Kyle Kuzma

Growing up, I was a Detroit Pistons fan, being from Flint. During not the Bad Boys but Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace era, and growing up, I always wanted to be a Piston.

I was always thankful for the YMCA. Of course, growing up, you don't really think about it, because when you're a kid, you're in your own world. But back then, it was just so much. I'm going to go the Y, hanging out, playing games all day, playing basketball.

Coming from Flint, I was really immature on the court and off the court.

Growing up, I was always that kid that kinda watched All-Star Weekend on TV, every event.

Going into a new school, you don't want to be the new kid and be quiet and shy. You want to stand out. You want people to know who you are in that school. I think that also helped me growing up. I always wanted people to know me throughout the school.

Flint is a big, industrial city. But when I was growing up, they had the recession, lead in the water, and all this other stuff. The city was really depleted.

People assume that, as an NBA athlete, you can get access to any kind of sneaker you want, when in reality, it's hard to get the exclusive releases or shoes from the past and feel confident they're authentic.

Every single year, there's gonna be something else that people say I can't do or that you can't do in general. And it's your job to prove them wrong.

You know how you're in elementary school and the teacher goes around the room and, like, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' I said, 'NBA player.' And she's like, 'Well, OK. Maybe pick a real job.' But I really believed it. I felt like I was meant to be here.

Utah is a very special place for me. It helped me a lot.

Lifestyle-wise, like L.A. in general, Utah is very conservative, very laid back, and L.A. is nothing like that.

A lot of people think it takes millions of dollars to give back or inspire, but just you showing up means a lot.