3 Things to Get You Ready for NBA Summer League

It’s that time of year where not only are you dialed in on the NBA Draft and building your Big Boards, you’re making plans for NBA Summer League.

Our NBA Summer League Crash Course is on June 29 and June 30 but there are some things you need to know prior to get you ready!

Obviously, whenever you can make it to Summer League is great. But the fact is, most NBA personnel will be there the first 3-5 days and then they take off. Yes, there are others that linger but the hub of connections happens on the first weekend. If you can make your travel arrangements around the first weekend, there will be many more people to connect with.

I hesitate to use the term networking although ultimately, networking is what you will be doing. Just don’t make it about networking, make it about making genuine connections. Start reaching out to NBA personnel and others to see if they will be at Summer League.

Should you offer to take them to lunch or coffee? Sorry, absolutely not. No one has time for that. Should you see if you can connect with them in the hallways in between games? Absolutely. If they want to spend extended time with you, they will. What you need is simply an easy way to make an introduction.

Introductions can come in many forms. The best are through connections you already have. If someone can get you on a thread together, that is ideal. After that, cold e-mails and linkedin messages are the most likely way to go. It doesn’t mean everyone is going to get back to you, but some will. Do try and keep it to professional spaces. Hitting people up on their social media is typically a way for them to not only not respond, but block you, so don’t go down that road.

And when possible, as always, show up in gyms! If there’s basketball in your area, there are likely people who are headed to Summer League and people to meet. If you can make initial introduction early, then you’re more likely to have access to that person’s network when attending Summer League.

Going to Summer League with your peers will make it a much better experience for you, in many ways. And same as above, these don’t have to be your best friends, these can also be people you connect with on-line, or even in one of our classes! Attending with others will give you a comfort level, enable you to watch games with others, and you’ll be able to introduce each other to each other’s networks.

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We will continue to dive into some Summer League content over the next weeks but we would love to have you in our NBA Summer League Crash Course. We will have NBA personnel in to speak with you and help prepare you and more importantly, people you’ll be able to meet at Summer League such as our speakers and your peers within class. Our SL CC is June 29 and June 30 from 8-10p ET / 5-7p PT, $99.99. Use promo EARLYBIRD by this Monday for $25 off and promo Summer League after that for $10 off.