WEBVTT - Ricky Price 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:02.600 This is cut to it with Steve Smith Senior at 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:08.879 production of The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. I'm 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:12.959 Steve Smith Senior and i' and this is cut to it. 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:16.919 Good do it, Good do it. They's getting down to 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:20.720 do it. Good do it. We asked the questions you 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:24.200 always want to know, but no one ever asked, let's 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:29.840 cut to it. You ain't heard them about it, then 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:40.239 we're about to let you know. It's all what's up 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:45.760 Joe Man. Oh, you know there's certain things when when 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:48.600 they happen in our lives. And we've had conversations about 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:52.519 different situations we've been in U G and I will 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:55.080 go ahead. You ain't been in this one. But um, 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:59.440 so Friday, Um, my significant other is gonna have a long, 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.640 long day work. Kim, Kim, my wife. I knew you 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:04.760 always gonna go there, so I'm gonna I'm gonna go 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:06.720 ahead and put it on it. So she had a 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:08.640 long she was gonna have a long day at work, 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:10.760 and you know, I was gonna be a nice guy 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:12.440 and go get her a cup of coffee just so 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.760 I can drop it off. So you know, she um 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:19.080 venty just checking. We make a little bit of money 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:21.120 on the podcast, so I can afford that venty I 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.639 got payments though, So so I go to our local 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.080 establishment and I'm sitting out front with my back to 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:30.040 the door. It's a beautiful day on Friday. All of 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.839 a sudden, the door Starbucks flies open and a young 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:39.000 man takes off like he's running a route, just gone 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.440 out the door. So I'm like, um, it looked like 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:44.720 maybe a slant because he came in front of me, 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:47.560 put his foot in the connoy, and he was gonna cross. 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:49.880 He crossed my face. I couldn't get no hands on 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:53.880 outside five yards. I couldn't touch him. So then another 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:56.720 guy comes out of Starbucks yelling, yo, yo, catch him. 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:58.800 I'm like, man, you were too late. I'm catching him, 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:02.320 like like this none of my business. So I'm sitting 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:04.240 there and this guy's pacing man. I can't believe this 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:06.440 has happened. Called the police, call the police, and like, 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.160 you know, I'm not being on no subpoena lists, so 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.480 I'm not calling no police. I'm just mind of my business. 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:14.840 You've been around black folks way too much. Because because 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:20.520 because the typical joe with a try to apprehend the 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:24.880 feller and called the police, I'm not apprehending nobody. There's 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:28.080 his family or friends. Like I watched, but like I 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:31.079 want nobody get hurt, but so co I don't want 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:34.600 to get hurt. Amen. So so uh you know the 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:36.960 law enforcement in the in the town that a men 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:39.120 shows up and that's going on in front of me. 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:42.360 So I'm like, yo, Kim, coffee's gonna be cold because 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:45.640 I'm watching this. I gotta see what's happening. You ready 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:48.240 for this? Steve, forty two year old man lived in 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.239 l A, lived in Charlotte, and this is what happened. 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:59.680 This gentleman met another gentleman on a online site and 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:04.760 was going to sell him a fifteen thousand dollar rolex 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:15.880 on a online app cash money. Hope Up, Wait a minute, 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:19.880 let me put some boom in it. Put it, put 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:26.480 the boom in it? What what? What? What site can 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.560 you go on that you can say I got a 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:35.880 fifteen thousand dollar rolex? Who wants to buy it? Not 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:39.120 a good sight? I don't have that answer. Okay, I'm 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:44.480 just wonder, oh oh what what? What I derived from 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:53.000 the situation was derided? What's what's the word derived? Steve? 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:55.160 So you know what's I just want made out of it. 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:56.640 I just want to make sure I hurt it right. 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:02.800 What is the place of origin? Please, of rock in 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:07.680 the interpretation of the situation gathered gathered, I wrangled all 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.440 the information. Young man walks in with what I'll call 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:13.960 a zip bank bag. I'm sure you know some of 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.920 us have seen a little little, little, you know, vinyl 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:21.080 bag you put money in. So he comes like a regist, 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:24.000 like when you go like we work at a restaurant 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.000 and you a bank bag. Yeah, a little ziplock, little 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.520 leather thing like a pouch. Right, they call him mercs. 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:34.760 Now he had a merse. So apparently this young man 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:40.839 walked in with allegedly fifteen thousand dollars in this bank bag. 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:44.400 He hands this bank bag over to this man. Is 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.039 it a big bank bag? Small banker? This is part 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:49.520 of the story. It wasn't. Are you trying to tell 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:52.560 me to just listen? Just I want you to interact. 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:56.800 You can actively almost said yes, I'm just trying to 0:04:56.839 --> 0:04:59.039 figure out because just doesn't make any sense to me. 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:01.640 Correct it done? Because I can tell you right now, 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:04.560 anybody in this studio, if I handed you a bag 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.320 with fifteen grand or I handed you a bag with 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:09.919 I don't know, three hundred bucks in it. You're probably 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:13.920 gonna know the difference if you never have fifteen and 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:18.440 it's a lot, is not a lot? Well a lot 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:20.159 if you put it in once, not for a fifteen 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:22.520 thousand dollar rolex, fifteen thousand ones? You know what may 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:30.600 that is. It's so apparently this man, this man hands 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:35.799 this other individual this bank bag with fifteen thousand, which 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:40.120 wasn't as he grabs the bag, he doesn't open it 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.600 and count it. He just grabs the bags. So the 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:45.760 purchaser says, hey, man, can I try that on while 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:48.680 while you're standing there? And the guys like, sure, buddy, 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:52.800 put it on. You know what happened next? Ghost. So 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.359 I hate to be make this as a race, but 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.680 I have to ask the following questions because I think 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:01.040 it's really extremely important. It is important. Okay, there's a 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.080 sketch of the artist of the sailance, so you can 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:12.160 go ahead. The purchase, sir, was black? Correct? The seller 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.720 was not black? Correct? Caucasian, I think they say on 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:20.880 the report Caucasian. On the report you looked it up. 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.839 You looked it up to absolutely. I watched the whole thing. 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:30.120 So it was a young African American gentleman in a 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:36.719 T shirt, pair of running shorts. Obviously some Jordan's. Oh 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:40.960 here's the key question. What kind of georgane did you 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:46.000 have on? Because man, at the rate you was saying, 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:49.560 he was moving, Man, there's a few pairs that you 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:52.520 just can't do that in. Well, they were four, so 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:56.160 he had some side support. He was good, Yes, some 0:06:56.279 --> 0:07:00.640 ankles support because you knew he was cutting. So as 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.200 this is going down, the officers looks at this the 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:06.919 Caucasian male of middle age and says, sir, do you 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:09.080 know it's not a real good idea to meet somebody 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:12.800 to buy a rolex for fifteen thousand? He goes, well, 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:20.200 I do now, so he starts describing this individual. Yeah, describe. 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:23.480 So how did this end? How did the seller describe? 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:32.440 Air quotes purchase, purchase, sir to law enforcement? So the height, wait, 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:34.280 you know, what did he have on? And then he 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:39.640 got to skin tone and the officer was an African 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:44.160 American gentleman. So this white middle aged man was really 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.280 trying to tap that dance around. He didn't know how 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:51.000 to answer because he said he was African American. He 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:52.760 didn't want to, he don't want to come off his races. 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:54.320 He did not want to come off his race, but 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:56.559 he was already at a racist point because that brother 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:03.840 stole his watch. So so officers, you know, either drop 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:07.480 though here to drop the hard r at least once. Internally. 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:09.360 I didn't hear it. I didn't hear it could have 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:13.600 been that internal chatter. So the officer says, well, what 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:18.920 skin tone? Was he? Light skin? And this dude did 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:21.160 not know how to answer this, so he lost fifteen 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.120 now in our rolex, and now he's in the middle 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:26.280 of maybe getting tas maybe if they didn't somebody. So 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.680 this guy's like, well, I don't really understand how he said. Look, 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.360 was he my skin tone? Or was he as dark 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:34.720 as that brother over there? And there was a significantly 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.960 darker gentleman sitting at a table and this dude, um, well, 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:42.760 uh kinda, I guess I'll call him light skin. He's like, okay, 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:47.000 light skinned African American gentleman. Jordan's running shorts T shirt 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.839 got it. It was like the most rolling and a 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:54.640 rolling It was the most stereotypical overview. But the moral 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.200 of the story is like, how do you not know 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:02.640 it's not fifteen grand? How do you know, as a 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:08.119 great philosopher that I lived with named Boston Smith A K. Bam. 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:15.680 He would say it this way stupid a man, that's tragic. 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:20.600 It was quite the day. So the real question of 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:25.760 the day is did you have to get another coffee 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:27.880 or was Kim you just delivered the cold? Oh? I 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:32.760 drank that one while I had to get another one. Hey, 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:38.480 who do we have coming up next? On the Cut 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:42.079 to It Podcast? We have in studio former Duke Blue 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:45.319 Devil Ricky Price. Ricky is in the top one Duke 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:47.920 players of all time to ever suit up for coach 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.600 k and he currently owns Game Ready Skills and Development 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:55.640 basketball camps for children here in Charlotte, North Carolina. Perhaps 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:57.800 the best three point shooter we have had on our 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:01.160 show to date. Ricky Price on the Cut to It Podcast, 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:09.920 So thank you for being here. Our first section is 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:12.360 gonna get be called get iced up. If you know 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.040 about Smitty Um, you know that we don't know where 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:17.480 he's coming. He's got these all off the top. You 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:19.240 can see a book and I see your face is 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:21.920 nervous right now, but I don't know what's happening. He's 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:23.280 about to hit us with it. So I got this 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:28.720 little book is called the Life Little Instruction Instructional Book. 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.040 And I was standing in line. You know how you're 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.120 standing in line. I was standing in line in FedEx 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:38.440 to ship something, and they were moving at the pace 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:41.440 that generally FedEx generally doesn't move back. And so this 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:43.240 little book was right there and I was looking at it. 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.319 I was like, man, I went to this FedEx because 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:51.400 it's it's gonna be quick. Man. I was in there 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:54.880 about five minutes too long. So I picked up this book. Man. 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:56.920 I started reading and they got a little things are here. 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.600 So this is uh. I'm gonna say something then, and 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.880 you tell me if this is good advice. Don't take 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:11.280 medication in the dark? Bad advice? Take medication in the dark. 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:14.959 Make sure you answer the question should you or should 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.559 you not take medication in the dark? Well, I would 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:20.280 think you need to know what it is that you're taking. 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:24.720 You can see Ricky's over here taking pills. I didn't 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:30.400 know what he was taking. He says, uh, Oh, I 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.240 like this, So what do you think about this? Every 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:40.000 year send your old ala mallar. I can't even Alma mater, 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:45.800 Alma mater. A few bucks? Good advice, Yeah, have you 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:51.160 done that I have? Oh yeah, not that they needed 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:56.480 pretty deep right right. I think they do a great 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:01.880 job financially. So my my couple hundred dollars didn't do much. 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:06.360 But yeah, all right, Last one, how would you define success? 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.640 Oh that's a loaded question. How much time do we 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:12.560 have as long as you want? Well? I mean, for me, 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.040 I think success is, uh, you know, achieving all your 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:18.880 goals and aspirations. For me, that was through basketball. Um. 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:20.719 I felt like I was able to do that, you know, 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:24.160 as a high school All American, as a college basketball player, 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:26.720 and then as a pro. And then I think success 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:29.839 also is what you do after you're finished playing. And 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:32.320 I think I'm reaching that too by you know, working 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:35.640 with kids, uh, with the Game Ready Academy training that 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:38.040 we're doing, and so you know, you're touching lives in 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.040 a in a different way, and so you know, I 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:44.160 would qualify successes um, reaching your goals and aspirations, you know, 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.040 whatever they may be. All right, let you know, let's 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:49.959 let's get right into it because I love asking it 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:53.120 this way. Is where are you from? In a place 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:57.160 you call your hometown? Los Angeles, California? Born in brett 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.319 Um born and raised in l A, grew up in 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:05.040 a Compton, carsonaria, and uh, you know, everything about me 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:09.040 has an imprint of of that West Coast lifestyle. Ye 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.400 you understand that, Steve, You understand a lot of people 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:13.800 don't understand that. So you're talking about the Carson So 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:16.679 first of all, um, you know, we're just gonna sit 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:18.400 here and resonate on that a little bit and just 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:21.880 kind of hover. So a lot of times like this 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:26.959 is how I know. It's how I catch catch catching ninja. 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:33.360 It aled not which what street you grew up on. Uh, Well, 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.440 my parents are divorced, and so my dad lived in Carson. 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:39.080 My mom lived in Compton, and so in Compton, I 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.000 grew up on the corner of Wilmington and the Landra 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:45.920 right next to the Compton Airport, and then further down 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:48.440 in Carson, which was only attempt in the drive. He 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:52.920 lived off of Wilmington and Avalon, which is right there 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:57.959 by cow State, Domingus. So uh, no lives detected. Grew 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:01.920 up on A hundred twenty six and Avalon. Okay, Okay. 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:06.080 My my uncle, my late uncle, Frankie, uh was a 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:09.280 lifeguard at Victoria Park. That's where I grew up I 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:12.120 grew I grew up swimming in there, yes, playing basketball, 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:16.640 slamming jam in Washington. Victoria Park was everything, everything and 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:20.360 my my my mom actually graduated, uh raising two kids 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:25.600 from from Domingus Hills. Okay, yeah, okay, she she went 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:27.920 to l A Trade Tech, went there and then she 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:31.560 and then eventually got a degree at uh uh Domingus. 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:33.880 I like it. Both my parents met at u c 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:37.160 l A. And then everyone thought that I'd probably go 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:39.880 to u c l A for college. But I was 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:41.560 a different breed. I want to get away from home, 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.440 but I know, I know a little bit about the 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:48.320 West coast. Yeah. So I learned how to swim at 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:53.600 Victoria Park, but I maintained and spent my summers down 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:57.680 the street from the house at Athens Park. Athens Park, Yeah, 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:00.440 you lose your shoes in there, yes, yes. So we 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:04.360 grew up in the in the eighties where you just 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:07.360 a green and smiling. Yes, I mean it was a 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.400 couple of places where you had to be super careful, 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:11.400 you know, like you want to wear white, you know, 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:15.120 gray and maybe black, no red, no blue. You know, 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:17.040 you could get in trouble wearing those two colors, you know, 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:21.160 or something off because you know, uh, people would, they 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:23.440 would sweat you about that kind of stuff. I remember 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:25.960 going slaws and swap meat and whatever you bought you 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:27.680 had to put on before you walked out because if 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:29.360 you walked out and holding it, you weren't gonna hold 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:31.680 it for long. They were gonna check it on you. Shoes, 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:36.640 t shirts. Seventh grade, Yeah, left ear. That's why I 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:43.280 got my ear pierced Slawson. Boy. That big old green building. Yeah, 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.000 right there, I was at Reverend. I was right there. 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:51.600 Uh uh in elementary school. Uh folks. Folks had their 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.280 house on My grandparents had the house on hundred six 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:58.960 and av Long's about uh two thousand seven and had it, 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:06.920 I believe nineteen fifties till two thousand seven and live 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:13.000 with my mom um Onto in Arlington. So right there 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:17.720 there was reverend remember Reverend Cleveland, remember that guy. And 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.280 they actually turned that church into a picking save And 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:22.360 then there's something else. Now it's I think they're not 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:30.360 they're not pavilion. Yes, he brought up Winch doughnuts the 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:36.520 other day. I love them, man. That's the It was 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:40.480 winchhows and then it turned into Duncan. So what's Coast guys, 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:45.200 man is uh is different? They're they're different. What man 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:47.720 growing up in the eighties, right, you from l A 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:50.960 growing up in the eighties. Man, I'll be remissed because 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:52.960 you're a little bit older than me. I'll be remissed. Man. 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:54.880 I want to give you an opportunity to kind of 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:59.160 just describe, um, you know, a guy who had obviously 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:01.400 they were the force, but have both of your parents 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:06.680 in your life? Uh, how difficult if it was? If 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:11.680 it wasn't it wasn't you know, not everybody experienced, um, 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:14.119 the misfortune and and and and some of that. But 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:16.760 how did you grow up? And how did the eighties 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:20.800 with that's when gangs are really gangs. That's when the 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:28.120 crack epidemic was infiltrating the community, not the black community, 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.520 not the white community, not the Latino community, the poor 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:39.400 community in ways that people lost their lives, right. Families 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:43.560 were broken up, people were killed over those little pieces 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:48.680 of rock. How did it? How did it impact you 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:51.680 as a young man who had who had a family 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:57.320 that they went to college, they were well educated, they 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:01.040 knew what it looked like on the other side of 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:03.440 the one Tin Freeway. For a long time, I did 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:05.320 not know what they looked like on the other side 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:08.800 of the one Tim Freeway. M Well, that's a great question. 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.479 I mean for me, Um, you know, I come from 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:13.880 a middle class family. You know, both my parents worked, 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.120 you know, they went to college, they made decent money. Um, 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:19.679 I'm the only child, and so the focus was on 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:23.359 me to be honest and really keep it simple as 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:27.680 I gotta pass. I gotta pass. Wow, I gotta pass. 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.040 Because I was that kid in the neighborhood who always 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:33.560 had the basketball, dribbling my ball, holding it, trying to 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:36.320 shoot on everybody's backboard if you had one, you know, 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:39.320 over your garage. And I want to hang out with 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.879 the fellas, you know, But for whatever reason God blessed 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.280 her soul, they would never let me do it. They 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:48.960 just saw that I had something and that you know, 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:51.679 it couldn't be replaced, and so they never let me 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:54.520 hang out. They never let me bang with them. They 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:57.320 never let me get into dirt as they got into dirt, 0:18:57.720 --> 0:19:00.520 you know, and you can't go, you know, keep keep dribbling, 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:03.960 keep shooting, keep working on your game. And I felt 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:06.560 alienated because I wanted to hang out, I wanted to 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:09.040 be down. I wanted to be cool, but you know, 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:11.760 my path was different, and for whatever reason, they saw 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.000 that and they gave me a pass. And so I 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:17.879 channeled all my energy and the basketball, and so my 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:20.879 friends became my teammates, the guys that I played with 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.919 who had a common interest in goal, which was basketball. 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:26.520 And so that was the bond that we had together. 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:29.080 And that's how, you know, I kind of made it through. 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:30.920 And I was a good student, you know, three point 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:32.879 o student the whole way through. But it was it 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:39.800 was Hoop that really, you know, kept me focused. I 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:42.800 love cut to It and I love it even more 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:47.280 when you download us and subscribe and you can follow 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:50.480 us on social media too, Smithie, where where at at? 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:54.720 Cut to It on Instagram? What about twitter? At? Cut 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.600 to It? Facebook? Cut to It featuring Steve Smith singr? 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:02.120 What about online? And you can follow us that cut 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:05.320 to It podcast dot com where you can buy merch 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:08.720 and you can subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:12.760 I got all my answers questions. Uh yeah, I got 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:16.160 all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for. A brother. 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:20.919 Cut to a podcast dot Com. You take that and 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.080 you fast forward and you get an opportunity to play 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:30.800 a duke. What did that mean to you? And how 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:35.080 did you go through that process because of your family? 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:41.600 And I'll be honest, that's like blasphemy around that time 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:45.840 where you got the Obandon brothers to not go to 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:49.359 USC or you got Bo Kimbell not to go to 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:51.840 u c l A. Like, I'm just stating all these 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:58.240 different people like Obandons, both Kimbell and Gathers that loyal 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:02.720 like that are of the side of the country. That's 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:11.600 what basketball was and you chose something else. How dare 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:15.200 you right? Well that's a good question. Uh. What's funny 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:19.480 is because my freshman year U c l A won 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:23.399 a national championship and so I'm thinking to myself, I 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:26.200 damn should make the wrong decision. And we played them 0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:28.760 that year and maybe this about twenty five and the 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:31.800 breaks off he killed us and they had like you 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:38.360 mentioned Ed O'Bannon, Charles O'Bannon, Tyus, Edney Toby Bailey used 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:41.800 to play at Venice on the Beach before before it 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:44.520 came a homeless population. So all my friends I grew 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:52.960 up with you slamming jam with So I mean I 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:55.359 was like, did I make the wrong decision. But again 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:56.760 I said, I was a different breed. You know, I 0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:59.760 wanted to get away from home. I wanted to you know, 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:03.280 be come a man by leaving to go away. UM. 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:05.200 At the time, the A c C was the best 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:09.359 conference in America. Uh, probably still is. UM. At the 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:12.000 time we had coach k who was the best coach 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:15.800 in America. Probably still is. And I had a chance academically, 0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:17.119 you know, to go to a top ten school in 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:20.160 the nation. And so for me, you know, it checked 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:22.480 all the boxes. And I don't want to challenge myself, 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:24.320 you know, and get away and do something different. So 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:28.320 how's the young man living in l A have those 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:32.560 boxes that you're talking about, because those for me, I rarely. 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:35.320 I didn't go to u C. L A until I 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:39.800 went to University High School, which was at which you know, 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:42.159 I only went to a couple of a couple of 0:22:42.280 --> 0:22:45.360 a couple of months at Emerson right, went to Paul Revere, 0:22:45.880 --> 0:22:52.439 but all I saw was Horseman Dorsey Centennial, Uh marco 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:55.199 UH coach a little bit at Sarah. You know some 0:22:55.280 --> 0:22:57.800 of the folks I grew up with that Sarah Gardina 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:05.040 banding a lock crunch yall I grew up a cross street, 0:23:05.400 --> 0:23:08.960 eating eating TV dinners on a on a on a 0:23:09.080 --> 0:23:18.479 white pale Fremont. I never thought about, first of all, 0:23:18.480 --> 0:23:21.000 I even know what tobacco role was. I never thought 0:23:21.080 --> 0:23:26.320 about places on the other side of the country. Well, 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:28.480 I didn't really know too much about Duke until I visited. 0:23:28.640 --> 0:23:30.480 You know, I knew for a fact that, uh, I 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:33.679 watched college basketball a lot. Grant Hill was my favorite 0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:36.199 player in college. You know, he was my host on 0:23:36.240 --> 0:23:41.160 my visit. And yes, yes, the job exactly. They knew 0:23:41.160 --> 0:23:44.919 what they were doing. I mean, the visit was incredible. 0:23:45.000 --> 0:23:48.119 It was nothing short of incredible. And uh, you know, 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:50.280 sitting with coaching, with Coach k and the rest of 0:23:50.280 --> 0:23:52.920 the coaching staff, talking to Grand Hills, seeing the rest 0:23:52.960 --> 0:23:55.520 of the players, watching the tradition that they had on 0:23:55.560 --> 0:23:58.440 the basketball side. You know, for me, it was something 0:23:58.440 --> 0:24:00.600 that I wanted to be a part of. And luckily 0:24:00.640 --> 0:24:02.960 for me, in the recruiting process, you know, my dad, 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:05.520 even though my parents were divorced, my dad was very 0:24:05.600 --> 0:24:09.119 much a part of my life, especially early on, and 0:24:09.160 --> 0:24:11.240 he was there for me at in the recruiting process 0:24:11.680 --> 0:24:13.440 and he was able to help me, you know, put 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:16.520 together a so called box so you can check those 0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:18.639 boxes to see where it is you wanted to go. 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:21.199 And so, um, you know, I had an idea of 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:23.840 how I saw myself as a college basketball player and 0:24:23.840 --> 0:24:27.000 where I wanted to go. But um, you know, recruiting 0:24:27.040 --> 0:24:30.920