Jerry West

I've seen a lot in my life. I've seen a lot of winning. I've seen a lot of testing times. I think when you're tested, you really find out what you're made of, OK?

Even though I felt, at times, 'My goodness, you're among the upper echelon,' there is still a huge void there. A huge void. It is about self-esteem. That's a thing that has always been a real complex part of my life.

Defensively, from a team standpoint, I didn't feel I played very well. Very rarely was I satisfied with how I played.

You can't get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.

That's a strong sign of a good coach, to let an assistant participate. It shows his confidence in the coach's ability not to have to dominate everything.

Confidence is a lot of this game or any game. If you don't think you can, you won't.

I think, at the end of the day, when you hear the same voice all the time, it goes in one ear and out the other when you're a player.

I went a few times, but I felt there was no way that any therapist could understand my particular torment and also felt in some respects they were sicker than I was.

At one time, we were asked to play your own man; you're responsible for your own man. And, if you were good enough and kind of a ball hawk, you helped everyone else. Now it's really much more of a team concept defensively than it was when we played.

A shot is a lever; it's all it is. You don't open a car door differently each time. A car door is efficient - it opens and closes. So is a shot.

If I'm not nervous, if I don't have at least a little bit of the same self-doubt and anxious feelings I had when I started playing, then it will be time for me to go on. I must have that tension.

When it's time for me to walk away from something, I walk away from it. My mind, my body, my conscience tell me that enough is enough.