Career Athletes Exclusive Interview with Kevin Carr of the NBA Development League!

DAB: Kevin welcome to Career Athletes, What is your professional title and role within the National Basketball Association?

KCarr: Vice President of Community and Player Programs for the NBA Development League.

DAB: How long have you been in the industry of helping athletes and where did you begin your career?

KCarr: This is my 8th season with the NBA and I've been fortunate to spend the last 15 years working with athletes at all levels - elite high school, collegiate and now professional. I've always been attracted to the business of developing people and implementing innovative programs. I began my journey at Florida State University as undergraduate summer counselor/residence assistant working with first-year, first-generation minority students and transitioned into the athletics department at Florida State.

I completed my undergraduate degree in criminology and then a graduate degree in public administration and policy with a concentration in human resources while serving a special interest in both diversity leadership and organizational development. I was then hired right out of graduate school as an athletic academic advisor and CHAMPS/Life Skills coordinator by FSU for three years.

Then I moved on to a role of Corporate services Manager with INROADS and learned the corporate way of doing things, working with clientele such as Disney, AT&T, Coca-Cola, IBM, the Orland Magic, Gannett, etc. It didn't take long for it to sink in that I truly missed working in an environment of the student-athlete culture. So I spent the next four years working in a similar academic and life skills role with Michigan State University and played an integral part of MSU being recognized as one of the nation's best life skills programs, which really boosted my career. My work at MSU built a strong brand for me and eventually I received a call from the NBA and accepted the role of director at their headquarters in New York City.

DAB: What fueled your passion and determination to work in the area of player development and what exactly is it?

KCarr: It began when my brother was involved in collegiate athletics; his earning a full scholarship to college was huge because he was the first person on either side of my family to ever go to college. In his freshman year, he faced a career ending injury. He transferred and he continued to play after rehabbing the injury, but exhausted his college eligibility and eventually withdrew from college unprepared for the business world awaiting him. It made me aware that for athletes it takes much more than just athleticism; it also takes understanding the need to have a balanced approach to life if you want to transition well after sports.

What happened to my brother inspired me to want to help others prepare for life outside their sport, and set the ground work for me starting my early career as an academic advisor at FSU. I was fortunate early in my career to work with then rising athletes such as Charlie Ward, Warrick Dunn, Derrick Brooks, and Bobby Sura. After experiencing a national championship with the FSU football team in 1993, it also felt good to know that I was helping student-athletes win in the class room and graduate.

In my current role I develop players personally and professionally and oversee our corporate social responsibility in the community. I strive to prepare professional athletes for experiences outside of sport with off the court programs such as financial management, healthy relationships, media training and communications; and involvement in local, national and international community outreach programs like NBA Cares, D-League Cares. Sure this helps to promote our business, but it is also done to help maximize the player's potential on the court by increasing their development off the court, and as a result of this programming our athletes are better performers for their teams and in the community.

DAB: What topic among career development do you believe is most important for athletes to understand?

KCarr: Career readiness for athletes is essential. Every athlete that would like to have a long sports career should be ready and prepared to step into situations where they have to represent their team and community. It comes with the position whether you like it or not because a lot of people look up to athletes. Secondly, career wise, athletes should be preparing for their future outside of playing by meeting people and figuring out a career(s) you would enjoy, and setting up experiences early so you know that's the career for you. For instance, if you want to be a coach, begin thinking about what excellent coaches you want to be like and reach out to them as soon as possible about the coaching profession. You would be surprised to learn how many top notch people who would help you in your future career development if you ask...so get out their and ask!

The third topic is networking. It's how I came to achieve my career endeavors and contacts, how I've helped so many others find their true path in professional sports, and it remains vital in my selection of finding the right fit in consultants for our players at Team Awareness Meetings. However, networking alone isn't good enough anymore. Networking, branding and leveraging is where our athletes learn to shift their focus. They have to know how to network by building their brand and then leveraging that brand with every contact they have developed. For example "Mr. James, remember we met a while back at last month's championship game and I mentioned my interest working in sports. I'll be back in town next week and would like to discuss with you further about my interest in what initial steps I should take to enter this industry in the future". Several other career topics come to mind, but having a mentor, informational interviewing and having a solid business apprenticeship is what we coach our players to take advantage of while playing and exercising these skills when they are ready to transition out of pro ball.

DAB: How is Diversity important to the NBA and how has this initiative made a difference?

KCarr: My first experience with diversity on the job was early in my career when I was the only minority on staff. It made a huge difference when we planned programs, services and events that appealed to all students and not just the majority. I often brought up issues or concerns that would have otherwise gone unnoticed if I was not on staff. I believe my presence also made a big difference to the minority students-athletes, who for the first time, were in environments where they did not have people around them they could relate to.

Now days the issues are different, but they operate on the same principles of diversity such as inclusion, equity, collective thought, and working in teams. The NBA is global so diversity is very important to us. We have offices and staff members from all over the world to address the interest internationally that fans and businesses have with the NBA. We take the time to really try to understand the people we work with, from our fans, to prospective business clients, and to our international players. If we did not do this, it would surely hurt our ability to grow our business internationally and be one of the most respected and recognized sports marketing organizations in the world!

Diversity is not just from an ethnic standpoint, but from all ages, backgrounds and cultures. When you are putting together a winning team either in business or in sport, from a diversity standpoint, you want to understand everyone on the team so you can put your group in the best position so it can be successful. We spend a great deal of time making sure everyone feels respected, and is involved in finding the best approaches and strategies we need to put into place as a business to be innovative in the market place. We have diversity represented from vice presidents, to coaches, to positions at each of our teams. Throughout our organization, diversity matters, and it really is reflective in our workforce.

DAB: What's something about the NBA D-League that only people that work there would know?

KCarr: The D-League is seen as an R&D laboratory for the NBA. We examine what could be done to improve the game and experiment new ideas for the NBA -- so it's a very innovative, always producing new products and initiatives. This really makes for a very exciting environment because you really get to try out things, and if they work it means you continue to push for the next great idea. For the instance, the D-League recently announced a new playoff format where its three division winners would get to choose their first-round opponents, with the team with the best record picking first among the four lowest seeds, the second-best division winner picking among the three remaining teams and so on. It's innovative and may be something the NBA considers doing in the future. We are also doing R&D in areas such as the future official game ball for Spalding, webcasting our games through futurecast which allows fans to view games on-line for free, and even game uniforms, shoes, and warm-ups for adidas.

Most would not know how serious we are about the "D" in D-League. We believe it also stands for developing our players off the court which is really important to us as a business. Players in the D-league are developed off the court through our community and player programs department. NBA D-League Cares is our corporate social responsibility program. We also offer variety of professional development programs such as financial management, drug and alcohol awareness and career development. We do this to better prepare players who will go on to the NBA and for those who may not ever make it to the next level.

DAB: A few years ago, you were selected one of "Top 40-Under-Forty" Dynamic Achievers by Black Business Magazine. Was this a refreshing experience for you that your hard work had paid off?

KCarr: It was great to have been recognized by The Network Journal, but I see it also as opportunity I can build on and strive to keep getting better and better. I guess you can say I use it as a reminder that good things can happen through hardwork and consistency. Before I received the award, I was challenged by the move to New York and working at the NBA headquarters. I was unsure of how I would fit into the corporate culture and the fast pace of a major market like New York. You think everyone is faster, smarter and better than you at this level, and you begin to wonder if you will have the success you've previously had in similar careers. But I quickly understood what it would take for me to be successful at this level, and found a mentor and executive coach who really helped me gain the confidence I needed to succeed. I utilized the time with my mentor asking questions, and my executive coach helped me identify my goals. From there I formulated a solid plan that would enable me to grow and stretch myself by taking assignments and projects that most did not want, especially because the NBA D-League was new and not widely known. I began to have some success with my programs over time, and this provided the validation that I was on my way to improving my situation in the workplace and in New York City.

DAB: Any parting advice for athletes and young professionals that may want to do what you do someday?

KCarr: I believe you should have a plan, set standards for yourself and be ready to make sacrifices. Simply put, you must have some guiding principles put into place along with major dedication to be a champion for life. As a student-athlete, it may mean staying home from a party, not hanging out with certain individuals or electing to work a summer internship to gain some real-word work experience so your are preparing yourself for the road of life that's ahead of you.

You will face many tough decisions on the path to success and you will have to determine if these decisions will help you grow or take away from your future plans. Stay mentally tough, work hard and never settle for average in the pursuit of a career you love. Also, using your intellect, having passion for what you want to do, possessing a diverse set of skills and a spiritual base will help your overall journey. Thank you for allowing me to share with your "Diverse Athlete Blog" audience Career Athletes, LLC!