And from the first time I picked up a basketball at age eight - I had a lot of difficulty when I first picked up a basketball, because I was a scrub - there were things that I liked about it.
And I continued to grow until I was 25 years old.
Being a typical Pisces, I might have experienced mood shifts, but I don't remember any depression, or needing to do anything, or to have someone bring me out of being depressed.
Every team that I've played on, I've either been the captain or co-captain.
Goals determine what you're going to be.
I always try to keep a pretty conservative demeanor on the court.
I came from a broken home, so my mom was a major influence in my life.
I didn't want to become a reserve player, or a bench player, and it was time to move on and take on another challenge.
I firmly believe that respect is a lot more important, and a lot greater, than popularity.
I grabbed 19 rebounds in my first professional game, and somehow found a way to score 20 points. I felt real good about it. I felt that this was the beginning of something good.
I had to spend countless hours, above and beyond the basic time, to try and perfect the fundamentals.
I keep both eyes on my man. The basket hasn't moved on me yet.
I liked the game, I enjoyed the game, and the game fed me enough, and gave me enough rewards to reinforce that this is something that I should spend time doing, and that I could possibly make a priority in my life, versus other sports.
I pulled the plug on it at a time that I thought was right for me to exit.
I started playing professional basketball in 1971, and I played professionally for five seasons before going to Philadelphia.
I think I started learning lessons about being a good person long before I ever knew what basketball was. And that starts in the home, it starts with the parental influence.
I think I was chosen by basketball, although I never really physically got drafted to any team that I played for.
I think that my God-given physical attributes, big hands, and big feet, the way that I'm built, proportion-wise, just made basketball the most inviting sport for me to play.
If you do things with a certain type of result and cause a certain type of reaction or effect, then you increase your market value. It's very much a competition for the entertainment dollar, and that's never been more clearly evident than in today's NBA game.
If you don't do what's best for your body, you're the one who comes up on the short end.
If you get depressed about being the second-best team in the world, then you've got a problem.
If you've experienced having control, you don't want to be moved to a subordinate position, if you have your druthers.
In 1981, at age 31, I was voted the best player in basketball, and the most valuable player in the league.
In a lot of areas of my life, particularly in my teenage years, I began to think about the world, and to think about the universe as being a part of my conscious everyday life.
Many people think sports are totally physical, that you don't have to think, everything is done for you and you're catered to, I found that to be so far removed from the truth that it's almost a joke. The ones who become stars are the ones who have a head on their shoulders and know how to use it.
My mom is one of 14 children. She's a great lady. She's a Taurus. Has been a profound influence in my life, still is to this day. Born in meager surroundings in rural South Carolina.
My role models in the business were the older guys on my team when I first got there: Gray Scott, Adrian Smith, Roland Taylor. These were the guys who took me under their wing, and really schooled me in terms of what the business was about.
One of the commitments that I personally have now is to a diverse approach to buying businesses, and the operation of those businesses.
One of the things in the back of my mind is that, after my sports experience, I never want to be, totally consumed by any one endeavor, other than my family life.
Right up until the time I retired at age 37, I felt like there were still things that I could do better.
So much of becoming a good athlete involves bringing other things to the table, other than physical skills. It involves intelligence, it involves many of the things that you learn during the process of being educated. How to analyze, how to assess, how to equate, how to reason.
Teachers are sort of faced with a thankless task, because no matter how good they are, unless they find a way to personally rationalize the rewards of their effort, nobody else is really going to do it for them en masse.
That was just my own personal program: I didn't want to get too high over the good moments because I didn't want to be saddened and depressed when things didn't go as I had planned.
The first professional game that I ever played remains, to me, the most exciting moment of my professional career.
The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life - mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical.
There's the typical books, Moby Dick and, I guess in my adult life I began to read biographies more than fiction. I started to want to relate to other people's lives, things that had really happened.
They are taking steps, but they are baby steps.
To be great we need to win games we aren't supposed to win.
When handling the ball, I always would look for daylight, wherever there was daylight.
When I went to Philadelphia I was 26 years old and really sitting on top of the world. Family life, a professional career, plenty of friends and associates, and a good reputation, a wish list that could be the envy of many.
When the crowd appreciates you, it encourages you to be a little more daring, I think.
With the crowds on your side, it's easier to play up to your potential.
With black kids, it's always a struggle for pride. Basketball was my way out. I worked hard to make sure it was.
Former professional basketball player
Is the father of professional tennis player Alexandra Stevenson.
Is currently an executive for the NBA's Orlando Magic. [2000]
Enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Played for the American Basketball Association's (ABA) Virginia Squires (1971-72 & 1972-73) and New York Nets (1973-74 thru 1975-76); and the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Philadelphia 76ers (1976-77 thru 1986-87).
ABA MVP (1974, 1976). ABA First Team All-Star (1973-76). Five-time ABA All-Star (1972-76). Holds ABA career record for highest scoring average (28.7 ppg) in a minimum of 250 games.
His youngest son Corey accidentally drowned in 2000.
Jersey retired by both the Nets and the 76ers. NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team (1980). NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (1996). Walter J. Kennedy Citizenship Award (1983). Jackie Robinson Award presented by Ebony Magazine (1983). American Express Man of the Year (1985).
NBA MVP (1981). All-NBA First Team (1978, 1980-83). All-NBA Second Team (1977, 1984). Appeared in 11 NBA All-Star Games (1977-87). Two-time All-Star Game MVP (1977, 1983).
Played for the University of Massachusetts (1968-71). All-America and All-Yankee Conference (1970, 1971). Holds or shares 14 UMass records, including career (20.2 rpg) and seasonal (20.9 rpg, 1970) rebounding averages, career (38.4) and seasonal (38.8, 1970) minutes per game, career (26.3 ppg) and seasonal (26.9 ppg, 1971) scoring averages. Enshrined in UMass Hall of Fame (1980).
Inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame in 1995.
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