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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 sa国际传媒官网网页入口 this week to both host his annual 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 sa国际传媒官网网页入口 can be found at the bottom of this article.

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For past episodes of the Talking Grammer podcast, CLICK HERE.

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An article that published in the Tuesday, July 9, print edition of the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 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):

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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 ():

鈥淚t鈥檚 not wearing a UNM jersey, but it鈥檚 probably the closest thing I鈥檒l ever get to it. It鈥檚 an exciting opportunity to represent the state of New Mexico, the City of sa国际传媒官网网页入口. I鈥檝e been kind of holding out on doing it, because I wanted to play in the Pit. And they weren鈥檛 playing in the Pit the last few years, and they aren鈥檛 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.鈥�

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On New Mexico being home, to him and his wife ():

鈥淢y biggest years of my childhood, we鈥檙e in sa国际传媒官网网页入口. That鈥檚 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鈥檚 a special place to me. It鈥檚 a special place for our whole family, not just me.

鈥淢y brother (Kory) also married his wife from sa国际传媒官网网页入口. 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 sa国际传媒官网网页入口.鈥�

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On how much longer will he play professionally ():

(Alford played this past season in both the Czech Republic and Poland, completing his seventh year as a professional player)

鈥淚鈥檓 not sure. I love to play. Anybody that knows me or watched me play, I鈥檓 as competitive as it gets. I Get that from my dad. It鈥檚 hardwired in our DNA. So that competitor in me tells me to play until the wheels fall off. And I鈥檝e also been very blessed that my body has held up very well. ...

鈥淏ut as AJ (Alford鈥檚 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鈥檒l 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.鈥�

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On his third Bryce Alford basketball camp at La Cueva High School 鈥�July 15-18, ():

鈥淭his will be our third year doing it. ... My plan is to do it every year. I love doing it. I think it鈥檚 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.

鈥淓ach year I try to bring kind of newer and bigger and better counselors to come help and teach the game. So I鈥檓 going to have a few former teammates stop by this year, which will be great. It鈥檚 a great week of teaching and having fun.鈥�

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On the kids not knowing who he is ():

鈥淣one of these kids know who I am. They didn鈥檛 grow up watching me, really. It鈥檚 weird to say that I鈥檓 actually that old now that these kids didn鈥檛 actually get to watch me in high school or college. ...

鈥淚t鈥檚 really their parents that remember me. So I kind of have to show them like, 鈥楬ey, this is why you鈥檙e at my camp. This is why our shirts say my name on it.鈥� So every day at camp during lunch, we鈥檒l all go eat lunch. I鈥檒l finish quickly And then they鈥檒l 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鈥檚 cool. You know, they get to see somebody that鈥檚 making NBA range 3s and different things like that.

鈥淭hey always asked me to dunk which each year continues to get harder, so I鈥檓 trying to bring in counselors that dunk better than me so they can take that off my shoulders.鈥�

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On Steve Alford being "a softie" when FaceTiming his grandson ():

"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."