There weren't many options growing up, so I would wear whatever possible. I once saw a little boy wearing Jordan sneakers in a movie... and that made me dream.

The only thing that can protect me from someone coming from behind are the rules.

I'm always learning. I have to.

I've always said I learned to defend myself from an opponent coming for a hard hit. Tricks are part of my repertoire; I use them to try to get past my opponents, but the objective is always to score goals.

My biggest fear in life is living Nativity scenes. I hide in cars and drive around looking at them. Something about it is really scary to me. What parent would put their child in there with mules and camels and straw?

Lauv' comes from the Latvian word for lion, and my mom's side of the family is from Latvia - it's a place I've been probably 15 times or more. I'm also a Leo, and my real name, Ari, means lion.

If I close my eyes, I can remember the first apartment where I lived with my family in Newark, N.J., in the late 1930s. The rooms were lined up like train cars - you had to go through one to get to another - and there wasn't any heat or hot water.

I tell my children now that they are older, 'If something happens to me... don't make no big fuss over me. Don't make no big expense on my funeral. Don't put any pressure on the rest of the family. I've loved everybody, and I hope they loved me. But don't create this big expense for the family.'