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Talking Grammer, Ep. 86: A conversation with Bryce Alford
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In Episode 86 of the Talking Grammer podcast, I sit down with La Cueva High School great and former UCLA Bruin Bryce Alford, who is coming back to Albuquerque this week to both host his annual Bryce Alford Basketball Camp but also to take part in playing for The Enchantment, the team of players with New Mexico ties competing in the $1 million TBT basketball tournament later this month.
The interview starts at the 13:30 mark of this episode with links to watch or listen below. Also, a few select excerpts from the podcast that ran in the print edition of the Albuquerque Journal can be found at the bottom of this article.
• Albuquerque Journal's YouTube (Ep. 86)
• Talking Grammer page on SoundCloud (Ep. 86)
• Talking Grammer page on Apple/iTunes (Ep. 86)
• Talking Grammer page on Spotify (Ep. 86)
For past episodes of the Talking Grammer podcast, CLICK HERE.
• Spotify
An article that published in the Tuesday, July 9, print edition of the Albuquerque Journal included these excerpts from the podcast (I've included the point in the podcast these quotes can be heard with a link to the YouTube video):
• • •
On long being known as the future Lobo, but just now getting to play his first game in the Pit since high school in 2013 (23:34):
“It’s not wearing a UNM jersey, but it’s probably the closest thing I’ll ever get to it. It’s an exciting opportunity to represent the state of New Mexico, the City of Albuquerque. I’ve been kind of holding out on doing it, because I wanted to play in the Pit. And they weren’t playing in the Pit the last few years, and they aren’t this year (games are scheduled to be played in Houston starting July 19). But that was going to be my big selling point to play, was to just play in the Pit again.”
• • •
On New Mexico being home, to him and his wife (14:38):
“My biggest years of my childhood, we’re in Albuquerque. That’s really where I grew up my middle school and high school years. So I still have a ton of friends that live there. Obviously, my in-laws live there. So, I have family there. And I just I love coming back. It’s a special place to me. It’s a special place for our whole family, not just me.
“My brother (Kory) also married his wife from Albuquerque. She was Eldorado (High School), unfortunately, but yeah. He married his wife from there, so we have a lot of ties that still keep us coming back to Albuquerque.”
• • •
On how much longer will he play professionally (16:38):
(Alford played this past season in both the Czech Republic and Poland, completing his seventh year as a professional player)
“I’m not sure. I love to play. Anybody that knows me or watched me play, I’m as competitive as it gets. I Get that from my dad. It’s hardwired in our DNA. So that competitor in me tells me to play until the wheels fall off. And I’ve also been very blessed that my body has held up very well. ...
“But as AJ (Alford’s 2-year-old son) gets older and things kind of change within our family dynamic, it does get more difficult to go over there for for eight months. So I think it’ll be something every summer, my wife and I talked about, and we kind of have to just navigate the opportunities and kind of see what we want to do.”
• • •
On his third Bryce Alford basketball camp at La Cueva High School —July 15-18, BryceAlfordBasketballCamp.com (18:40):
“This will be our third year doing it. ... My plan is to do it every year. I love doing it. I think it’s been a very good camp for three years now. We get a ton of really good sponsors that help put on a really good event. ... So the kids get very spoiled for four days. And they get to learn a lot.
“Each year I try to bring kind of newer and bigger and better counselors to come help and teach the game. So I’m going to have a few former teammates stop by this year, which will be great. It’s a great week of teaching and having fun.”
• • •
On the kids not knowing who he is (20:06):
“None of these kids know who I am. They didn’t grow up watching me, really. It’s weird to say that I’m actually that old now that these kids didn’t actually get to watch me in high school or college. ...
“It’s really their parents that remember me. So I kind of have to show them like, ‘Hey, this is why you’re at my camp. This is why our shirts say my name on it.’ So every day at camp during lunch, we’ll all go eat lunch. I’ll finish quickly And then they’ll come watch about the last 20 to 30 minutes of my individual workout that I do every day. So they get to see what a professional basketball player does on a day-to-day basis, which is cool for them. They get to see drills that I do. And then it’s cool. You know, they get to see somebody that’s making NBA range 3s and different things like that.
“They always asked me to dunk which each year continues to get harder, so I’m trying to bring in counselors that dunk better than me so they can take that off my shoulders.”
• • •
On Steve Alford being "a softie" when FaceTiming his grandson (36:46):
"He's a softy. He's a softy now. If I put AJ on the screen, he's a different dude. They love him to death. He's obviously he's the first grandson or just grandchild in the family. And then my brother has his now. They're amazing grandparents. They love him to death. They spoil him. Ali and I get in trouble if we don't FaceTime every day. So, that's kind of the part of the deal."
