one thing—the spitting incident. But you know what? It taught me a valuable lesson. It taught me that I was getting way too intense during the game. It let me know I wanted to win way too bad. I had to calm down. I wanted to win at all costs. Instead of playing the game the right way and respecting the game, I only thought about winning."

"Man, everything gets blamed on the Clintons, every single thing in this world. I think Bill Clinton shot JFK, too."

"Michael Jordan was the single biggest influence in my career. He has been my closest friend since the day I started. He has been there for me in ways you could never understand, as a basketball player, a personal friend, a financial adviser."

"Of all the people in sports I'd like to throw through a plate glass window, Reilly's not one of them. It's a shame though, skinny white boys look real aerodynamic."

"See, Maurice Cheeks is the best point guard in the league, but Magic Johnson, who's also a point guard, is the best basketball player. That's what I consider myself, a basketball player—a guy who doesn't have to have a position. There's Magic, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, maybe, and me. I put myself into that category."

"Well, when I went off to college, the guys I used to hang with were pumping gas and voting Democrat. Today they're still pumping gas and voting Democrat. Guess the Democrats didn't do much for them."

"You a knucklehead."

"Charles is definitely our leader, but it's not the normal type of leadership, because Charles isn't your normal type of person. He's a little different. He's unique." - Matt Guokas

"Charles jumps from side to side, not just straight up. And he gets both hands on almost every ball, so he doesn't lose many." - Larry Bird

"Charles nudges you off-balance in one direction, just with his strength, then goes the other way with his quickness. And he tries to put everything in the basket. Compare him to, say, Adrian Dantley [of Detroit]. They both post up and have great spin moves. But Adrian is trying to get the contact so he can get to the line. Charles wants it all." - Kevin McHale

"I'm the type of person who doesn't always say the right things myself. But I never apologize for what I've said, even though I may regret them. The best thing you can do is be your own person. And Charles is definitely his own person." - Larry Bird

"I put Charles in a class with [ Boston's Danny] Ainge. You hate him when you play against him. The fist-shaking, the waving, the emotion—you think it's all an act. But then you get here [Gminski came over from the New Jersey Nets in a trade last January] and you see it's real. He wants to win that much." - Mike Gminski

"It's his quick first step and his body control. He and Jordan are the best in the league at getting the contact and getting the shot off." - Larry Bird

"Many times Charles just says things to put pressure on himself, to force himself to respond to challenges. If you don't understand Charles's competitive nature, you don't understand Charles." - John Nash

"Sure, there have been some things I wish Charles wouldn't have done or said. But with Charles you get the whole package. On the whole, it's as good a package as you can get." - John Nash

"Your biggest concern is not when Barkley's play is called, but when it's not called. He's smart in the way he attacks the ball on the offensive glass. His intelligence is the most underrated part of his game. He doesn't get called for many fouls going for the ball, and he doesn't deserve many." - Rick Adelman