The 3 Things You Need to Get a NBA Internship
Getting a job in the NBA
I spoke to some college student managers today and it’s always a reminder to myself on the journey I went on to get to the League.
Like so many of you reading, I grew up with a dream of playing in the NBA. But not only that, I wanted to be a Scout and GM. And turns out, those were a bit more attainable than being an NBA player.
Obviously, when you get to college, there isn’t a major in ‘working in the NBA.’ And turns out, your major doesn’t matter anyways. What matters is…
Experience
That’s why I love speaking with student managers. I know they have at least 1 of the 3 things they need to make it to the NBA, experience. It’s not enough to say, “It’s my dream to work in the NBA,” you have to go get some experience somewhere(s) first.
Skill Set
Being a student manager is a tremendous opportunity to be involved in basketball. But just being involved in basketball doesn’t really get you to the next step either. You have to acquire skills. This can happen anywhere but being a associated with a team can really open up opportunities to learn in all facets: coaching, player development, video, analytics, training, coding, operations, equipment and more. The opportunities really are endless. So if you are involved with a team, don’t just be happy to be there. Find ways to grow and learn and prepare yourself for the next step.
Likability
You’ve got some experience, you have a skill set, and now… you really just need someone to like you enough to hire you. It’s not the person with the most experience, or the greatest skill set that gets hired… it’s the one who those interviewing like. There will be qualifications that you need to have to get your foot in the door, and from there, it’s about building genuine relationships and connections in the hoops industry.
We are thrilled to launch our 2025 NBA Trade Deadline Course next Wednesday evening! It’s a way to check just a bit of those three boxes. Gain experience by working alongside your peers and being the GM of a team while going through scenarios and trade options alongside NBA Salary Cap Analyst Yossi Gozlan and NBA Trainer Kendra Chaney.
Enhance your skill set by getting free access and training from Cerebro Sports. Learn tools for scouting from NBA Scouts and Analysts and those who have sat in the middle of NBA trade discussions from teams like the Magic, Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Bucks, and more.
And one of the key things to being likable is people knowing who you are. You have to put yourself in the room for people to get to know who you are. We’ve now seen our students land jobs all across the NBA, NCAA, ESPN, and more and we are always happy to recommend them because we’ve been able to spend time getting to know them and their work in class.
All classes are on Zoom and recorded (so you can send in ?’s ahead of time if you can’t be there live). Jan 29, Feb 5-6 from 8-10p ET, 5-7p PT.
Trades and dialogue will take place on Slack throughout the week. Use Promo Code: NBATRADE for $30 off. Once you sign up, you’ll get an e-mail from me to have you select which NBA Team you would like to be the GM of for the Course.
E-mail us with any ?’s at info@getinthegame101.com (First come, first serve on the team you are the GM of!)