O. J. Mayo Quotes

"I kind of just trust what I do and do what I trust."

"If your shot is broke, you at least want to shoot it comfortably. You want to be comfortable shooting a broke shot. You don't want to be uncomfortable shooting a broke shot."

"I understand compliance and I understand the rules. Any meal, I wouldn't pay for everybody but I would at least pay my end."

"I am focusing on the process of making my dream come true, which is to play professional basketball."

"Sometimes in the NBA, the schedule gets to be a lot with all these events, busses, planes and games. But once that's gone, you miss it so bad."

"Taking the game away is probably the closest thing to jail that I'll get to."

"Since I was like 6 or 7, I've always had a basketball season."

"That was the lowest point in my entire life: The shellshock of not being in the NBA. All my peers are playing and I'm not because of boneheaded mistakes."

"I was real close with Jason Kidd."

"I knew guys in my neighborhood who should have made it somewhere but got stuck. I wasn't raised like that."

"Every man writes his manner. I just made poor decisions."

"A lot of people who went to SC didn't play ball - people who do films, lawyers and doctors, people who do things in real estate and business. There's a lot of people that make things happen out here."

"What's the average time you live on earth - like 60, 65 years? Basketball's gonna take up half of it. I'd like to be successful in the other half, too."

"I feel like the sky's the limit, and anything could happen."

"I was telling some of my friends that I really wish college did pay because then you have an opportunity to have fun in college and enjoy college life and have a comfortable living."

"I make mistakes, but each and every day you want to try to better yourself to be a better person and learn from your mistakes."

"I definitely feel like I can fulfill any role that a team needs me to fulfill."

"Magic Johnson didn't play the style that Larry Bird did, and Michael Jordan sure didn't play the style that Magic or Bird played."

"In the barber shop you start playing checkers, and eventually you want to learn how to play chess. The pieces look a little more interesting. You're doing more things. I'm pretty good at it."

"I got into a fight in my 10th-grade year, and it was on ESPN. It was a mistake, and you learn from it. Starting from the seventh grade, everything's been magnified like that. It's kind of like you have no childhood."

"I did a paper on why is race so uncomfortable to discuss. Is it because you don't want to bring up bad history in America? You want to be conscious of whatever you say about that because it's a serious point."

"I was a struggling college student like everyone else. I bicycled to class."

"Obviously a strength of mine is shooting."

"At the end of the day, I just want to win."

"I was 19 before. I understand how you want to come in and do so many things on the positive side. You're going to do some negative things because you don't know yet; you're still learning."

"There are just so many substances that are considered banned substances because in some way it could help your performance on the court. As athletes, we should be responsible for what we put in our bodies."

"I really try to handle my business on the floor."

"When you mess up, teams wonder whether they want to put their hands on you. I respect that. They can only go by a rap sheet or a resume."

"I signed my first autograph when I was 11."

"I'm not under any pressure. I'm just a kid having fun playing basketball."