Are Sports and Business Related?
Most men and women in America spend most of their time working hard to make a living for their family. In fact many of us are working two or three jobs to make ends meet and support our families. While we may all have different careers everyone loves sports! Who doesn’t enjoy football Sunday, the NBA playoffs, or the World Series? If we have a few extra dollars in our pockets at the end of the month, we run to see if we can get tickets to watch our favorite teams and players. RIGHT?!
While the competition if fierce, the talent is spectacular and the atmosphere is epic, there’s a lot more that goes on behind the scenes. The amount of practice that goes on, how many injuries players work through to get themselves ready to play, the leadership all-star athletes demonstrate in order to achieve success for their team.
Do Great Sports Leaders Make Great Leaders In Business?
The Answer is- YES!
The next issue of the Small Business Journal will feature BJ Armstrong,
three time NBA Champion with the Chicago Bulls in our new feature Sports CEO. BJ played 11 seasons in the NBA as the starting point guard alongside Michael Jordan. After retiring in 2000, he joined the Chicago Bulls front office where he worked as Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations until 2005, when he left and became an NBA analyst on ESPN and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. BJ is currently Executive Vice President & Managing Executive, Basketball for Wasserman Media Group.
Armstrong’s clients include the 2011 NBA MVP and Chicago Bulls’ guard Derrick Rose, Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green, New Orleans’ Pelicans Omer Asik and Denver Nuggets’ JaVale McGee.
Unfortunately in today’s media world, players often lose their true voice. Because we idolize our players, often times players are asked questions simply to get a certain answer which will immediately spark attention, or even controversy. Sports CEO will be the platform that players all over the world of sports will be able to authentically give their impressions, experiences and be able to express their leadership exactly how they see it.
Here’s a few things we got to talk to BJ about:
Jay- Obviously playing with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and others for so many years was an exciting career, but how has that shaped your mind and attitude going into the business world?
Jay- Did the fact that MJ and Scottie Pippen were on your team take away from how good you had to play? You could do just about anything and have them score, no?
Jay- In today’s world everyone is trying to get as much advertising attention as possible. If only we could have the platform players have, where millions of people are watching everything we do, we’d be an instant success. Is that correct?
Jay- Having played in the NBA yourself for many years, you had first hand experience in many areas especially contract negotiation. How has that helped you become an agent for current players? When you look to do business, should you look only to someone who has had that exact experience?
Stay tuned for the full interview coming out in January 2016!
Do you think sports and business are related? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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