Shoutout to my Bulls fam! I'm wearing some of my gear today. Although if you really
want to see some gear, some like truly team issued gear...stick around to the
end of this video for a good laugh. Hey there! I'm Jenna Rein from theinternhustle.com,
and this is Initiative Muscle Monday. Helping you to start each
week with an intentional step toward a successful future. Let's do this! This video is
a little different from what I normally share on this channel. Instead of
actionable internship advice and tips to help you on your own internship journey
(which is what I typically share here), I'm going to share some internship
inspiration (or as I like to say intern inspo) from my own internship journey.
For a couple reasons... One, I think there is a lot to learn from the journeys and
stories of other people (it's one of my favorite ways to learn and expand my own
mind), and two, at the time that I'm making this video (which is April of 2020) we're
all stuck inside at home and have been without sports for over a month.
Sports have been canceled...until further notice. Why does this matter? My
internship journey took place in the world of professional sports. And what
I'm going to share in this video is a little behind the scenes of my
internship with the Chicago Bulls. Because we could all use a little sports
content to fill the void right now. So if you're excited to learn more about my
internship with the Chicago Bulls, give this video a like and be sure to
subscribe for new videos every single week on this channel. Before I jump into
my internship story with the Chicago Bulls, I want to point out this video
that I put out over a year ago on how to get an internship in sports. If you're
watching this video because you're interested in a career in sports, and you
want to get your foot in the door through internships, then I highly
recommend you go watch this video on how I did it. And just learn some of the
strategies that I recommend that you take as you're pursuing a career in
professional sports. Great ways for you to get your foot in the door. And this is
one of my most popular videos on this channel, so I know that people are
getting a lot of value out of it. And you should make sure that you check it out
after this one if it's something that you're interested in. Link will be below.
But back to this video... To get you up to speed with my story
(if you're not already familiar with it from reading about me on theinternhustle.com).
I was a strength and conditioning intern for the Chicago Bulls during the
summer of 2006. Now you may be thinking... summer is not really a super interesting
or exciting time to be an intern in the NBA. Because the NBA playoffs season and
finals end mid-June. But I would argue quite the opposite. As a summer intern in
the NBA, I had the privilege of participating in the 2006 NBA draft
process with the Chicago Bulls. I'll get into more details about that in a second.
But I also got to know the players pretty well. Because over the course of
the summer, they're at the training facility pretty consistently in order to
recover from the previous season and get their bodies in shape and prepared for
the next. And as a strength and conditioning intern, I was responsible
for assisting the head strength coach in training the players every day. I took
them through their daily workouts, and I made sure that they recovered properly
after each workout. I also earned my keep on the basketball side of the business,
as well. Rebounding during shoot around, running
the game clock during scrimmages, and even working on my own game as the
players would try (emphasis on try) to help me perfect my
layup. I'm better at threes okay, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. But
what I really want to share with you, and give you a little glimpse into behind
the scenes as an NBA intern, is from my experience with the NBA Draft.
I love the NBA Draft, and specifically draft day. I've loved it ever since I
experienced it a couple times firsthand. So the first time was in the summer of
2006 as an intern with the Chicago Bulls, and then the following summer in 2007 I
got to experience the NBA draft from the sports agent perspective as an intern
with Priority Sports. And draft day is the culmination of so many things. All of
the hard work and anticipation really builds up and the athletes lives are
changed forever. It's truly just one of my favorite days
in sports. A lot goes on behind the scenes in the days, and the weeks, and the
months leading up to the draft. And I learned a lot more than I expected to
learn at my internships about the inner workings of the sports industry. And I
have so much more respect for the professionals that continue to pull off
the NBA draft process each and every year. So here we go, here is the NBA Draft
through my lens -- the lens of a Chicago Bulls strength
and conditioning intern. The summer of 2006 was a busy time for the Chicago
Bulls organization. Going into the 2006 draft, the Bulls had the 2nd and the 16th
picks. This means that all of the top collegiate and international talent were
coming through the doors of the Berto Center for draft testing and interviews.
And the Berto Center was the Bulls training facility when I was an intern
there. But also, it was the training facility through all of their legendary
years with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and all of those members of the
Bulls championship teams. The Berto Center facility became a league standard
for NBA practice facilities, and it was an honor to get to step into that
facility as an intern every day that summer. As far as the draft evaluation
process goes, as a strength conditioning intern I was highly involved with the
physical testing of each prospective player. It was all hands on deck as the
head strength coach and the athletic trainer led me and the other intern
through the motions. We tested each player's strength, agility, speed and
flexibility. As well as measuring their height, weight, standing reach, wingspan
and hand size. (You know, they have to be able to grip that basketball.) We also
watched each player perform various drills on the court and scrimmage other
talent who were also in town for their draft tryouts. We performed and recorded
character interviews with the player's collegiate coaching staff in order to
determine what kind of person they were and if they were someone that the Bulls
wanted to invite into their organization. And we aggregated, analyzed, ranked and
organized player data into a comprehensive binder that was shared
with the front office staff. All of this occurred in the few weeks leading up to
the draft. It was like a rotating door of top collegiate and international
basketball talent. As an intern, I never had a moment of downtime and I was
always finding something new to roll up my sleeves and learn. I spent 13 hours at
the Berto Center on draft day. It was a long day, but full of excitement. The day
started with media set up on the practice courts, and ended with
interviews. And the hours in between consisted of a whole lot of phone calls
and negotiations and trades as the Bulls made their 2006 NBA draft selections. For
those of you watching this video who are NBA fans, here's how the draft played out
for Chicago that summer... The Bulls selected LaMarcus Aldridge from the
University of Texas as the second overall pick. To keep things interesting,
they then turned around and traded Aldridge and a future second-round draft
choice to Portland in exchange for Tyrus Thomas, who was a fourth overall pick out
of LSU. And they got the contract rights of Viktor Khryapa. The Bulls then selected
Rodney Carney from Memphis with the 16th pick, and then again the Bulls made a
trade this time with Philadelphia for their 13th pick
Thabo Sefolosha, who was an Italian club player out of Switzerland. And this was
all in exchange for Carney, a 2007 second-round pick and cash. Needless to
say, the 2006 NBA draft for the Chicago Bulls was not a dull one. My summer with
the Chicago Bulls is one that I will never forget. Working behind the scenes
of the NBA Draft, and getting to train the current team on a daily basis, was
full of experiences that built me up professionally. It also opened up my eyes
to the various opportunities out there in the world of sports. My specific
experience with the NBA Draft was the reason I decided to pivot in my own
internship journey, and start pursuing a sports business opportunity with
Priority Sports the following summer. I learned that I wanted to move on from
what I thought I wanted to do (which was train professional athletes). And that's
the beauty of a good internship -- You learn what you do like, and more
importantly what you don't like. And if you start early enough, you have time to
pivot and make new decisions for yourself and your career path while
you're still in college. You don't have to waste time figuring it out after you
graduate. Which in many cases means leaving money on the table as well,
because you're not starting out in the right position and you're earning
trajectory takes longer to gain momentum. So if you're interested in learning
about my experience with the sports agency, Priority Sports, and the behind
the scenes of the NBA Draft from that perspective, let me know in the comments
below. I can create a similar video, sharing that experience in the future, if
it's something that you guys are interested in. And if you're wanting to
get your new internship journey started, but you need some help. And maybe you
don't know where to start, or you just want someone like me who has already
done it to guide you and help you focus and achieve your goals faster.
Then check out my online program for students called The Course. In The Course
I help you take control of your future, by guiding you through the entire
internship process from start to finish. Over 20 video lessons, worksheets and
live virtual coaching sessions with me, to work on developing your personal
brand, finding and securing the right internship opportunities for you,
learning how to operate like a professional, growing your professional
network and converting your experience into a career path that you're excited
about. To learn more about The Course, and learn when it's going to be open for
enrollment, go to theinternhustle.com/course. By adding yourself
to the waitlist at that link you're going to get emails from me with more
details about The Course and what you can expect if you decide to join. And you
will be the first to know about any special offers that I choose to provide.
Again, visit theinternhustle.com/course to learn more and get on
the list. I have included the link in the description below this video as well.
Remember, if you're looking to break into the sports industry, I encourage you to
watch this video to get the strategies that I recommend. And don't be afraid to
broaden the list of roles that you may be interested in. It takes so many people,
from all different kinds of roles, working together to keep things running
for us sports fans to enjoy. So just focus on getting your foot in the door
first, and gain some experience, observe what is
going on around you, and then decide what path you want to take from there. Good
luck! Alright, if you remember at the beginning I told you to stick around to
the end because I had something comical to share with you. This is the real team
issued gear that I received as an intern. I'm not joking. It's an XL Tall.
I'm 5'1". Not quite my size. But you know, when you're an intern in the NBA they
don't have much for you that's your size, if you're 5'1". So this became my weighted
blanket, or my Snuggie, before those were even a thing. It's the perfect thing to
lounge around the house in, but really not my go-to everyday wear. So, thought you'd get a
kick out of that. If you're an intern in the NBA some day, maybe you'll be
as lucky to have one of these too. Go Bulls! Thanks for watching. If this
video gave you some new insights today, please give it a like and share it with
a friend or two. Hit that red subscribe button below so that you don't miss out
on future videos. In support of your hustle, I'm Jenna from theinternhustle.com,
and I'll see you next Monday.