People Helping People

During our NBA Draft Sessions, it continually amazes me how much people want to help other people.

We had Matt Lloyd, GM of the Timberwolves on and I told him his session would be 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, he said, “I’m having fun, let’s keep going!” After 45 minutes, I tried to wrap him up (out of respect) and he was like, “I see a few more hands up, I’ll take the rest of the questions.” He ended up going over an hour.

We had high level coaches from Purdue and Houston who left their phone numbers and e-mails. We had Marshall Cho, Head Coach of the Nike Hoop Summit World Team, offer all of his contact information. And on and on and on.

Everyone has a similar story of, ‘someone helped me and I want to give back.’

When we see people in professional sports, it’s easy to put them on a pedestal when in reality, they’re a lot like you, but someone simply gave them an opportunity. Now one of the keys is, being ready for that opportunity. As Coach KC Beard of Houston shared that he was a Video Coordinator for Kelvin Sampson for 7 seasons and always wanted to coach and when Kelvin hired him as an Assistant Coach, he was ready.

I know a lot of people start with, who do I reach out to? How do I get started? And I get it, that part can be daunting. It’s always hard to know where to get started. And the best answer always is to start where you are. Start in your local gyms. Start at your local colleges. Start building your connections and networks where you are. And you will see it grow and grow and grow because… people know people.

And generally, people want to help other people.

Cold e-mailing and linkedin messages are fine. Even a necessity to get started sometimes. But meeting people face to face is a game-changer. Which is one of the things we love to do in our sessions, get you face to face with those who’ve made their way into professional hoops. And the special thing about classes like our NBA Summer League Course is that the people you meet in those sessions are people who will be accessible to meet in person a week later.

There’s not a one size fits all for anyone’s path. I recommend all of it. Apply for any jobs posted on-line. Show up in as many gyms as you are welcome to. Send e-mails and linkedin messages (but not social media messages). Go to events (Summer League) when you can. You never know which connection will lead to the next connection.