In ESPN Magazine, Mark Pope of the NBA's Indiana Pacers had this to say about former Boston Celtics player and current Pacers coach Larry Bird: "I was in high school when I heard Bird interviewed about why he made so many game-winning shots. He said, 'I take a thousand more jumpers than anybody else on my team every day. I deserve to take the game-winning shot, and it should go in.'

"That's the way guys think on this team now. All last year, no matter how hard practice was, every single guy would spend an extra 45 minutes shooting afterward."