According to the NCAA, there are 541,054 Men’s high school basketball players in America. There are 18,320 Men’s basketball players in the NCAA. The overall percentage of high school players who play in the NCAA is 3.4%. There are 60 draft slots in the NBA every year. In 2013, 47 players from the NCAA got drafted into the NBA. That means that 1.2% of the NCAA went Major Pro. Because there are other professional leagues around the world, 11.6% of NCAA players went on to play some type of professional basketball. Evidently, not only do you have to be an incredible basketball player to play on the professional level, but you also have to be lucky and hope that politics work in your favor.
The average NBA career lasts for 4.8 years. The average man lives for 82 years. If you’re lucky enough to even make the NBA, you have about 60 years left to live. What do you do then?
Everybody wants to be a basketball player, but very few think about the bigger picture. A player is just one part of the huge, opportunity-filled basketball world. Just a few careers in the basketball world include:
– Coach
– Trainer
– Team Manager
– Scout
– Referee
– Vice President
– Team Owner
– General Manager
– Player Agent
– Video Coordinator
– Media member
Evidently, there’s a lot you can do with basketball. You can start your own basketball company, make your own basketball blog, make basketball training equipment, the list goes on forever! Basketball can take you around the globe and give you a life that you can only imagine in your wildest dreams. Your on the court life only lasts for so long. You have to be able to do other things. Set yourself up for a life of basketball, not just a few years. If you aren’t interested in any of the jobs listed, then do research on careers in the basketball world. Learn how to get started, contact people who have careers that you would like to pursue and set yourself up.
You probably hear this all the time, but it all starts in the classroom. Great grades can get you into whatever school you like. Combine grades with basketball skills and the possibilities are endless. In order to have a career in basketball, you need to go to a school that can set you up and help you with career placement as much as possible. You won’t be able to do that with bad grades. You don’t want to be that guy who’s lost without basketball in 10 years. On the other hand, you do want to be the guy who can gracefully move on from his on the court career to his off the court career. Do your research now, learn as much as possible. The ball will stop bouncing one day, what else do you have to offer?
