Paul Silas and Charles Barkley – you played with one and coached the other.  Please compare these two great rebounders.
 
Paul Silas was completely dedicated and very single-minded in terms of what he was on the court to do; rebound and play defense.  He did both with a zeal that made him one of the great power forwards in the league.  He was such a hard worker.  He never took a night off.

Charles was a much more gifted player, and because of that his focus wasn’t as narrow.  He could rebound and play defense as well as anyone in the league, but he was also a scorer and a pretty good passer.  He didn’t live to play defense the way that Paul did, either.  I think that was just part of being Charles Barkley.  He was so good that at times the game seemed too easy for him.  That’s where the humorous side of his personality would take over.  There were times when he’d clown on the court, and I think that was partly because he was so much better than most of the players on the court.  I have as much affection for Charles Barkley as I do for anyone I’ve ever been associated with.
 

In your first season as an NBA coach, your Phoenix Suns won a franchise-record 62 games.  In the process you broke Bill Russell’s NBA record for victories by a rookie coach.  Where does this accomplishment rank?
 
I don’t really look at coaching records as a personal accomplishment, so I really don’t pay much attention to these types of things.  Coaching records are the result of the players you have and not really anything that you bring to the table.  And to me, looking at a record isn’t the best and most effective way to judge the success of a coach.  There have been years when I haven’t had success in terms of wins and losses, and yet I feel that I’ve done some of my best coaching.

During the 1994-95 season, you became the second-fastest NBA head coach to win 150 games, accomplishing the feat in 208 games, just five games shy of the all-time mark held by Phil Jackson.  What was it like to match wits with Phil on basketball’s biggest stage?
 
It was a magical year.  We played the Chicago Bulls for the NBA Championship, we had two NBA Most Valuable Players on the court in Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, and the spotlight was so big for that series.

Final Question, one that I’ve been asking your former players:  You’ve achieved great success in your life.  You are universally respected and admired by many people, both inside and outside of the NBA.  If you could offer one piece of advice on life to others, what would that be?
 
Bill Russell was once asked about winning, and how hard it was to keep coming back year-after-year to do it again when the entire league was gunning to take you down.  Bill responded by saying that there is no ultimate victory.  You win, and you have to come back and try to do it again. 

Basketball has been a huge part of my life, and it has given me so much in this world.  It is a large part of who I am.  The important thing for me is to keep it all in perspective.  I would trade it all away rather than lose touch with what matters most – God and family.

So my advice would be to remember that there is no ultimate victory in this life, and that you have to find out what really matters most – and that true success occurs only after you establish a solid relationship with God.