NBA quotes: Meyers Leonard explains absence from Twitter

Portland Trail Blazers center Meyers Leonard, on his decision to stop using Twitter: “I heard it all. I’ve heard ‘… you, I hope you tear your ACL.’ I’ve heard, ‘You’re a bust.’ That’s the reason I don’t look at that stuff anymore, and I probably won’t during a season. It’s just not worth it. I don’t ever listen to that stuff or buy into it, because mentally I have to stay locked in and confident in myself, or that will just kill me.”

Moving days ahead

Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, on the need to be active this summer to improve his struggling team: “I’m going to try to blow off some fireworks, but I have to be patient as well and we have to make sure that we don’t do deals just to do deals. We have to do the right deals. Those are a lot harder than most people think or believe or understand.”

Ready when it matters?

Miami Heat forward Shane Battier, on teammate Dwyane Wade sitting out his ninth consecutive game to rest his knee: “If he comes back as an absolute monster in the playoffs … no one can say anything about this stretch.”

Defensive adjustment

Clippers Coach Doc Rivers, on forward Matt Barnes guarding Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant while recovering from strep throat: “If we played Oklahoma in the first round, we would absolutely just have him rub against him the entire game and see if we could get him nice and sick.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com