Kyrie Irving says Kobe Bryant told him to read ‘The Alchemist’ in order to stop being obsessed with proving people wrong “He knew how curious I was, not just about being great at the game, but about life. That’s why he gave me the book ‘The Alchemist’ and told me to read that… Kobe’s smart… He studied all the greats in every other industry so he could figure out how to be great too…” “It was about really taking the time to get to know who the people are around you. Get to know them as much as you invest in watching the game. I’m an avid student of all the greats in basketball.” “He really put all those other authors in my life so I could help balance what I was into. Since I was 12 or 13 years old, I’ve studied basketball more than 10,000 hours, as they say before you become an expert or master your craft.” “I’ve played more than 10,000 hours. I’ve done all that. When I got to Boston, I was ready for a new challenge, but I didn’t know how it was going to come from within. That’s why he gave me The Alchemist.” “The journey is the reward. Embrace the journey. Don’t think about the end goal so much where you’re fixated on trying to prove people wrong or be at the mountaintop without going through the details that it takes to really appreciate it. That was him.” “His mentorship was like, ‘Yo, stay curious, bro. I know you’re different. You’re not like everybody else out here.’”

Mike Macdonald believes preseason rankings and outside expectations are fairy dust because they don't mean anything “We don’t use it as bulletin board material. Let’s just focus on us and becoming the team that we say we want to become. Then the results will take care of themselves.” “If we become what we say we want to become, the results are going to happen in some form or another. Let’s focus on that.” “What were the odds last year at this time? Who had who? I don’t remember. Nobody remembers.” “It’s like fairy dust. It’s stuff out there that people are interested in, which is cool, but it doesn’t mean anything.” “You still have to line it up, put the pads on and see how it goes. That’s why they play the game.” “People say, ‘You’ve got the hardest schedule,’ or, ‘You’ve got the easiest schedule.’ None of that matters.” “Last year really doesn’t matter. We’re going to strap it up this year.” “There’s going to be some team that you expect to win every game that has struggles.” “And there’s going to be some team that worked their tail off this offseason that you’re not expecting to be great that’s going to be there at the end.” “You’re going to be like, ‘Whoa, how did they end up here?’ Because these are grown men with ambitions and drive, and they worked their butt off.”