Finals Quoteboard—Monday Practice

by Tzvi Twersky | @ttwersky

There is nothing new under the sun—King Solomon

At this point in the NBA Finals—heck, at this point in the season—there is not a single storyline that has not been addressed by the media and players.

LeBron’s clutch play, Russ Westbrook’s singular style of play, the referees’ whistle-blowing—all of it has been discussed ad nauseam.

That doesn’t mean the media’s gonna stop asking questions along the same lines, though, and it doesn’t mean players, no matter how frustrated they are by it, are going to stop answering.

So if you want to read the same ol’ same, feel free to do so elsewhere on this site (we have a lot of good news stories up, as do a whole host of sites).

If you want to read some other things players talked about on off-day media availability today before and after their practice, if you want to read some off-beat stuff, you’ve come to the correct place.

Here’s some of what was said at American Airlines Arena earlier today:

“It comes with the game.”—Mario Chalmers, on being lectured by his teammates after making a mistake.

“It’s not often you see a team come together and get to the Finals in their first year. I figured around Year 2, you know, we’d possibly be in the Finals.”—Udonis Haslem, on if the Heat are where he thought they’d be when the roster came together after the summer of 2010.

“I don’t give a damn how we get four [wins]. We can win 32-31, it doesn’t matter to me.”—LeBron James, on if he minds that America is not getting to see the Heat and Thunder at their high-scoring best.

“We missed a bullet there.”—Dwyane Wade, on OKC missing free throws.

“The overall sacrifices that everybody made [on this team], it doesn’t happen in team sports nowadays. Guys go for the buck, whether it be for a good team or sometimes even a bad team.”—Haslem, on how rare of a team the Heat is.

“I know this team, that word right now is not even in our vocabulary. I can’t even spell that word right now.”—Wade, on getting too comfortable.

“On to the next one.”—Haslem, on the team’s Jay-Zesque motto.

“The best teacher you can have in life is experience.”—James, on having Pat Riley and Bob McAdoo around him.

“Do I have to answer that question?”—Kendrick Perkins, on the difficulties associated with getting LeBron into foul trouble.

“No.”—Russell Westbrook, on multiple topics.

“We just need to move the ball better…Easier said than done, though.”—Kevin Durant, on what Thunder need to do going forward.

“Why should I?”—James Harden, to Marc Spears, on if he cared about Metta World Peace’s inflammatory tweets about him.

“Nothing.”—Durant, on what changed in last night’s fourth quarter.

“I done said it enough that I think we know this, but at the end of the day one of my jobs on the team is to constantly remind them that we can’t take this opportunity for granted. We got to make sure we approach every game like it’s our last. You never know if you can or when you will make it back to the Finals.”—Perkins, on urgency.

“You know, things turn a great deal in these series with one game, and we have the opportunity to turn it tomorrow.”—Derek Fisher, on if he still believes in the Thunder.

“We’re gonna back up coach with whatever he do.”—Perkins, on the job Coach Brooks did in Game 3.

“I’m not just a scorer.”—Harden, on if he’s upset with his play so far.

“KD, Russ, Serge, James—they’re considered young, but they don’t think they’re young… They feel like their time is now, and I feel that way also.”—Perkins, on if the team is nervous at all.

“Disturbing. It is.”—Perkins, a quoteboard fav, on what he thinks when he sees Shane Battier guarding him.