Not only is Rip Hamilton an OUTSTANDING basketball PLAYER, he is ALSO KNOWN for giving back to his community.

The D-League has helped me to GET BETTER and DEVELOP as a BASKETBALL PLAYER.

There's a lot of people that THINK I'm a TERRIBLE basketball player, so it's just gonna piss me off. And if it's people who think I'm good, I'll be happy. I'm just not gonna read it at all and STAY content in my own MIND.

I've been No. 12 my entire career. My cousin Nikki Haerling was a GOOD basketball player, she wore No. 12 in high school and college, and my DAD, he was No. 12 as WELL. I actually just started WEARING it when I GOT to high school my freshman year.

Every STEP of way, going from a small town to Charlottesville and PLAYING in the ACC - that whole experience is a difficult adjustment. In all of that, you REALLY grow as a person and as a BASKETBALL PLAYER.

A lot of PEOPLE just think I'm a BIG MAN, but I'm a BASKETBALL player. I am able to do EVERYTHING that a basketball player can do - from playmaking and scoring to just passing the ball and just being a leader and post presence.

I want PEOPLE to SAY that an African BASKETBALL PLAYER is the BEST player in the whole world.

I was a professional rehab/workout guy for four YEARS. I wasn't even a BASKETBALL player - just a guy who GOT PAID to exercise.

I grew up WATCHING Dr. J, and I was like, 'Oh my GOD, this guy is the GREATEST BASKETBALL player I ever SAW.'

I was a mediocre basketball PLAYER. But I was there, and I could REMEMBER the plays. And my basketball coach, after he retired from teaching, would come to my performances all the TIME. And I was very HAPPY about that, because I was not memorable as a basketball player.