Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.

We're going to work on it, ... He wants to be good. He's always shown signs of being very talented and able to do a lot of things on a basketball court a man of his size usually can't do.

I probably should've listened to Michael a year ago when he said that Charles will never win a championship because he doesn't show any dedication.

It's hard to put it in perspective right now. I'm starting to feel a little emotional about what's going to happen Friday night. Getting your number put in the rafters is always something that as a kid ... you dream of seeing happen to you.

It's superb, definitely. Something that is new to me, that is shocking. I got the news last night about 3 in the morning, and I don't think I even went back to bed.

It's going to be great. A lot of the players are coming. I wasn't here when they put (Jackson) up in the rafters. But to have him here as my number goes up, it brings back a lot of great memories.

He's very knowledgeable. That's the one advantage that I see in Kobe Bryant's career compared to Michael Jordan. Ten years into Kobe Bryant's career, we're seeing a very polished 27-year-old player who's probably got another seven or eight great years ahead of him.

It [would have] been very difficult. As I said, the rules ... but if the rules were put in place back when Michael Jordan was in his prime - no hand-checking, the game was more geared toward offense, wanting to promote scoring in the game - he could have probably got close. He did score 69.

I've always led by example and I'm not that vocal.