Finding (basketball) Opportunities
Getting a job in the NBA
“Rather than think about what your dream is, why don’t you look around and see where the opportunities are. There are people who aren’t out searching for their dream but they went out looking for opportunity. When they found it, they found a way to get good at it. When they got good at it, then they found a way to love it.” – Mike Rowe
Finding an opportunity to work in the NBA can be challenging, to say the least. But finding something you love is always within grasp. But sometimes we can be so blinded by the former that we can’t see the latter.
“Why should we hire you?”
“It’s my dream.”
When I would interview people for NBA internships, often they would say, “It’s my dream.” And while that answer would be factual, it added no practicality to their ability to be successful in the given role.
But those who took whatever opportunity was in front of them… working at the college level, WNBA, G-League, or high school, those were the people we were looking for. Those who took opportunities along the way as they chased their dream.
It’s a win-win. You may land a job at a college or high school that you fall in love with and the NBA dream fades away. Or you continue to gain and hone skills in the game of basketball and continue to ready yourself for the next step.
In the next month, NBA teams are likely to be wrapping up their hiring processes for internships. This does not mean that they will all be closed prior to the season but around 90-95% of them will be. And that’s a great time to keep your eye open for opportunities outside of the NBA.
I had graduated college a year prior and knew I wanted to work in the NBA. In that year, I started learning how to break down film. I made contacts around the League. I started scouting for my local D-1 college. I surrounded myself with the game (while working a full-time job) and I pursued every NBA opportunity I could find that following summer.
Around September, it looked as if I wasn’t going to land an NBA job so I started looking harder at positions in the G-League and WNBA. In mid-October the internship with Portland came to fruition. But even that, I don’t think it would have come to fruition with me just waiting on a dream. It came to fruition because I continued to pursue other opportunities along the way.
In the current hiring cycle, if you don’t get what you’re looking for this round, don’t be dismayed. Continue learning, continue growing, and continue finding the opportunities that do present themselves.
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GITG 101’s next course, NBA Training Camp will be on Zoom Wednesday’s on October 4, 11, 18, 25 at 5p PT / 8p ET. For a short time only, use Promo Code: EARLYBIRD for $75 off (September 15th is the last day for this promo!). We hope to see & meet you there!