261. From Madison Square Garden to Gold: T.J. Cummings' Incredible Basketball Journey

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TJ Cummings. Oh, my gosh. So excited to see you. We met in Chicago, and I wish I could just give you another big hug right now. Yes.

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You had great energy, and I loved everything that you were presenting as far know, the podcast and giving everybody a better understanding of what that was about. It was great. Very entertaining. Oh, thank you. Yeah, that was kind of a last minute thing being put up on stage.

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But you know what? It's something that I love to talk about, and it's always a great experience to be thrown into something like that in the line of work that I do. So you are a retired professional basketball player and An Olympic gold medalist. Yes. Holy moly.

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You played four seasons with UCLA, and you broke a record for the most points scored as a freshman in your first game at Madison Square Garden. Holy moly. What was that like?

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Well, let's talk about Madison Square Garden, because that right there must have been like, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Right? Yeah. So the first night before we stayed at the W Hotel, and it was really nice.

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It was my first experience as a college athlete. So when I came down for the team, we have a team dinner before the game goes. So I came downstairs and I didn't know how things went. I didn't know protocol. I came down with my jersey, my tights, my game shorts, my socks, my ankle braces, my shoes on, my tear away pants, my shooting shirt and my shooting jacket on.

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And I come down and everybody's like, they just start cracking up as soon as I walk in. But I was ready to play. I was ready. I was lift up and I was ready to go. And I thought that's how it was supposed to be done.

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After that, we go to Madison Square Garden. I walked through the tunnel after. I was pretty much dressed already, so I didn't have to get dressed in the room. And then you come out and literally, you just see this big, bright floor. The basketball court is just illuminated.

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It looks like something from a dream. And then the crowd is all dark. Wow. So it was like the spotlights, like, right on the court. And it was like when I got in there, it was like I couldn't even see the people.

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It was just like I was so focused on the game. Wow. That's so incredible. All right, so talk about your story, and what I'm interested in hearing a little bit from you about is your father is also a professional basketball player. TJ Cummings.

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You're TJ Cummings Jr. What was that like for you? And were you old enough to remember him when he was playing in the NBA? Yes, that's a great question. When I was younger, I think it was probably around seven to eight where it started to resonate with me, what was going on.

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I always tell people, in my case, living like that, growing up like that, that was all I knew. You know what it was? I could understand it when people would ask me other peers and stuff like that, but that was all I knew. I was growing up in mansions, traveling. Whenever my dad got traded, we got traded.

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So we went from San Diego, we lived in La Jolla, then we went to know. So I had already moved around a lot, but overall, it was just a great experience being around that with my dad. And it just pretty much ingrained in me that I want to be a professional basketball player as well. The only reason why I was thinking about that, because I watched on Sunday the Wimbledon men's final, and Novak Djokovic was there, and he's 36 years old. And I was watching two of his boys in the team box, and I was talking with my husband and I said, that is so cool, because how many professional athletes get to have their kids with them at an age where they're old enough to remember it, because I remember looking at one point and his son was just sitting there like this with his hands over his head, just like, oh, my.

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Because he was so nervous for his dad. But that's such a great opportunity for you. And I love that you said that. It taught you a lot, because how could it not right now? Was there pressure from your father to play basketball?

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Well, that was his thing. He was like, I want you guys to find basketball, and then when you're ready, you come and you talk to me. But the craziest thing. Sidebar on the same subject, me and my father, we wanted to be in the NBA at the same time. He retired because he had heart issues at an early age, like around DePaul, when he was playing at, like, pretty much throughout his whole career, there was always a heart doctor very close by on the bench to be able to help him out.

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So on his final season with Golden State, I think he had a two year contract with them, and he was in his first year. And what happened was he became immune to the medication, and so then they had to install the defibrillator in his chest. So that kind of broke that idea. But that was like our whole idea was be the first father and son in the NBA. Oh, wow.

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Well, I'm sorry that didn't happen. But, hey, you know what? His health is more important, and it's such a strenuous sport that you don't want to mess with your heart because you're out there. Those guys are moving like crazy, right? Yes, definitely my sentiments.

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Because as soon as that happened, and then he came and trained with me a couple of times, and they were still trying to regulate everything and find out how his rates are, and they were kind of still tinkering with it. And I saw that in the beginning, he had little problems with it here and there. And I'm like, man, I care about you more than any of this other stuff. I don't want you to do anything strenuous. I'll just take your wisdom and then be the best version of you that I can be, the best version of me that I can be.

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Most important, I love it. All right, let's talk about the Olympics. Because I'm a professional figure skater, and of course, that was my dream to go to the Olympics. I kind of knew early on with figure skating that it wasn't going to happen. I always joke that with figure skating world, it really is like winning the Mega Millions lottery because it's like one person.

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I mean, at least with basketball, you've got a few dozen every year that can possibly get there. Right?

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Which Olympics was it and were you selected for that team? Because I forget how with basketball, how that works with the Olympics, because you can be professional and play on the Olympics, right? Yeah, I was actually leaning up because I was looking at the. I have like a whole set up over here on my wall. Okay.

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So I was going into my, I believe my junior year in high school and it was the Junior Olympics. Okay. So we went out there and we were representing the United States of America in Russia. So this is my first time leaving to play overseas, but throughout my life, I dang near lived like the army kid because of my dad and traveling and stuff like that. So I didn't really see it as much, you know what I'm saying?

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So I ended up going to the Olympic Training center out in Colorado where I dealt with that extreme altitude up there. I mean, everybody thought you're in shape when you get there. And it's mean. We were over there running and shooting and dunking when we left home. We come over here like the first day is just like a nightmare.

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You're just gasping for air. So I remember that. And then after know, we got geared up to go out to mix it together out to Moscow in Russia, and it was unbelievable. Wow, what an amazing experience. What an amazing experience.

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So you went on to really just do some amazing things. You played professional basketball for twelve years. How was that for you? Re acclimating back into normal life, especially being the NBA brat, right? You weren't an army brat.

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NBA brat, I'll call you. And then going in and playing for so many, like, how was that for you? And any advice you have for other athletes that are struggling to come to terms with, okay, this is what's next for me. I can't do this forever. I think the biggest transition was from college to the profession.

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Okay. But it's kind of like I can say that about both situations because high school, going into college, it's like, oh, man, my day starts at 06:00 in the morning. And then I get back after practice, going to study sessions, lectures and study hall. Like all of these things. By the time I get home, it's like 09:00.

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And then I'm thinking, like, what do I do? Do I have any time for myself? So I had to assimilate into that. When it came down to going to the pros, it was just know I wanted to always be in the NBA just like my father did. So when I didn't get drafted originally coming out of, like, I had to restructure my goals.

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So that was something that I had to do. And then just really, I didn't really have a problem with different cultures because of how I was raised. I was raised around, like, a plethora of different races, so I didn't really have a problem with that. But it was just sometimes it was a language barrier, but it was like, that was one of the first things. When I got to overseas or wherever I went playing abroad, that was the first thing I did was got a language lesson over there, finding out what the words are, the simple things, so you could be able to get along.

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Yeah, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but what was the feeling like for you when you didn't get drafted into the NBA and you had that goal? How did you come to terms with that? Because that could be very difficult for some people.

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It affected me just about, because right now, at that point, a lot of people don't know I was in Westwood, and they actually had somebody from Fox Sports that set up a camera. It was just a person that was interviewing me, and they just set up the camera, set everything up. And then if I did get drafted, they would be trying to ask me different questions, interview me about how I feel and where I'm going from there. And literally, I'm sitting here with the camera. And then my wife, now, she was my girlfriend at the time.

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We're sitting there watching it. It's just like, then it didn't happen, and it was just like, the lady, she says her sentiments, hey, I'm sorry. I hope it works out for you in the future. You still got different camps. And then she makes her way down.

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And then after that, me and my wife got married August 9. So this is after my last school year, after four years at UCLA. And then I was just like, man, okay, I have a wife. I still have a big future ahead of me. I'm going to tackle this the best way I know how, and I'm going to go out there and work hard and be the best that I could be.

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I love it. And that's that resilience that is going to keep you going forward. So I want to circle back, and this is going to make sense in a second because your dad said to you he wanted basketball to find you. And I love that because for me, at the level that I reached in my sport, figure skating, having a child, and we were texting back and forth, I'm like, you have five kids. Oh, my gosh.

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And he never really had the drive. And this is a kid who is very naturally talented from an athletic perspective. But as we all know, talent only gets you so far because you've got to have the mindset between the ears and you have to have that determination in your heart. And if you don't have all of that, it's never going to happen. Exactly.

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I feel like that advice and the way your father raised you really helped you when it came to keeping yourself moving forward, right? Yeah. He would always give me positive reinforcements. At the same time, he would always ensure like, hey, you're my son, man, you have it in you. And he would always tell me different things, attributes as myself, as a basketball player that he didn't have, and he would be know you're a different player than me.

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That was something that I had to break out of that really early. It was in high school, because everybody was all like, oh, you're TJ Cummings son. You're TJ Cummings son. So I had a big target on my back. I couldn't be like everybody else and be a great player.

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I had to be greater than, you know, I had that. And he just was like, he taught me, you're TJ and I'm t. That's just what it is. And you create your own identity, your own character of who you are. Just be the best you can.

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And then just to answer what you said earlier, because I kind of skewed over it, but what I would tell to my younger selves as it pertains to what it's like and how to endure all of this stuff is, for one, is to pretend like you have a video camera following you all around, everywhere you go, be marketable at all times, work hard, stay focused, and be coachable. But also while you're doing all of this network, meet people that are involved in fields and things like that that you are interested in and then finding out things you could do for your future. Because that's what I do in my business, to rise succeed. I want to make it so that they start to figure out what they can do before their career is over or while the career is going. And I'm so happy that you brought in that because that's a perfect segue because that was next that I wanted to talk to you about.

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You're the CEA and lead mentor at Rise to succeed, a business that equips athletes and students with skills that can make them successful no matter what. Your online class consists of ten subjects you wish you knew after college. So it sounds like you're teaching a lot of life skills that we don't learn in school, and I love that. So talk a little bit more about this. So this is no knack on the different universities and colleges around the world.

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I think what they're doing is specific. What I'm targeting is the idea of people being able to create themselves as entrepreneurs, be able to create businesses. Even if you don't want to be like some kind of a person that's running a business, you can get involved in things like real estate, but just learning all these different things coupled with the ideas of understanding taxes, which I didn't understand, credit and corporations, which I didn't understand, different ways to invest, how to educate people about all the. Because I'm not pushing people towards direction of certain things, but I want to show the whole horizon of all the different ideas that come along with investing.

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When I came out of college originally, as soon as I married my wife, we went out to China and we signed $100,000 contract right off the bat, and we didn't have any kids. So at this point, right off the bat, I'm already thinking, like, okay, I want to get a business started. I want to get something going. I already had that in my mind. So that's the same mentality that I want to have all these kids having, but minus the idea of that, I didn't know what I was doing, and I failed multiple businesses because I wasn't able to be there physically.

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It's a more hands on approach now. It's so digital, and you can have run an online store and all these things, but now it's different. Back in the day, it's like if you're not there, things get out of control. So overall, I just want to make sure that nobody has to go through what I went through and so many other athletes have gone through. But if they make their mistakes and they choose to go against what I'm putting out there, that's on them.

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But I just want to make sure that they have the opportunity to learn. I love it. I love that. So where can people find out more about these classes that you're offering? So right now, we just put up a splash page@ristosuce.com, where I want people to get an opportunity because we're new to be able to experience the class before they would buy.

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So I've already put out the first pillar, the first subject, which is managing your social life, which talks about my story and the things I did well, and the things I could have done better just to be able to give a very good understanding of what we're doing. And at the same time, my dad chimes in at the end, but it's definitely great. So that will lead for them. They just go in. You put in your email, after that, it will send you a code to be able to go and view the first class.

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And then after that you can choose to go ahead and take the rest of the class, which this is not like I'm saying you should try. I'm telling people this is what you need. It's an investment into your life. You could either go through five years of mistakes and different problems and stuff like that, or you can learn right now. So that's what we're coming with.

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I love it because I met you at Power Team International's Rainmaker Summit. We didn't have a chance to do our interview live. So thank you so much. I'm actually kind of glad because this is just going to be a little bit better than those would be anyway. But I love know, and just for the listeners out this, the conference that I met TJ at, he put a big investment into himself to get there.

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And so this is somebody who's investing in himself and he's teaching you to invest in yourself as well, because that's how you really get ahead in everything that you're doing in life. It's all about investing back into the most important person in your life, which is you.

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That is definitely true. I think a lot of people take that for granted because you get in a space you might think, you know, on everything that you're doing, but it's like you want to keep scaling, but you don't want to go like this or you don't want to go like that. And when you learn from people like Sandy, Bill Walsh, when we went to go see him and all these different people that were presenting, I mean, you're getting a plethora of, you know, management understanding. So these are things that we all need. And I'm glad that you pointed that out because this is something that's really big to be able to invest into your future.

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I tell you, I got my business management degree well after I graduated from high school and I had already owned a couple of successful businesses, but then went back and got my degree, that Rainmaker Summit, I learned more there in those two and a half days than I've learned in the past 30 years of being in corporate America and owning multiple companies. And it was just so invaluable. That's wild. And that's something that I definitely. I've already told Bill I'm coming.

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How was that experience for you to kind of turn it around on you? Have you gone there? Once, twice. So I went to the ultimate wealth camp back in December in Las Vegas, and I was going there specifically to do live podcasting, and I learned about Rainmaker when I was there. It was like I showed up right at the tail end of it, and I was like, what is this?

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And why didn't anybody tell me about it? Because I had never heard of it. And so I went ahead. It took me a little while. I wasn't sure because I was wearing one of these stupid little hats.

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Right. Because we all do it at times, and I'm no different. Why do I need to take a business course for two days? Come on. I've been doing this forever.

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Come on. Oh, my gosh. I'm telling you. Yeah, and here's the thing, because you want to learn from people who have done it. And Bill Walsh is someone who has over 30 companies, active, suCcessful.

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I don't even know the number. It's somewhere around there, right? Yeah. And you want to learn from somebody who's been there before you and who has done it before you. And he's trained thousands of people to be successful the same way that he has been successful.

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And so it was really incredible, and I cannot wait for the next one. I'm looking forward to it as well. He actually said he's going to be out my way soon, so I'm going to check him out when he gets this way. He's a wealth of knowledge he's poured into me, just given what information right off the top layer that he knows right off top of his mind. I mean, this guy, he's a great person, a great friend to have.

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Yes, for sure. TJ, is there anything else you'd like to share with the audience before we finish up? Yeah, I just wanted people to know. I think this pertains to everybody. Rise to succeed actually pertains to everybody.

00:24:43
It's really targeted towards sports, but, I mean, it goes for everybody. But I just want people to understand that you want to take advantage of your first chance. Always look at things like it's going like this. We're looking linear, like we're trying to go up. Whenever you make certain choices and decisions in your life, it makes you go this way.

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And then you have to find ways to get back here. And the biggest thing is, some people have the opportunity to be able to get more and more and more chances. But what you want to do is take advantage of every opportunity that you get. And that's one of the one things that I want to leave you guys with. I love that.

00:25:23
That is so incredible. Everyone, take a look at his website, risecheed.com, or the landing page. I think you said you have. And just so grateful to have met you in person. Thank you again.

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And I can't wait to see you in the future at some more of these events and to follow you and cheer you on. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Sandy. Thank you, everyone.

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I certainly hope that you enjoyed today's interview. Thank you so much for joining me. And as always, I hope that you and your family are healthy and safe and that your lives are filled with peace, joy, and happiness. Take care.