It's episode twenty of Off Course with Claude Harmon comes to you every Wednesday. Thanks for everyone that listened to the solo episode of the pod last week. UM back to normal this week and j R. Smith is the guest. I think this is one of the most unique, um, fascinating and exciting stories in golf and if I'm honest, in sports in general. I think what Jarr is doing going back to school being a two time NBA champion, Um, he had college eligibility left and he wanted to challenge himself and do something. UM. I mean, let's be honest, it's about as different as you can get to go from the NBA to being a college golfer. Um the pot place. UM, I wasn't in his dorm room, but UM, you know it's. UM, it's pretty interesting, and I think he unpacks a lot, talks a lot about his career, talks about what it's like playing with Lebron. He talks about what it's like being, um, you know, a celebrity and being famous and all the stuff that goes with that. But I think, as with everyone on on the Off Course with Claude Harmon podcast, he talks about his passion for golf, and uh, he reached out to me. It was funny. I was actually thinking about having him as a guest and out of nowhere, it's it's funny you put a thought out into the universe. And um, he actually sent me a message, UM, just randomly because I've met him before, and he said, yeah, I'm back in school. I need some help with my golf. So that's how this came about. I think it's a really cool story. And UM, I think it's it's it's a pretty special story as well. So sit back and listen to j R. Smith. All right, So j R. Smith freehold New Jersey's finest. You're back at school. I just it is such a unique thing that you're trying to do. Um, tell us about the experience. Tell us why you've decided me your two time NBA champion. You know, you just played for the the l A Lakers won a championship, You played with Lebron. I mean you played in the league for you know, forever, and now in your mid thirties, you decided to go back to college. What was the why? Um? For me, the main thing was continuously to push myself to educate myself to try to be better as a person. Um, you know I've tried. I've done you know, one championships and played at the highest level on so many you know, in sports. And for me, the biggest challenge, um was always my academics. Even growing up, I never really liked school. I never um gravitated towards school. I was just always wanted to do sports and things like that. Um. After talking to Ray Allen, you know, after after the he was telling me, after you know, we were being we're on a roller coaster for so long on ups and downs with these you know drains and emotions and challenges and stuff like that. Once the game is over, Um, you lose that edge. Well you don't lose that edge, but it's harder to repeat, and it's harder to to um channel that energy where you so used to doing everything physical to trying to you know, turn on your mind a little more. And uh, he really challenged me with trying to go back to school and finished or not go back to school, to go to school because I never went, and just challenge myself as as far as my mental aspect can goes, as far as my endurance of how I can uh use my brain and work and try to do so much, so many more things than just played basketball or sport. And I think the interesting thing Jr. Is you came out of high school and went straight to the NBA, I mean, which is something that not a lot of people have done, and so you didn't. It wasn't like you had a year of of college and then decided to turn pro and you were gonna go back. I think the unique thing is that, like you said, school wasn't a big part of your life, and and in your thirties to go back to it, and and it must have been a tough decision to make, But um, did you see it as also a way to kind of show other people and empower other people to try and take school seriously that maybe maybe don't when they're younger. Yeah. I think that's the thing I've been really um honest and on the most is trying to get people to really focused on the academic side earlier on because there's so many things Like for me, unfortunately I didn't have to go to you know, college and stuff like that, so I never really learned how to write emails and certain mL A formats and stuff like that. So it really. It was like, it's a whole culture shot to me. So and I actually, you know, I met tons and tons of tons of million billionaires and stuff like that. So it's like to actually have that the tutelage of two reach out to those guys in a in a in a more professional manner. I was just sent him in a text or a call, and then they see that email and it's like it's a different It gives you a different um status when you you know, people are under taking more serious And for me, that's my biggest thing um through my career and um, you know, through throughout the last couple sixteen years, I've never I feel like I haven't really been taken serious as a person, not even just as a player. So this is uh something for me, the challenge myself to take to be more hands on. I just took my my daughter back to she's starting her second year of college. Her dorm room doesn't look like the backdrop of what you're in are you Are you in a dorm? Are you in an apartment? Are you in a house? I'm in a house right now. I'm in the air van. I was in a hotel for two months and uh, trying to look for a place, and it was just like being in the dorm. So it's it's it was kind of it was kind of cool because I wanted that experience a little bit. Obviously the hotels is a little different than the dorm room, but it still gives you that quiet room in that tight spaces where you can uh really try to think outside the box. And on top of just being around campus, your Twitter feed, the Real j R. Smith has been amazing. You're talking about going to class, going to tutoring. What has been the hardest part here? I mean basically you're starting would be like me trying to play basketball. I have no basketball background. You're trying to go to school, and you said you didn't have it. What's been the hardest part for you? And what is what have you liked about it? Um? I think for me, the hardest part is like not getting discouraged and saying, the hell would this have plenty of money you can just you know, Um, I think that's the hardest part because it's like, you know, after you hit a bump of the road, taking tests and quizzes and homework, and sometimes you can get behind the eight ball if you don't stack your schedule the right way. And for me, it's like, you know, one day I actually got behind the eight ball, like a week or two ago, and it was just like, I don't help I put myself through this, like I have to like now I have to submit stuff, I gotta do this, and I gotta do that. And it's just like, you know, I needed that extra gear in my head to be like, you know what, No, this is what you signed up for. This is what you're gonna stick it through. You're gonna do the best you can. So for me to see the younger generation, to hear the guys on my team um talk about you know, I inspire them to do to try harder in the in the classroom as well on the golf course, and take things more a little more serious, it's it's uh inspirational for me because I never heard it before. I never heard anybody talk to me or talk about me in that manner. It was always in a party or some NBA play or a dunk or something like that. So when people tell me I inspired them to go back to school and try to help them help themselves, it's uh. It's one of the best films you can feel. Are you wearing the rings? Brings? Do you wear them to class? And I'll lead those in the vault? Man, I leave them in. I wear them. I wear them here and there for actually just to remind myself and what I've what I've accomplished where I'm from. But honestly, I don't really wear it too much. Is just just to think about it is enough to make you tear up and stuff like that on those journeys. So uh, seeing the rings is probably a little too much. Now that you're trying to play, you know, competitive golf. What do you see the parallels between basketball and golf? Because one of the things I think that's really interesting is is about golf is it's not so much reactionary where basketball is. Once the game is starting, you're reacting a lot to it. And I'm guessing for you playing golf is it's basically like shooting a free throw. Every single time you hit a shot, you know, everything kind of quiet, you go through a routine. How have you been able to take some of the things that you learned on on the court and take it towards and applying it towards trying to play competitive golf? For me is uh more than anything that's practicing with a purpose. Um. When I when I, when I get the range, it's not just hitting bootballs anymore and just going to try and play play the course. It's more trajective shots, flighting shots, trying to make the ball work the ball left, right, right and left. There's so much deep, so much more detail into it. And it's like I related to again because I'm being a shooter. Um, it's like shooting corner corner threes or whatever your favorite spot is. You know, it's different ways to get to your spots as different ways to like a reaction to how the defensive guarden you and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, all of this stays the same. Your your release, in your your confidence and your mechanics, all of those things that you've I've learned over a kid. I just put the time of hours in to do it over and over and over against our second nature. So that's pretty much the same thing with golf. If you can put the time of hours in and consistently stay uh, stay with a purpose in your practice. And I feel like disguise the limit. Why golf and when did you start playing golf. Who introduced you to golf? Mos of Malone was just Malone. Yeah. I was in Houston working out with John Lucas at the time, and he, uh he had Chard Lewis had his first funded foundation event was a golf outing event. And for me, I never I never played golf. I told him I didn't. I don't play golf. I don't you know, it's not my thing. He's like, no, man, just come on, you just ride around with the card girls, take some shots or whatever. I'm like, all right, cool time. So I was doing that and uh, I pulled up on mos of Malone's group and he sure enough, young fellow, come hit this ball. And for me, the respect I have for the Hall of Famers and people who came before me is very tremendous. So it's like when they when they tell me somebody asked me to do something, that's like I can't tell him no. So I was like, yeah, sure, Like I hit the ball and now I was shard and all these other dudes like, man, come on, come on, come on, my hell not doing that. So he asked him, like sure, she gets up. There's like I'm like, man, how you do this? Like show me. I don't never played before, so they showed me how to hold the clubs, how to technically swing. I watched a few guys in front of them. I was talking ship and it was just like it was. It was very funny and now. So then I hit my first shot down the fairway about three hundred yards. Everybody shot. I'm like, it's easy, Like it's it ain't that hard. So I get in a cart drive off and uh, that was my first experience. So then I go back like, of course, looking around. Of course because we're out there five hours with this abue and uh, pull up on this group again. He's telling everybody all day, man, you gotta seeing this ball. Uh, I bet you can't do it again, I bet you can't do it. So I'm like, all right, whatever, get out there. I couldn't hit the ball. It was so frustrating, it was so frush. So you crushed the first one and I couldn't make contact. So j are basically in that moment, you became a golfer just like the rest of us, because it's that one good shot. I think in golf that everybody says, you know, you're hitting it terrible. It's the end of the day on the range and you take out the driver and you hit that one good one and you think, I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna do it more. So immediately you were hooked by the one good one, not the fifty bad ones, right, Unfortunately, you know people, that's what everybody was saying. It's like, well, at least the first one was a good one, and I'm like, you know, what about the thousand other ones that I've been tearing up? So after that, you you got hooked on golf, and even when you were playing basketball, you started to kind of in your off time think about golf and get into it. Yeah, I was playing. I mean I bought three sets of club that first day I ended up playing. I had old Nike sasquashes I hated because they're like a frying pan, and I don't think I have like some R seven Taylor Maids and the titlist a p s And I was just like I was so locked in. And then after like so in Denver, because people have this misconception of Dinners freezing, it's always snow and it's one of the most beautiful cities ever and it gets so much sunlight, so even in the wintertime he can go out and play. So I would play like I would play before practice, I'll play after practice, I'll play before games. And you know, now coaches and gms get piste off at you playing. I'm like, fucking Jordan played thirty six holes a day and then to play golf. It's like, oh, yeah, but that's Michael Jordan. I was like, do you think he's by yourself like he was playing with people. He's played with his teammates, and uh, it's It's it's funny now because it's like so much, so much into you know, a little management and stuff like that and staying off at feet. It's like, bro, if I go play eighteen holes of golf, you're gonna want me to come back here and play, uh forty eight minutes of basketball. If I don't play golf, then you're not gonna want me to play. It gives me such a calm and soothing feeling. Man. It's like every shot as you obviously trying to hit perfection, so you have to lock in and focus and concentrate, and to be able to do that on the court is pretty much unheard of. Nobody's going like you know, fifteen or fifteen, hitting every fair way, you're hitting every three and unless you're step but it just you know, it's it's a it's a nerve wracking game, but it's probably you know, the most peaceful feelings to have once you get that bought un affair with Why do you think athletes in general gravitate towards golf the way they do and become so obsessed with golf? Because I mean, I'm around a bunch of golfers and the majority of them aren't obsessed with another sport. You've got Sergio Sergio is a good tennis player, Adam Scott plays tennis, Adam Scott likes to surf. But you don't really find a lot of golfers that are obsessed with playing other sports. And it's it's just, I mean, I've met people like yourself, you know, Michael was, MJ was at at the at the Ryder Cup. Steph Curry was at the Ryder Cup. But athletes from every sport they love golf. What do you think it is about golf that makes athletes just get hooked? I think for for for us as athletes, the biggest thing is that competitive nation so you can be competitive for much much, much longer than your active sport. Um. It's I think that that that just takes the take, especially for like guys who are especially guys are like baseball players. Those dudes are I mean Schmoltz and Gavin and those dudes are sick they can play. And it's like that once you get those competitive juices, and especially if you are really really good in your other sport, you know the uh you have, you already have the work ethic, you have the dedication to it. It's just a matter of putting it into golf opposed to any other sport. But overall, I think just the competitive nature you we're able to play golf into your nineties and basketball and football and those get obviously these games are like you know, eight to ten years max nowadays, and it's it's it's it's tough, you know, it's tough to be to go out for me, like I'm so competitive and for me to literally I can't watch basketball anymore, like I can't I can't sit here and watch the Western Conference finals and watch uh Chris Paul and then play a the Clippers or Janice and then playing Miami and East. I can't watch it just because the competitive nature in me. I know I should be out there, and I know I want to be out there, and I know nobody on that floor can touch me. That's how competitive I am now. And I know so many of my counterparts in different sports as well as basketball, feel the exact same way. So to have that feeling on a golf course, it's very It's hard to have, but it's it's not there's nothing that you can't obtain, and it's just the dedication that you put to it to become a great athlete. But to make it to professional sports, I don't think most people realize the sacrifices and all of the things that you have to do to get there. At a young age, you grew up playing basketball. What was your start in basketball? Was it you know, people in your family? Was it people in your neighborhood or around the school that you went to. What what made you choose basketball at a young age? Um, it was for me with my dad. My my dad put the basketball in my cribinomes three. It was just like, um, this is this is what we do. You know, we were athletes and all my uncle's played, my cousins played. Uh when we were We played everything basketball, football, baseball growing up. And it wasn't until my junior year I stopped playing football that I realized it was, you know, basketball was gonna be my my, my ideal. Um. My brothers played. We all we had this sivil sibling rivalry growing up, and then we would take it to my brother's versus your brothers and within the family because we had so many cousins and it was just it was it was. It was a great experience. It's a great childhood growing up with all of them, because that's where I really, you know, gained my competitive spirit. Obviously, not want to lose in general, but I want to lose to your cousin or your brother. Was so much worse. It was so much worse. When did you realize that you were good and realized that you were good enough to maybe have a life and career and be a profession in old basketball? Part was there an aha moment where you were like, and I think I can do that. And when I was when I was a freshman, I was five six, no, I was like five eight five eight five, And then that summer I couldn't really play a basketball. I couldn't really play um baseball in the spring because my my my knees were killing me. And then out of know where, I grew like six inches seven inches in the summer, like three four and I was going from this kid who's I was the point guard, the shooter, handling the ball, all of this, and then out of nowhere, I just turned into this guy who's just jumping out the gym, dunking on people and stuff like that. And in the Ministeranta I was at, I was at once I was. I went to two schools my freshman year. The first school I went to I didn't live in the school district, so they kicked me out because my dad didn't want me to go to the school I was that we were living in the area. So I went to this another another school. Then I left there. So this by the time of my sophomore year, everybody that I grew up with pretty much they hadn't seen me for a whole year, so they see when they when they see me come back like we're like. And then I just came through Duncan and I still had to touch and shooting because I was always small, smaller than everybody too. So um at that point, I think my sophomore year, I realized that I could be a pro in basketball or football. You had an opportunity, I think were you committed to go to the University of North Carolina, I mean amazing golf school, I mean amazing basketball school. I mean Michael Jordan went there, Dean Smith, the history. Why turned that down and make the choice to go and just straight into the draft. My family needed money. We were we were struggling at the time. My dad's been doing construction in his whole life. Um, he's been he's owned his own business for some time. And he got sick for a while with the soccer dosis, and you know, it was just it was tough times and it's too much for him to continuously go to do doing a construction. And my mom raised all four of us at home, so she didn't she wasn't really working like that. And my dad when my dad felt really felt sick. And I've seen the way people, people he helped his whole life, as well as his siblings and everybody else turned pretty much turned their back on them when they needed them. They're just like, you know what, I gotta do this for my pops, and I gotta do this for my family. I gotta help them and be able to financially. We don't have to worry about it. And if he wants to work, like how he now, he's he's almost seventy, he's still out their construction, running the dumb trucks in the back hods and stuff like that. But it's different, Like I was telling them, it's like, it's different if you want to do it opposed to you have to do it. For me, I was. I was in a position to where I wanted to play pro ball and they were gonna pay me enough to where I could take care of my whole family. So for me, it was pretty much like a no brainer. That's gerald That's an enormous amount of responsibility to to throw at someone at at that young age. I mean, did you feel at anytimes like that was a burden or did you just feel like that was your kind of responsibility in the path that you had to do to provide for the for the family. No, No, that's why. That's just what I felt like I had to do, you know. That's why I was That's what we were bred to do at a very young age. It was always take care of the person next to you is always take care of your brothers, take care of your sisters, take care of your family, you know. And for for us, no matter what, that what, no matter what context I was in, whether it was fighting, standing up for him or giving them something or forgiving them, it was always, uh that mindset. So for me once it once the opportunity came and was just like, oh no, my mom, mom went this house. Yeah I can get that and get that next year. Okay, cool, Like that was the mindset. Who were your basketball heroes growing up? Who were the people that you looked up to that you man? Kobe uh and Jay was obviously got for me. Uh, but Code was amazing for me growing up. Penny Hardaway, MJ and Penny Hardaway was like my first and second favorite players ever. It was just like when I seen Penny at that six six card looking smooth with uh the phone positives and he had such a unorthodox game for a six six point guard and it was just it was, it was so so sick. I saw I had dinner with Penny Hardaway at the w g C in Memphis. A friend of mine knows and he came to dinner man. He had like he walked in and I said to the kids that were sitting tip, I'm like, he's got like fifteen grands worth of clothing on. I'm like that shirt, that shirts like five grand, the shoes. I mean he looked fresh. I mean Penny's Penny's game. His his clothing game is is pretty tight percent. Him and Eddie Jones, I was talk I was Eddie Jones that man, if you couldn't do nothing, you should dand struck his dress. Bro. So now, um, what do you think it takes to become a great athlete? What does it take Jr? To be a champion? Because obviously you've played basketball at the highest level, You've been around you, you're on two team to championship teams with Lebron. When you're talking to the kids in your your golf team, now they must ask you how do you do it? What does it take? And what do you think not only from a basketball but to be a great champion? What are what are the attributes you think you have to have? Um, For one, you have to have that mindset. If you don't have the mindset of uh, I'm gonna get after day in and day out. No matter if yesterday was amazing or yesterday was terrible, Tomorrow I'm gonna go even harder, regardless of the fact. You know, I don't care who's saying what about me, or saying I can't do it or anything like that. You don't have that mindset to literally go out there and dedicate yourself to the thing you say you love the most, then it's just not gonna happen. Um. If you don't have that passion and drive for it's not gonna happen. Um. I tell I tell those guys all the time. I was like, what's your uh the first time, the first time I met it, I was like, what's your goals? Like what do you want to do? When guys like yeah, I want to be an engineer, and other guys like yeah, I want to be an accountant. I'll be a lawyer. Like okay, it was like, well, when you came out, what were you gonna do? I was gonna play pro ball? Yeah there wasn't. No, it's the same thing. Yeah, that's my that was my drive, that was my goal. That was accomplished. But at the end of the day, that's what when people ask me, what do you want to do. What are you gonna do? This is what That was my response all the time, And it wasn't It wasn't like, Okay, I want to say this just in case you, you know, I might not think it's obtainable for me, or you know, putting your fears on me. It was just like, no, this is what I want to do, regardless of who says what, and that's how I feel. And I try to tell those guys that saying pretty much the same thing, like, granted, there's nothing wrong with having a fallback option, that's why you're in school. But at the end of the day, you're your goal is to play on a on the year CEMETRY Tour, European Tour, u PGA Tour. That's your That's gotta be your goal all the time. You gotta think about that all the time when you wake up. That's what you should be thinking about. When you go to sleep, that should be thinking about. Like, granted, you have so many other things that you can compartmentalized, but that if this is what you want to do, that comes first. A couple of times a year, I'll have a kid come in and the dad will say, listen, you're never gonna meet a kid that's gonna work harder than my son, and I always want to say that's if he's gonna be good, that's a given. Do you think the guys how I mean, you've been around some of the but I don't think, and I'm around it a lot as a coach, I don't think the average person who's a fan of golf or basketball has any real concept as to how hard you guys have to work to get to where you are, the work ethic, the devotion, the sacrifices that a professional athlete make. Yes, obviously in one there are people that that think it's obscene the amount of money athletes make. But having been around professional athletes, the pressure that they're under, and the enormity of that situation, I'm like, in a lot of ways, they're underpaid for what the public and the fans expect them to do, right on top of just a scrutiny alone. Like that's like I was listening to, um, you know Kyrie speech yesterday because he couldn't do the he couldn't the team day, right, yeah, participate in in the media day, And I was just sending it listening, like you know, it's all because of COVID reasons or whatever. Hey has this personal reason. Just like at the end of the day, because we get paid so much money in our lives are quote unquote so much better than the next people that that people think or see. It's just like you don't realize the scrutiny that you have to live under from the from the mom from the moment you signed whatever contract, that people start realizing how much you make or who you are, whatever, your life is under so much scrutiny. It's like, I don't think you would want to make that trade off. It's like it's almost like I don't want to say shaking hands with the devil, but it's almost like, Bro, you're like you are not you anymore. Take that out for for the rest of your life. You'll never people will never look at you the same as just a normal person. Like Bro, I go to Target, I go to Walmart, I go to Dunk of Doughnuts, I get coffee, I go to the same restaurants and then the average person goes to It's just that I and worship because I'm really good at one particular thing, not a hundred things, not a million things, just one and you're gonna and the way you react to me is gonna be based off of how I do this one thing. But I have no clue who you are. I don't know you. I don't I have never met you a day of my life. But people don't look at it like that because oh, you have some you have this same and money and all of that comes with a price. Yeah. I always think it's interesting that you see young athletes that signed these big contracts, and you know, they spend money, they get in trouble, and you know when things don't go well, and everybody says, well, I just I can't believe they do that. I'm like, you give anybody at twenty one years old million dollars a year, I mean, we'd all be broke. We don't, we'd all be in trouble. I mean there and also, Jared, I think it's interesting nobody and I say this all the time because you know, my dad worked coach Tiger Woods for ten years. Nobody explains to you how to be famous, how to live in the line. There's no classes you go to that they just throw you into the situation and say, one perform, here's a ton of money and figure it out while you're just trying to be a normal human being. And it's like, that's one thing I credit Lebrons so well because he's done it better than anybody who I've seen how he carries itself from start to this, from the first day he walked into the league to the until now he's been keeps carried it so professionally and being able to keep what he wants private but also being able to accept and be a pioneer for for so many groups of individuals. It's it's amazing Um and their Jeter as well. He's I think he's one of those UH athletes who really polarized that and they don't really get the credit that they deserve. Yes as a as a player, for sure, but as when it comes to literally handling your business on off the court from start to finish, those guys are really like been UH pioneers and that, and it's it's it's it's hard. It's it's really hard. I mean, you seventeen eighteen years old and you walk into twenty million dollars over and pretty much overnight, it's like, not only did I don't have twenty million dollars, I have a hundred billion. You know, in our minds, it's like this money will never run out. How could it run out? Oh? Oh, I gotta pay agencies, I gotta pay taxes. I gotta do this. Also, I really have this. Uh. And like you said, no one's trying to show what you touched on Lebron. You you got to play with him. You know, two different um organizations, the Lakers and the Calvs. You one champions. What have you learned over your time in your career and in being around someone like Lebron, who's an icon not only in basketball, but he's become an icon in in kind of you know, modern day life. Um. The dedication um, the dedication he puts forth to being the best he can be every single day consistently is so admirable. I mean, every morning it's something five am, he's working out, five thirties, stretch, six o'clock, he's eating seven thirties, doing this, eight o'clockly doing that. And now granted some people can't do some people are just regimented people. But that's just the sign of greatness of how he is. Like he just had we were in the finals. He had forty four forty something. Hey, mccarrie back to back. He goes to the gym after the game. People not doing that. People are riding the high of I had forty four in the finals in the dog fight. Yeah, but this was a good game. He goes to the gym the next one, let's go. Yeah. You know the other night at the Ryder Cup, you know Bryson d Shambou. I think it was the Friday night he he won his match late and I was standing on the bridge, you know, to where the cars were, and Bryson kind of walked over and talked to him for a few seconds and I'm like, he's going to the range. And I posted it on my Instagram. You know, it's it's dark, they've got a light on, the sun's going down, everybody's leaving the golf tournament and the Ryder Cup and he's there practicing. He was had his boy Connor on the phone with Chris Como. They were looking at his golf swing and stuff like that. And there, you know, it's that old and I put it out there. It's that old Nike adage there is no finish line, that the great ones always just are seeing the the next and they're trying to work on it. Um. One of the cliches in sports is that you learn more from your defeats than your victories. Obviously, you've won two championships, but you get to the finals in fifteen against Golden State and then you win the following year. What did you learn from getting to the finals in two thousand and fifteen, not getting the ring, not getting the championship? That helped you all as a team and you as as a player Jr. In two thousand and sixteen, Oh, look for one, keep make sure everybody stays healthy. We lost Kevi in the first round. We lost Kyrie in the Eastern Covererge finals, so that was too. She really huge blows for us. But more than anything, as a as a player, my confidence. Um, when I first got to the finals, I was in such shock of the trophy, the atmosphere and so many other things that it was just not it was almost not about the game anymore. You know. It was because you had interviews here, over here and over there, and then everybody's like, you got police escorts here, just like this is a circus, Like what until we just play? And the second I really got them, I really got the grasp of because it was obviously we had so much um animosity against them, just because they beat us the year before and that we weren't healthy and they just had a seventh three game win uh season and everybody was calling him the great team ever. It was just like, no, we gotta like it was so it was. It was so much of a difference. If you could see us. I think the first time we got the bus in fifteen opposed to sixteen, UM, you can see it in everybody's faces. And when in fifteen we got off, it was we thought we were at Disneyland. It was just like wow, like oh my god. And then in sixteen when we got off the bus, it was just like, nah that let's go like we gotta work and we don't. If we don't, if we have our heads up in the sky and and not focused on what we need to do, we're gonna have the exact same feeling we had last year. And that's something we don't wanna h reiterate. Let's talk about your golf game. Talk to me about where you are. The first time I ever saw you UM in person, you played in the pro am in d C. It's got to be four or five years ago, and obviously I knew who you were as a player. DJ had talked about, you know, he he had played some practice rounds with you and some pro ams and stuff. So obviously you rolled out. I think you had on like yellow pants and like a pink shirt and the collar was buttoned up. And in basketball, you know, you've got the tats, You've got the scream tats. Your style on the golf course. Um, it's funny. It's like you're like so buttoned up when you play golf. It's like the top buttons. You look really really fresh. Do you have you have you made a conscious effort to go for that kind of super golf look. Yeah, for sure, that's you know. Ever since I was a kid, I took that into my took that on my thought process of that. Dion Sanders like, you look good, you played good, you feel good and all that. Or you look good, you feel good, you played good, you get paid good. So it was like for me, I've always tried to look my best, um when I'm in competitive like when when I'm being in a game or in practice, like you guys my teammates always to change my shirts and just just to have a different look of it and make it feel good about myself to when I play. I was just like, Okay, if I'm gonna if I'm gonna play bad, I'm gonna look good as hell playing. So who are your golfing heroes right now? I mean who are the guys? I mean, you know a lot of the guys on the PGA Tour that you've you've met through through golf and through pro ams and stuff like that. But when you look at players right now you're trying to play college golf, you're just like, you're just like the kids on your team, your eighteen nineteen they've got their heroes. When you look at players right now, who do you look at and you go, man, I really really like his game. I like him as a player. Uh. If I can think about it, for me, it was Tiger obviously, just show what he means to the game. Um for me right now, I would say, uh j T. I love Brooks's attitude towards the game. I love I love the charisma DJ has when he doesn't when he hits a bad shot, just like you know, like I don't worry about I'm making up for the next all. It's just like it's seven different things that I'll take from each player. For me, um DJ kind of has that shooter mentality that you must have. If you're gonna miss one, you're not gonna try and stay away from it, right, You're gonna go give me the ball. I'm gonna shoot again. Right. And I think his attitude. DJ's attitude has always been, Listen, I can't control anything I've done in the past, and I can't control anything that's gonna be in the future. I can only kind of focus in on what I'm doing right now. So in a lot of ways, it is like you were saying earlier about being a shooter of the stroke, the mechanics, the the ability to kind of focus on one shot a time. But if you miss shots in a game, you're not gonna try and not get the ball. You want to get the ball again, right. Not only that, but you're not when you do get the ball, you're not gonna try and and guide the ball in. You're gonna shoot it. You know. When people, I think that's a lot of a lot of when people missed a fairway laugh a right, they get some tense stuff and try to uh compartmentalize their their their issues on their swing instead of just swinging the club. Like for me, a lot of times my dad was like my dad would always tell the man, it's not posing and just shoot the ball, like you know, it's always it's almost like trying to make it look too pretty opposed to actually making a shot. It doesn't matter how it looks. As long as it goes in, it doesn't matter. Yeah, And that's what we always say to two players. There's no points on the scorecard. There's no place on the scorecard for style. The only thing that you write down when you play golf is the number. So what do you feel like you need to do better as a competitive golf for and where would you say you are right now in your golf game? Um, as a competitor. For me more than anything right now is uh well, obviously just swinging my swing could definitely get better. But right now, of course, management no one when to hit what club is not trying to go for every dream sometimes just you know, if I'm for me, and that's nowadays, just like if I'm too two or five on a on a part far par five, I don't have to have to put my five iron out every time when there's water to the right and I could just hit a safer shot down the left side, and just you know, playing for part opposed to trying to make ego or birdie every single time. For me, trying to take trying to understand what holes I can score on and what holds I'm just trying to get out of there with par or you know, I'm in the woods and I just gotta make bogie. Playing for those circumstances, it's totally different than just playing with your boys dropping out the ball all ahead and then you know count that as part. Are you putting everything out now? I mean you get there's no gimmes. Now you gotta put everything out. That's the other thing. Yeah, you know I was when I first played with the coach, I was putting everything out. He's like, okay, even paying attentions, you're gonna used to it. And then as I started playing with the guys, that guy's got more relaxed and just like, okay, now you can take that. You can take that. But literally, like focusing on every single put every single finishing every hole is um it feels good in a sense because it's like accomplishment and I'm doing something completely different, and I know I was onto the next hole opposed just picking a ball up, being frustrated and walking off the hole. I saw you liked on on your Twitter feed the other you like to quote from Lebron and he said, why do so many players in basketball practice so much stuff that they're never going to use on the court. So part of golf, I think, and practicing golf, I think there's a big difference between playing golf and practicing golf. And I'm sure you went through that in basketball as well. There's big it's between what you're doing and the shoot around versus what you're doing in the game. And I asked Michael Jordan once, you know, he was warming up, he was warm up for one of the big money games at Floridian at my club and stuff, and he wasn't hitting it good, and he's like, man, it's gonna be interesting out there today. And I said, did you ever have bad warmups in basketball? And he was like, man, I've had bad warm ups in Game seven, but he said, I kind of always liked it because it meant that I knew I was gonna have to really hone and focus in on the court because the warm up wasn't great. Are you a player as a golfer that is really focused in on what you're doing from the warm up and the practice or are you trying to get into that mental space of playing and executing and and doing that. Yeah, I try to get into playing and executing it. I'm trying to get more into paying attention to everything I do on the range, where my ball position is, how I'm standing, how my uh, where my weight is, uh I'm coming across it, or to um what what with? The team had really been helping me with it. It's just hard to, you know, try to correct things. I think golf is probably the hardest sport to try to correct on your own. Um, you know. I feel like for me, I was pretty much self taught. I got myself too as good as I can get, which is like a five or six without literally no lessons. But now it's like, okay, to break that barrier, you're gonna need to dial and get a coach lock and do this that player to get to the results. You want to be coaches. I've obviously you've worked in you know, you've been on a number of different NBA teams and stuff like that are. Do you like being coached, You like someone to be hands on? Do you like someone telling you what to do? Or do you just like someone kind of letting you be you? No, I love it. I love to be coached, especially in the things I'm not aware of. Like it for me and unfortunately I have I don't have a problem telling people like listening, like when it comes to basketball, and I've had coaches in the past and telling me about screens and stuff like that, like, listen, I know what I'm doing now here. I know how to get over the screen. I know I know how to get under the screen, Like I can understand that we can watch film and see where how we can miscalculate steps and stuff like that. But I'm pretty much good on that. But it's something I have literally, like I'm pretty much like a seven year old growing up in the game of golf. I don't have I don't have enough swings that don't have enough self confidence in myself to know that I'm doing the right thing every single time to not have a coach. How's your short game? Short game? Putting? You spending a lot of time on short game and putting? Oh, I have it in a while. Actually need to get your you need you need to get your ass to the short game area and the putting green if you want to get better. Yeah, for sure, I see. It's it's it's funny because and this is again, of course management. I'm I'm so used to going out there beating driver, beating long eyes, and it's like, Bro, you only hit driver four times today. You know you don't. Why are you hitting a hundred huntred drives and you hit four drives and you hit fifty wedges. You know, it's like it doesn't make sense. So how did you play in the first qualifier? What did you shoot? I played terrible. I shot eighty two. Yeah, how many doubles? How many triples? Um? A lot of triples because it's out of bounds. You just gotta getting rid of the get rid of the big numbers. Yeah, that's what that's what they've been telling me. I'm gonna sure, I'm gonna get a glimpse real quick. Let's check it out. This is ah. We just up the team up Grayson with the golf golf swag. So this is my golf team. There we go. So you guys, my girl's shot, it's my dog, but we got some of the golf swag out so Grayson hooked us up, so uh they can't go to pick some of us up. But they've been helping me with my swing. They've been trying to get me dialed into where I need to be. But it's hard because I didn't realize that golf you gotta qualify and stuff like that, so I didn't realize the like you're playing against your teammates and stuff like that, so it's kind of it was kind of weird because obviously, just you know basketball, you pass somebody you can get you know, you get some uh points from your teammates and stuff like that. But it's like, you know, I was talking I had dinner with Brooks one day and the Bahamas, and he was telling me, you know, golf is so different because for him, it's like, Okay, it's not it's not as much as a team game. So I'm not really trying to give you my game plan. But at the same time, if I give you my game plan, it's still up to you to go execute. I can tell you what shot to hit, but you still gotta go hit the shot. Absolutely. What do you love most um day are about golf. What what what about the game that you just go maun. I love this part of it. Um walking outside, walking in the fairway, walk into my ball. Um like a lot of guys who love the ride and stuff like that and gring Now college, you gotta push or carry, So I'm pushing it for sure. What I playing mainly like especially country club and stuff. I like to walk. I get a caddy, walk, walk the course. Give me four and four and a half hours to put my phone in my bag. And really was just honus in on the elements of the game in life. Who's the player on your team right now that that's the best player that you kind of look up to him, and that's the guy I've got to get to. He's the guy that I've got to try and play and he's my competition. Diego Gonzalez, Right, Diego Gonzalez. He's a he's a stick man. He hits it. He's and again he's Diego. I'll tell you five seven. He hits the ball probably thirty thirty yards passing every time you're and you're six six six six. It's just like I gotta I gotta get to that. I gotta do that. Last question, j are if you start playing good and win a college golf tournament, are we going to see on the eighteenth hole you take your shirt off. If there's a lake, it's gonna is going crazy for sure. I can't tell you how proud I am that you're doing something like this, and I think it's an inspiration to everybody. And we're gonna try and get together. I'm gonna trying to come up and see you in the team and we're gonna get you dialed in. But thanks for taking the time. And hey, um, short game putting and and go to class. What's what? What class do you have tomorrow? Tomorrow's African studies and the studies right? And how's the g p A right now? What were we saying? What do we what's what's the target? What's the target for the g p A? Target is three? Seven? Five? Are higher right now? For four point? So I'm trying to make the chances list. I gotta if I'm gonna continuously to inspire these kids, I gotta show the effort and and proof that I'm doing it. Well. You're doing a great job. I appreciate talk to you. We're gonna get together soon. I'm I'm gonna help you get to that. Yeah, eight two, you're too good. I mean, you look too good on the golf course. Shoot eight two. Appreciate it. So that was j R. Smith And UM, you know, I know I've said this before, but UM, that's got to be one of my favorite episodes so far. Um, I mean, it's just an amazing story. I mean, who does that? I mean, who is a two time NBA champion. You know he talks about having money, I mean, fame, all of that and the stages of his life. He could pivot and go in a lot of different directions, but he's chosen not only to go back to school, but to try and be a UM Division one college golfer. So I can't wait to see what he does. We've talked um offline about me going up and spending some time with him and spending some time with the team, and I'm really looking forward to doing that. We're just trying to get some dates for that, but UM, it's definitely something that's gonna happen and I'm really excited about doing it. So Um j R. Smith, I mean, he's doing something that not many people are willing to do, and I don't know if anybody is willing to do what he's doing, so pretty cool. I thought about, um, you know, one of the questions that I get asked all the time is what it takes to be an elite golfer, and and that's one of the things I've been talking with are about, is about, you know, how he can go about from the NBA to trying to be a competitive college golfer. And I think one of the things that we've talked about, and one of the things that I think everybody's trying to do, is how do you get better? And I've talked to JR a lot about the difference between his technique and his execution. And obviously his technique can always improve. Everyone's technique can improve, you know, John Rom, Dustin Johnson, uh, justin Thomas Roy, McElroy. They're constantly trying to improve their technique and that will never really change UM. But what he's trying to do is figure out how to play and be a competitor. So that's that balance between technique and execution. And I think, yes, the execution part is where you should be focusing a lot of your time. Obviously, it helps to have good technique, but your technique is going to be what it is, and yes, that can improve. But if you can improve the way you execute, the way you think, the way you work on the golf course, I think it's a huge, huge way to get better. And a lot of times you can just try and have better focus at our club selection, better course management, and I think if you can work on those things and be constantly thinking about yes there's a way to practice, but if you're going to play golf at a competitive level, there is an art to playing golf and learning how to play golf. So I think that's the most important thing, especially if you're trying to play the technique. Yes that's important, you want to try and get better at that. Everyone's technique needs to improve. But I think what Jr. Has got to learn how to do, and what most golfers need to learn how to do, is to learn how to play golf, to execute, and to hit shots on the golf course, just not hit shots on the range. So I'm really excited to see what he can do, and uh, it's gonna be a cool journey and hopefully I can help him um get better and help him learn how to become a better player, because that's kind of what my job is. So tune in next week. 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