When I was younger the Spurs organization had a big presence in Austin, the city wasn't that big and they did outreach to the surrounding areas. One day during a basketball camp Grep Poppivich came through with some reps, this is back when he was still the GM. He held a dribbling contest for some tickets which I won. I was so damn excited too. But I never heard back.

A few years later we'd move to San Antonio and my mom reminded me of that and told me to reach out to the Spurs. Somehow I did and we got four lower level tickets to the game of my choosing. Part of me really wanted to see a prime Grant Hill, he was all over the TV. But I had heard about this young guy coming up straight from high school and I took those tickets instead.

To this day, I'll never understand why I thought Joe Smith would be a star. But since then I've always been a bit cautious of potential versus actual production.

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“There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus