"Maybe I'll see you in five years."
-Michael Jordan

"It makes me feel good to know the coaches and my teammates can count on me. It gives me a feeling of comfort and takes the pressure off. It relaxes me."
-Michael Finley

"He has a presence about him...He knows what he's doing."
-Paul Westphal, Former Suns Head Coach

"You can never get enough ball-handling and shooting practice. If I put the hours in, I should be able to improve."
-Michael Finley

"Michael's a great basketball player. But he's an absolutely perfect role model."
-Stan Van Gundy, last of three coaches Finley had at Wisconsin U

"It was somewhat peaceful, but it could be dangerous, too. Basketball was a way to escape from crime and falling into bad things. I knew guys who did, but my mom instilled good values to me and encouraged me to do the right things, and I had the inner strength to avoid trouble."
-Michael Finley

"He always got A's in school. To him, C's were just taking up oxygen. I went to the National Honor Society banquet, and my son was the only black kid there and the only athlete. I said, "Oh, my, I have two blessings."
-Bertha Finley, Michael's mother

"It was respected if you could really play. The people who were in the crime game didn't try to bring you down. There were guys like that around, but they did their own thing and let me do my thing, which was basketball."
-Michael Finley, on drugs & crime in his neighborhood growing up