Three Mistakes I Made That You Shouldn't

If you are trying to work in the NBA or higher levels of basketball, then I hope you will use my stumbling blocks as your stepping stones.

I’m now a year and a half into writing this Newsletter, and during that time, it has developed a diverse subscriber list. However, its 1,900 subscribers can be grouped into three pretty distinct subcategories:

1. Fans of basketball who do not work in basketball.

2. NBA personnel.

3. Younger coaches who someday want to work at high levels of basketball, specifically the NBA.

This piece is for that third group. I was you. However, feel free to stick around and eavesdrop if you’re part of either the first or second group.

In 2018, I started coaching NBA players as a shooting coach. My goal was to eventually work for an NBA team, not privately with players. Here are the three biggest mistakes I made during that journey.

1. Film and Share EVERYTHING:

This is the biggest thing I would do differently.

I have planned and conducted over 500 on-court sessions and thousands of film sessions with a diverse range of players, from those trying to make it in the league to All-Stars and All-NBA players. I have notebooks with every session written down, every make and miss recorded, a collection of hundreds of thousands of shots.

However, I only have a few videos¹.

Filming was a significant pain point with people in my life. They pushed, and I refused. I should have listened.

At my core, I am a basketball purist, not a marketing guru. When I worked with a player, I formatted everything around one central thought:

The Player’s Improvement Is The First Priority.

These guys were hiring me to help them improve their game, specifically their shot. The epicenter of each player’s game.

Regardless of their position in the league’s hierarchy, if their shot improved significantly, it could create generational wealth for them and their families, or if they already had it, it would elevate them from an All-Star/All-NBA level to the potential MVP tier.

I took this trust seriously and placed their success as the 1st priority; I saw it as the basketball equivalent of a fiduciary duty.

My reasoning for not filming was that I needed their complete trust; I needed them to be willing to try something new, and most importantly, be willing to fail. The gym had to be a safe space, a sanctuary.

The good news: it worked.

The numbers speak for themselves: an average jump of 6.1% in their three-point shooting and all on career-high volume (the lowest jump for a player was 5.8%).

The bad news: it worked out much better for the players.

I didn't build a profile or the clout, as the kids would say.

During the Covid months, I interviewed for the position of Head of Player Development at a large agency. On the Zoom call, there were five representatives from the agency, including one agent who had put my name forward as a potential hire.

After the call, my contact called me and stated that one of the agents on the Zoom meeting claimed I was lying about working with Malik Beasley for the past two years because I had not posted about it on social media. He said there were several people in Atlanta claiming to be the person Malik had worked with for the past two years².

Malik was my first NBA client and a player with whom I had planned and run over 100 on-court and 200+ film sessions. And because I didn't scream, “I’m doing this!!” on social media from the top of the mountain, that meant I wasn’t doing it in the eyes of the world.

This same agent contacted me two weeks later and requested that I work with one of his clients. Imagine that.

**Jimmy Butler is not the player in question, but his emotions mirrored my own when I received that call. **

The moral of the story: shout it from the rooftops. Put yourself first.

I redirected the time I used to spend filming and posting basketball content on social media into a focus on film, edits, and planning for players. Perhaps this extra time was my moment of winning on the margins—the small details that helped me create a program that consistently enabled every player to achieve a significant improvement in their shooting.

Question:

If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound unless it’s on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube?

Answer:

No, it doesn’t.

Please don't be as naive as I was.

Last summer, I conducted sessions with local players and recorded some of the days. I love teaching shooting; it doesn’t matter to me if it’s an All-NBA player or a high school Junior.

2. Network:

Just so you know, anyone and everyone you contact will tell you to network.

This is hard to do solo, especially if you're an “outsider” like me. If you don’t know if you are an outsider, here are three quick “yes or no” questions you can ask yourself to find out if you are an outsider:

1. Did you play in the NBA?

2. Does one of your family members currently work in the NBA?

3. Did one of your family members formally play or work in the NBA?

If you can’t answer yes to any of these, then you are, in fact, an outsider.

So, here is how traditional networking is going to go for you with NBA personnel:

First, you’re going to have to scrape and claw through your contact list to play the basketball version of six degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Second, if one of these contacts somehow helps you reach an individual working in the NBA³ by phone, email, or in person, they will undoubtedly tell you some version of this: “Build your network; your first opportunity will come through your network.”

It’s great advice, and it will be vital work if you’re going to break through. I’ve had many conversations like the one above. My biggest mistake was trying to do all the legwork myself; you’re going to need help breaking into the networking game if you're an outsider.

There are a few options:

• John Ross at

  GET IN THE GAME 101
  .

• Brian Davidson at Sports Business Journal.

• Brian Pauga at Break into Basketball.

I didn't know these resources existed when I was trying my hardest to work the networking game. If you’re an outsider, this is how to do it: pay for the introductions.

My work with Malik Beasley went well in Denver, and as a result, I was afforded some time to connect with people inside the walls. Denver’s president of basketball, Tim Connelly, set me up on a call with Wes Unseld Jr., who, at the time, was the lead assistant in Denver.

I did my best to keep things light, play the game, and turned the call into a chance to catch up over coffee whenever I was out in Denver to see Beasley.

Unseld Jr. told me:

“Your first job will come from a connection; the interview will truly be just about whether you like each other, not whether you are smart or capable as a basketball mind.”

This is one of the most true statements you’ll hear about getting a job in the NBA, or pretty much anywhere, for that matter. It’s usually already done by the time you get to the interview. Someone on the other side is in a position to put their finger on the scale for you, and it’s mainly about the vibes.

Our paths would later cross during a meeting in LA about Gary Harris, right before the COVID-19 shutdown. If you'd like to hear more about this meeting, you can take a look at it here.

When Unseld Jr. got the head job with the rebuilding Washington Wizards, a place in which I had people on the inside championing my work I thought: “Holy shit! This might be how the dots connect for me to get in.” Obviously, that didn’t happen.

You never know who that person will be, but you will almost certainly not find them on your own if you’re an outsider. The three people I listed above have created businesses by connecting outsiders with insiders. If you want to gain entry as an outsider, you’ll need to compensate them for their assistance.

3. Be Willing To Take A Step Backward… Or Five:

It's much easier to connect the dots when going backward, and one decision stands out as the most influential inflection point in my coaching career:

Internship with Utah or a Six-figure contract with a player.

Although the Utah job was not guaranteed, it was an opportunity to get a resume in the door after a meeting with Bart Taylor, then the General Manager of the Salt Lake Stars. I felt I had a good shot.

I wasn't married. My expenses were low, and I could have accepted any terms they offered to get my foot in the door.

My thought process was that if I deliver great work again (another player making a 6% three-point jump) with this player, I would 100% be able to secure a better⁴ entry-level position than an internship.

I took the player deal. Two things happened:

1. It worked; the player saw a 6.2% increase in his three-point percentage on a career-high volume.

2. But I made the same mistakes as before. Didn’t film. Didn’t scream “I’m doing this,” and as a result, no one except a few inner circle people knew about the project.

My thought process was wrong again. If your situation allows it, you must take steps backward if it means a real chance to get in, but only if working in the league is what you want and not just something you say.

Over the next few years, a similar story began to play out in numerous conversations with team personnel:

Them: Tell us how you do it.

Me: I would love to! Players X, Y, and Z in your program possess all the physical tools necessary to thrive in the program I run, which has contributed to the improvements of Players A, B, and C. Do you see me in a potential role in your organization?

Them: Oh, and by the way, there are no job openings available for you here. We just want to know how you improve players’ shooting.

I had some of the weirdest requests during this time. One assistant general manager asked me to take his analytics staff through my hard drive and teach them the body positions and movements that form the foundation of my “Stacking” program so they could incorporate it into their models: no fee, no job, nothing. Do it because we are an NBA team⁵.

One high-profile general manager asked me to send him a project on the bad habits and how to change them in one of their players’ shots, so that they could pass it on to the coaching staff to use: no fee, no job, nothing. Do it because we are an NBA team.

During my years with Malik, we would work out at Pepperdine; it’s one of my favorite gyms in the entire world. A small, single-court gym up on a hill, overlooking the water, there’s not many better feelings than looking out and taking in the Pacific Ocean at the top of those stairs before or after a workout.

Mike Wexler (Lakers) and Connor Griffin (Brooklyn) were at Pepperdine during this time and attended almost every workout, regardless of whether it was at 5 a.m. or 10 p.m. A few years later, they both made the climb into the league, and I couldn’t be more proud of what they’re doing right now. One of my favorite memories from my seven years of working with NBA players didn’t involve a player, but rather when Connor was in the final stages of interviews with the Denver Nuggets, and they called me as a reference. Talking about all the positive things Connor would bring to Denver and how lucky I was to have him in the gym gave me the greatest joy. I’m positive he would have gotten the job without that conversation, but it added to the pleasure of seeing him and Mike get “in,” which meant the world to me.

Here’s a shot of Mike, Connor, and me in Minnesota during 2020. I was still working with Malik Beasley, so Connor and I drove from LA to Minnesota to stay with Mike for two weeks. Shout out to Wexler’s for opening their home and making the trip a blast!

To all the young coaches reading this, know that it’s not impossible. Mike and Connor are two great examples, and I hope my stumbling blocks can serve as stepping stones for you along your journey.

Good luck!

Work Smarter, Not Harder! (like Marzie)

1. None that I am legally permitted to share publicly.

2. The funny thing is, he didn’t care that these people also didn’t have social media videos (because they didn’t work with him), but it didn’t stop him from being adamant that I was lying.

3. For me, the people within the teams I got connected with always had someone on their PD staff reach out to have these conversations with me. This person would always ask me to explain exactly how I changed players’ shots and to offer them some tips. I always asked if they had any openings, and the responses back were consistent across the board: “No, but I would love to know how you get an average of six percentage point jumps on three-point shots if you’re willing to tell me.”

4. I was naive here, uneducated. If you’re an outsider, there is pretty much only one entry point from the outside: an intern.

5. This particular NBA team has been one of, if not the worst, shooting team in the league over the past five-plus years.