Jalen Rose

Let's face it: if you're an elite basketball player and you choose to be socially and politically active, it could harm your brand.

As a kid from Detroit, I played whatever sport was in season: football, basketball, wrestling, whatever it was. I was an active kid.

There's a lot of players that go to a city, pick up a check, go to practice, and just worry about what's happening in their households, and you can't blame them.

Basketball is not like football: It's not a car accident happening every play. Over the nine months, you can rest in practice and take off some minutes in games.

One hero in my life that I've had from college on to now was Muhammad Ali. I studied his quotes, his style, and his strength. He was a revolutionary in every sense of the word.

I get to talk about sports on television for a living.

But the best revenge for naysayers is living well. And living well is doing your job and taking care of your family.

It's my job, it's my role, it's my mission, it's my dream to have everyone who has Michigan ties - whether you went to college in Michigan, whether you grew up in Michigan, if you've ever heard of the state of Michigan - to do what you can to influence the students of the Detroit metropolitan area.

I've always gotten a kick out of leading my team in assists.

Ask any athlete. One of his dreams is to play in New York wearing a Knicks uniform. It's also always been a dream of mine.

I hate tenure. Tenure allows teachers to put their feet up on the desk and possibly have a job forever. That's why I got turned on to charter schools. It's a business model. Every employee and every teacher will be monitored by performance.

You know how certain adults feel, the older they get, the longer the walk was to school? Well, I don't feel like that.