SB: All these experiences offer you a different kind of perspective, has your perspective as an NBA player changed since you came into the league?
DL: I was trying to prove myself and I wanted to earn stuff: All-Star games, Rookie of the Year, max contracts, all that stuff. And now that I’ve made All-Star games and hit big shots and had max contracts and my own signature shoe all this stuff, now I’m realizing what’s really most important to me.
This era is like, ‘Oh I want to win championships and how many rings do you have?’ I’ve said that’s what I play for: to win. But I’m not as overly consumed by that as how I treat people around me. And how I care about the people around me.
I’m competing for a championship, but how can I pour into other people, how can I impact other people? That’s where I’m at. I’m past all that other stuff.
SB: It’s strange that it’s almost a unique perspective in the NBA, because that’s a normal perspective.
DL: Yeah, it is normal. This is not a normal life so you have to think your way to normalcy. It’s almost like a fairy tale. We don’t even carry our bags. We worked hard to be in this position, but to be able to live in this type of environment and think normally is hard.
I came into the league thinking, man I want to do this and wondering what is this about, and how is it to be in LA and going to the ESPY’s and all that stuff. I always wondered what is that like? Now that I’ve experienced that it’s allowed me to come back to reality.
