Sports Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How NBA Pro Craig Smith Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Maria Angelova
Take less time off. Make sure you stay in shape year-round so you don’t have to panic to get back into shape on short notice. Always stay fit, even when you’re young, because it’s important to remember that “consistency wins.”
As a part of our series about sports stars who are making a social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Craig Smith.
Craig Smith has had a love of basketball his whole life and it has served him well — all 6’7” of him! A star player at Boston College, Craig’s NBA career included the Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers, and he has also played for Israel’s Ironi Ness Ziona, the Weinan Bulls via Hong Kong, and the Big 3. These days, Craig serves as an Alumni Ambassador for the Clippers, coaches varsity basketball for Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, California, and consults for a non-profit organization aimed at ending poverty in America.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you share with us the “backstory” that led you to your career path in professional sports?
My mom is an avid sports fan. She played basketball at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, and when I was about three years old, we went to St. Andrews Park. That’s when she first put the ball in my hands and I just took off with it! I knew even then that this was something I was really going to enjoy. We used to go to the park every single day. Once I got older, I started to play two-on-two with her against older people and we actually started beating them! Then the AAU (Amateur Athletics Union) top prospects team (TPI), known for discovering big-time collegiate stars. I started there when I was about 13, and when I got to high school, I made the varsity team and got a scholarship to Boston College, where I got my degree and played in the Big East basketball league and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), joining the small group of players who were chosen to play in both big powerhouse leagues. That experience led to my opportunity to play in the NBA, and I was drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. I had no idea I’d be going to Minnesota…I didn’t even try out for them! I thought I might be headed back into the sunshine, but I wound up going from Boston cold to Minneapolis freezing! It wouldn’t be until a few years later that I would return to sunny California.
Tell us the funniest or most interesting story that has occurred in the course of your career, and what you learned from it.
When I arrived in China, having been chosen to play for the Weinan Bulls, I was welcomed by a group of players who picked me up at the airport. But once we got into the car, all I heard was everyone saying, “nay ga, nay ga” which actually turned out to mean “um” or “uh” in Mandarin, but all I heard was the quintessential racial slur and I blurted out, “Stop this car right now! I came here to play basketball and I won’t tolerate this disrespect!” They were all so embarrassed because, of course, that was not their intention at all!
Do you have any advice for a young person who wants to emulate your success, who wants to make it into professional sports?
You have to find the love and the passion first and believe in yourself. That’s because YOU have to navigate your way. Nobody else is going to believe in you more than you believe in yourself. And yes, if that passion happens to be basketball, you’re going to have to work your tail off! I guess my own example is watching my mother work really hard to “get on the bus,” and if she could do that for me and my siblings, then I could work hard on my own craft. Once I got to Fairfax High in L.A. and concentrated on my shooting, I knew I was starting to get better than my teammates. I tried to think outside the box. “It’s 6:30 here,” I thought, “but it’s 9:30 in New York!” I thought they might be getting an advantage over me because they’ve already had an additional workout that day. Knowing that basketball is a global sport, I thought, “I wonder what time it is in France?” And that was as a 14-year-old kid! So you have to understand your competition, write your goals down and really go after what you want. That takes a lot of hard work, dedication…and sacrifice.
If there’s one person who made a profound impact on your life, would you say it was your mom?
Yes, because I’m so thankful for what she put into me. She let me know anything was possible. She let me know that I could do anything! She let me know that regardless of the color of my skin, I could achieve anything. I took that advice and ran with it because I thought, “OK, so I really get to do this?” And believe me, we went through some pretty crazy times. One of the other things that propelled me into the direction I chose was that my brother was shot in the head twice when I was about eight years old. He survived, but that traumatic experience for me, my mother and my sister made me think I was born into war…that’s how scared I was! So I searched for what I could do to be different, because that’s not me and that’s not what I want to represent for my life.
Are there any myths you would like to dispel about what it’s like being in professional sports?
Yeah, first of all, this is not just one long party scene. This is serious business!
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Based on my being able to go out on my journey and achieve my goals, I feel it’s part of my duty to give back part of my knowledge, especially within the game of basketball. I come from the inner city where there’s a lot of poverty, and a lot of people are not as fortunate as I was to have made it out. I feel like I’m one of the lucky ones and it is part of my responsibility to go back and help as many people as I can to go out and do the things that I was able to do, like go after my dreams, conquer my fears, achieve my goals, travel and see the world. Part of that is the reason I’ve gotten into coaching, which I thought I would NEVER do, but I’m coaching at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, California. I’m the Assistant Varsity Coach and I give positive and true feedback to the guys, letting them know how seriously you have to take this game, especially at their age. Now when I was their age, I had a completely different mindset, but it’s tough for them being in a totally different generation. They’re all into all this social media stuff, so I get to go in and tell them my own experience, and influence them with something simple, like hey, if you haven’t made the team yet, you should be doing extra homework, because your spot isn’t guaranteed! And that’s just part of the game! It’s great to see the guys actually buckle down and do the work — it makes me feel like I actually know what I’m doing, and I’m doing some good!
And that’s why I decided to write my children’s book, Craig and his Magical Basketball, to really inspire kids to go after their dreams, whether or not they play basketball, whether they’re a boy or a girl, because I feel it’s very important to find out what they’re drawn to at a very young age so they can really start to work at it. I tell them if you work at it when you’re very young, before you reach young adulthood, I think things will really be in a good position for you, whether it’s having a great education or having a good job, you’re ahead of the game, developing this kind of focus when you’re not distracted by your peers. Like in middle school, when kids say hey, come hang out with us, you have to be prepared to ask yourself hey, is it worth it? Those are things I had to think about — was it more important to hang out with my friends or go to the gym? I knew I had to get to the gym in order to get better and better because hanging out would always be there! So I’m trying to inspire a generation with my book.
I also do ambassador work with the L. A. Clippers, where we do a lot of youth mentoring, whether it’s teaching kids financial literacy, teaching them basketball, or just helping them understand the process of life, and the things you’ve got to go out and do in order to be successful! We also deal with sponsorships and other really cool opportunities. For example, when the Clippers have training camp in the fall, we’re going to be going to Hawaii to host a camp for all of the kids from each of the Hawaiian Islands. Every kid who’s played basketball will be given the opportunity to be at that camp. That’s just part of what we do, and the best part for me is that I get to have a conversation with the kids afterward, tell them my own story, where I came from and how they can accomplish those things, just like me.
Are there five things you wish someone had told you when you first started, and why? What didn’t you know…what did you learn that you wish you had known earlier?
The most important thing for me was learning the business because you may be getting into a situation where you’ll be making tons of money, so I really think that having that self-knowledge first is extremely important, since the business world is pretty darn different from elementary school, middle school and high school!
One thing I wish I had learned at an earlier age was to eat better. In my younger days, there were a ton of donuts, a lot of red meat…and now there are a lot of things I don’t eat because they’re not good for my body. So it’s understanding your body and learning what to eat and, perhaps even more importantly, what NOT to eat.
This is something I think I always knew, but it’s certainly important to learn. Don’t burn bridges and don’t be an “A.” There’s no point in that. It’s much better to continually be humble and respect people. Don’t burn those bridges because your “brand” is very important, especially with kids.
Speaking of kids, remember that they are very familiar with TikTok, Instagram and all the other social media, and you’re already a brand, so be careful what you say online. So whether online or in person, be kind to others. We all go through situations with difficult peers, but it all boils down to how you handle it.
Take less time off. Make sure you stay in shape year-round so you don’t have to panic to get back into shape on short notice. Always stay fit, even when you’re young, because it’s important to remember that “consistency wins.”
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest number of people, what would that be?
Something that I’m already working on is finding ways to help end poverty in America, trying to give every underprivileged kid the opportunity for a better life with resources, scholarships, and so on, or maybe they want to be the first in their family to own a home. I’m working toward these goals with an organization called Sootchy, a revolutionary wealth growth platform that is on a mission to end long-term poverty, tackling this enormous task by connecting underserved and underrepresented families with access and opportunities they didn’t even know existed. The result is that it gives people of different backgrounds and different cultures the opportunity to even the playing field and to lead a successful life, without any finger-pointing at any one group, but rather concentrating on making things better for everyone. I try to do something in that regard, however small, every day.
Do you have a favorite life lesson quote?
My favorite quote comes from Mandarin, given to me by a coach in China as I was preparing to come back to the United States. He told me it’s an old Mandarin saying, translating as “Be Like Water.” He explained that when something falls into the ocean, it actually becomes part of it. So that’s my favorite quote. Be more like water, be more enduring like the ocean. That’s the main reason I named my son Kai, because Kai means “sea.”
If there were someone in the world that you could have a private breakfast or lunch with, who would that be?
My first choice would be Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But since he’s no longer with us, here are a couple other choices. Magic Johnson, for one. And Michael J. Fox. I’m an avid “Back to the Future” fan, and I’ve always felt futuristic.
@BlackRhino83 at Instagram, Twitter. I’mCraigSmith on LinkedIn. (The tall black guy, not the doctor, not the hockey player.)
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
