You graduate from high school, go to what is essentially an unpaid internship for a year or more (or a significantly exploitive situation in which you work for free, but let's not get into that), and then immediately go to work. Your field has a set of skills that do not translate to any other field, position, or industry, but compensates you at an unbelievable rate.
This career has a finite timeframe, no more than twenty years, if you're lucky. After that, you're tossed out as you find yourself unable to fit into one of the musical chairs left over. Your bones won't help you get into those seats fast enough anymore.
So what do you do?
You go learn.
ESPN New York spoke with Corey Maggette, who is getting a crash course in life after basketball.
It all started in early June, when Maggette traveled to Treviso, Italy, with Detroit Pistons assistant GM George David for the 11th annual adidas Eurocamp, a three-day showcase of Europe's best youth basketball players. While getting the rare opportunity to shadow David as he evaluated talent, Maggette also wanted to build relationships with the many other NBA GMs and team presidents in attendance.
"I gained different perspectives on how these guys think, and it kind of gives you an idea of things that you want to be about when you're finished," Maggette told ESPN.com.
"I was actually able to sit in on [David's] interview process with the players. It was kind of cool because as an active player those players actually knew who I was, and I kind of gave them a raw deal speech of what the NBA is really about."
From there, Maggette traveled to Las Vegas in mid-July during the NBA Summer League, where the players' association hosted a leadership program. In addition to Maggette, a few other current players, including Caron Butler, Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller and Evan Turner, met with several former ballers to discuss personal development off the court.
A few weeks later, Maggette took the initiative to attend the NBA's newly-launched "Corporate Crossover" program, where he, along with 14 former players, including Willie Burton, Ronald Dupree, Bo Kimble and Kerry Kittles, heard from many different NBA department heads about their roles and getting in the door to work for the league. Maggette was the only active player present.
Kevin Carr, VP of player development, said potential salaries would not be inflated for any player, regardless of how much they made in the league. Carr said the program doesn't put the players on a pedestal just because they have competed professionally, but rather it teaches them to be grounded and understand the real-life process of getting a 9-to-5 job.
via Maggette studies up on post-hoops options - TrueHoop Blog - ESPN.
It's difficult for anyone below the upper class to understand why Maggette would need a job in the first place. According to to Basketball Reference, Maggette has earned $89 million in his basketball playing career. Where does $89 million go that he would need a job?
Well, first, the article never specifies that he does. I wouldn't handle retirement at age 33 well, would you? Second, you'd be shocked at how many people implicitly have their hands in players' pockets. Much of it is voluntary, but much of it is also necessary for protection and insurance.
Regardless, Maggette is a young man with a lot of earning years in front of him. He's looking to set himself up in the best way possible. That said, don't be suprised if he winds up on a roster. He's still NBA viable.
The big takeaway here should also be the number of ways that the league tries to help its former players. The NBA is often criticized for not doing enough to help players adjust to life with the money they make, to integrate with the professional culture they live for years, and not enough to help them adjust to life after. But there are classes available from the time they're rookies and every year after. There are programs and resources and advisors. There are team level entities and league wide personnel and local business connections and everything in between.
Maybe the league doesn't do enough. But it cannot be said it does nothing.
