How do I become an NBA GM

yes

a letter 2 team offices

college ball i wanna be a scout

Just look at the skills they have. Most are business majors or they have a proven knowledge of the game.

There is not any audition and law school/connections won't cut it. You need to have proved you can make good decisions at a very high level before an owner puts all the control in your hands.

i feel like doing law school or an mba program would help build some connections... i just wanna be a salary cap guy. i love the numbers.

You could be a sports agent. You would be sure to make connections. Start there and move your way up.

anybody read bald truth by david falk? it's alright... its fascinating that rookies used to get 10 year deals...

A number are former players either at the college or pro levels. can you dunk?

nope but i can make a dollar no problem.... and i have never dealt drugs for the record.

I want to be NBA GM too but it is all about connection and there are a lot of stupid GMs out there so it is hard to say that they have these great qualifications but most have been around basketball a lot.

It's not what you know.... its who you know....

forget a law degree get one in business mail letters to team start off as the assistant to the assistant of director of global operations assistant or some other low job and work yourself up
OR marry the owners daughter

see, i just don't think that you can work your way up from like an assistant into a GM anymore.... I donno though, I could be wrong.

I have an accounting degree, so it's a start i guess. i gotta go talk to the timberwolves. lol

is there a major for it other than business stuff? what about sports management? i know thats a major/minor.

i guess you should try being a coach in a local team if you're not very good at playing the game. but if you are, and not capable of getting to the nba, try being an assistant of a university/college coach or be a scout. if you're pretty good, try to offer your services to the ABA or D-League (or a better known basketball school if you're starting from a community college). work your way up, nba positions aren't gift-wrapped and offered to just anybody. management courses and law should help. i believe there's a course known as sports science or sports management.

hahaha i'm 21, 5'9 and haven't played organized basketball since like 5th grade so... i guess the most likely route would be to be a coach/assistant, i guess.

my question is: are coaching and general manager on the same career paths? i always thought they were not. I thought the coach dealt strictly in basketball and the GM made some basketball decisions, but mostly the business decisions (player salaries, draft picks, etc being a part of their duties)

Sports Management is the field you want. Most colleges offer it at the Graduate level. It deals with the business end of Sports. It's probably a great vehicle. Sounds like you won't have the same career path as Larry Bird, Isiah, or Elgin Baylor (thank goodness), so that might be your best bet. I'm in related businesses and majored in Commercial Recreation. Not exacly the same, but similar, and have been in related work for 25 years. Good luck!

Hmmmmm Wonder if the NBA is scouting this forum for the next great GM? Maybe we can create a reality show? No more dumb comments gentlemen. Someone may be watching!

he was a coach first and then was hired to be a gm. he's done some savvy moves that lead to a heat championship ring (and he was also the coach of that team). kerr was never a coach (he was a broadcaster when he was hired to be the suns gm), look what happened to the suns? he's like a kid playing nba live and trying to get the best player available on each position. not sure if mchale was a coach first before he became a gm. mike dunleavy sr. is doing both right now (but they need a new coach soon! i just don't like him as a coach, he's okay as a gm though).

Right, but most of us don't have an NBA pedigree or the namr recognition to be given the title of GM on NBA team. coaching is one way to get there, but it's a much longer road than the business end unless you are a very visible person.

I am interested in Sports Management. I already have a Marketing Degree. I wonder how much longer it would take me to get a Sports Management degree too (double major) Anybody know???

2 years of Graduate School depending on where you go. Ohio University supposedly has the best program in the country.

Wow 2 more years. I don't know if I can handle that ha. My Marketing degree hasn't helped me a bit, its pathetic. I expected to go to college, get a degree than be able to get a good paying job easily....that is not the case.

Try an internship with a sports team. Many are paid. Gets you in the door and if you do a good job, it could lead to good things. Just a thought.

Marketing is like Business Psychology... and just like normal Psychology, the degree doesn't get you a whole lot, especially in this economy. To some extent I feel like marketing is intuitive and if you've been paying attention to the people around you your whole life, you can be successful. it's about building relationships up and down stream (suppliers; customers) and understanding what makes people tick...

Thanks to whoever mentioned the Ohio University grad program... I will have to take a look into that for sometime down the line. I gotta get some work experience first.

I think a reality show for a GM position would be great... I just can't think of an owner that'd be willing to do it. PSYCH! Mark Cuban! who's got his number! lol

Supposedly he responds to all of his own emails. No joke. Give it a shot. I'd be willing to be on the reality show : )

BTW Ohio University established the first program of this type and has best rep. Doesn't mean they are best program. You know how that goes. I agree with marketing thoughts. Psychology is ridiculous to enter. You need doctorate and all A's to get into grad schho. We spend too much time on this damn site!

IMO, heres what you do. Go Clean Toilets and be a Janitor for a bad NBA team. Work on getting a degree on the side. Every time they mess up in Practice, walk pass the coach and tell him's whats wrong with that play....after about 1000 times and the team make a good play in Practice, he will ask you for your name. Give him your name and he will tell the GM and they will hire you as a scout

Then...its all but up from there man

too much damn time, but its so addictive. and i'm studying BORING material so this makes it a little easier to bear.

i'm gonna actually try the cuban email! might as well. maybe, it could be a spot for an assistant GM or assistant to the GM, lol and from there you'd have a chance to prove yourself

which are the best schools for sports mangement

ohio university as previously mentioned, and i'm sure if any TOP TOP schools (ivy and near ivys, like stanford, michigan, texas, wisconsin) offer a sports management program, you'd be sure to build some connections into the NBA because they probably have alum in the league.

I think one of the schools in Boston is supposed to be good. Forgot which one. Ohio has best rep. I would start there. I've been out of school a long time and haven't really kept up on which programs rank best.

just read some random internet comment that UMass-Amherst, Temple, and Texas (Austin, Im assuming) are the 3 best schools

u would think unc and duke would be at the top because of their basketball programs and the fact that they are great colleges as well, no?

hmmmmmm i donno, they would have ties to great players.... but the article i was looking at mentioned the importance of being close to a big market to facilitate internships and business relationships, etc

sports management involves much more than basketball. Hoops is one of many sports and success in the business isn't tied to being an athleet. It's about successfully running programs in the field of sports.

wat about usc and ucla?

i bet if they have sports management programs, they are pretty good. I'm pretty sure that not all schools have a sports management program... I just don't think there'd be enough students to fill up programs across the country.

Try winning an international NBA fantasy league

^???

Thanks for information, diksiyon kursu see you ;)

be an NBA Hall of Famer with no eye for talent.....you'll be a shoe in....

im 16 and i all ways want to play for the nba ,but i was never good and then i told my self it's ok i can still be a nba agent or a something like that then one of my friends told me about a general manager i got interested ,but i dont know how to be one can someone gave me something that i can use in the future

if a bartender can make it to the nfl

then.......

i can be a dinosaur

I am 14, and for the last 3-4 years I have wanted to know what it takes to be a GM.

This may sound crazy, but playing the association mode in the NBA 2k games is what inspired me. I am great with numbers, and I feel that i have a great feel for the game, as well as great knowlegde of the game

But although this thread helped a bit, I still have many questions to be answered, and somthing that perplexes me is how do you get in, cause guys like Sam Presti and Daryl Morey have been around for quite sometime, and I think they are in their thirties, So..............

Start out getting some experience in business or law(teams are starting to go with the advanced analytics when drafting & signing players), then find a sports management program for grad school. I'm finishing up my Finance degree this year, then I'm looking to go to grad school for Sports Management with hopes of getting on with an NBA organization, & if I have no luck there then I'm definitely gonna go the sports agent route.

UT Austin has a damn good program...Ohio U has a great rep. Miami is also a program that's on the rise.

Its all about who you know when your fighting for careers of that caliber.

You gotta build a network and work your way up...eventually meet people with experience and power. "Its not about what your know but who you know". Be able to sell yourself to others as a marketer. Show confidence, charisma, a fighting spirit, and compassion.

Start building that web now. Talk to people and get out of your comfort zone.

thats actually really good advice mdymes

+1