When I was growing up in rural Alabama, it was impossible for me to register to vote. I didn't become a registered voter until I moved to Tennessee, to Nashville, as a student.

I always felt growing up that in the South there was evil but also good - so much good.

I would say the country is a different country. It is a better country. The signs I saw when I was growing up are gone and they will not return. In many ways the walls of segregation have been torn down.

When growing up, I saw segregation. I saw racial discrimination. I saw those signs that said white men, colored men. White women, colored women. White waiting. And I didn't like it.

I grew up in an entertainment family, and so I saw how susceptible you are to the ups and downs of this business.

I am two different people. What you see on the court is just natural for me. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I have always said 'C'mon' purely to fire myself up. Off the court, I am a lot shyer. I stick to my team and my family and people I trust.

Work is important, no doubt, but one can end up neglecting family and friends in the bargain. So I have resolved not to let that happen and maintain work-life balance by taking time out for the people who matter the most to me.

The only black folks in town when I was growing up were me and my cousins and one other family.