More than One Way to get a Job in the NBA
Getting a job in the NBA
“It’s always good to remember… when you’re trying to figure out if you should do it this way or that way… in terms of almost any situation, remember, there is more than one way. You can do it this way or that way. You might be successful either way. There are best practices but it is far more important to decide to move forward and take action rather than just stay in analysis mode. A bias towards action is the most important thing.” – Chris Guillebeau from Side Hustle School Podcast
One of the things that people most often want when reaching out to me is an exact formula to getting an NBA job. I want A + B = C. Those people will always leave our conversations frustrated. And I doubt that they will ever truly find what they are looking for. Because in hoops (as in most facets of life), there isn’t an exact formula. But what there are, are best practices.
I received my degree in Business Management. Those sitting next to me included degrees in Education, Philosophy, Marketing, and more. No one had a degree in basketball. No one had a formula that got them to the NBA. Everyone loved basketball and took the knowledge they had and started working / volunteering / interning somewhere and gaining experience.
One of the first things I like to do when we bring on a speaker to one of our classes is hear a bit of their story and hoops journey. Part of that is simply so everyone in class can see that every single person who comes on has a different path but common denominators along the way. The common denominators are almost always, ‘Someone helped me,’ and ‘I had a bit of luck.’
When someone says they got lucky, I would also add that they put themselves in the path of luck. Luck tends to find those with a bias towards action, not those on the sidelines.
There isn’t a direct path to getting a job in the NBA. But there are paths to improving, learning, and getting 1% better each day. As the saying goes, control the controllables. Continue growing, connecting, gaining experience and skills and you will find yourself on the path of luck.
There’s not a direct path to getting a job in the NBA. But if you surround yourself with the right tools and right people, you will find your way. The key is to always be in the game, always be moving forward.