Episode 550: NBA Summer League & KTA Updates

Speaker A: Foreign

Speaker B: welcome to Sports Business Secrets. I'm your host, Kevin Tarka. This podcast is specifically designed to share secrets from experts in the sports business world to help you along your own path to success in this industry. Each episode is packed with lessons and insights that, ah, never expire. You'll hear from general managers of professional teams, to CEOs of sports tech companies, to agents, coaches, players and everything in between. I invite you to join me in real time on my personal journey of representing players and coaches, traveling the world, and always finding a way to battle through obstacles in this competitive industry.

Speaker C: Happy Thursday for some, Happy early Fridays for others. Depending on where you are in this world, I'm coming at you from the lovely and scorching weather of Las Vegas, Nevada. If you're new here, I'm going to share a little bit about why I come to this lovely city, uh, for this many days every summer, at least once a year. And if you're not new here, then I'm sure you'll resonate with some of the things I'm about to share about NBA Summer League. Plus, I'll give you a few updates here on some KTA stuff. So for 10 days every single July, Las Vegas transforms into the unofficial capital of the basketball world. NBA Summer League happens. Where every single NBA team, all 30, uh, bring their summer league roster of mostly younger guys and guys they drafted to play against each other and then obviously play in, in front of fans. Uh, and for people to get kind of an early look at what, um, you know, some of the rosters could look like. Although, um, you know, some of the guys, uh, end up staying in the NBA, some go to the G League, some get cut and go abroad. But it's uh, you know, it's, it's one of the most, uh, sought after rosters to be on in the world, um, and an opportunity for exposure. So if you're in the industry, you already know that NBA Summer League is about a lot more than just the games. It's about the meetings in hotel lobbies. It's about the dinners that turn into deals. It's about the hallway conversations, um, on the platform of Thomas and Mac. Um, it's about the random encounters that lead to potential long term opportunities or even jobs. It's about the $14 iced coffees that never seem to caffeinate you enough. And um, I can go on and on. Um, it's cool to see every year the new batch and then I guess the new batch of people trying to get into the sports world, but also just everyone Coming back, um, you know, that's already in the industry because you have, you have first timers trying to get their foot in the door. You have execs trying to get to, um, you know, another level or maybe even a new executive job. You have coaches, agents, scouts, investors, influencers, marketing stuff, venture capital. All of the, um, all of the things you can imagine that's built around the sports and sports business and sports tech world, all orbiting around the same gym, fighting to be seen, really, um, and fighting to get everyone's attention. I've been in this game for a minute, not nearly as long as some, but a lot longer than others. And uh, you know, I've built relationships in places that most agents don't travel to, or quite frankly most people don't know is on a map. Um, I've helped players that have had to take the non traditional route because that's simply the route that I took. Um, and that I'm taking. Um, I've battled through some challenges that most don't have to face when they're just based and stay in the usa. I've, um, helped open the doors for clients from third divisions in Europe all the way up to the Euroleague. Um, I've gotten clients stolen a few times, which uh, is just transparently a fucked up part of this business. Um, but uh, but every time you get punched in the face, then you just gotta get back up. And I have. And the people that succeed are the people that survive and the people that show up here are the ones who do because it's not an easy path to take. Um, you know, this, this summer I crossed $1.5 million in total contracts signed. Um, and yeah, that's, that's over the course of my career. And some, some agents in the business blink at that. And you know, they did that in their sleep last night, in one night. Um, you know, for, for others, uh, you know, and for my, my former self 8 years ago when I started the business, that is, uh, an amazing accomplishment. And everywhere in between. Um, but even after all that experience, if you will experience, uh, summer league can still make you feel like you're just another face in the crowd, right? If you didn't come from a blue blood program or uh, work in an NBA front office or um, you know, if you're a player and, and you don't, you didn't get drafted, or if you're not at a big agency, uh, if you're not repping a top pick or uh, uh, you know, have connections to the, you know, the people that run the show. It's very easy to be overlooked and just kind of feel like you're, You're. You're swimming in a, you know, a crazy, uh, ocean full of sharks. Which is funny because you kind of are, but that's the reality, right? And if that's enough to stop you from not coming and not wanting to perceive, um, um, uh, attain, Obtain your goals, then you're in the wrong business. So this year for me, there's definitely, you know, it's another year. There's definitely a lot to be proud of. Um, this year, one of my guys is for the first time playing against NBA teams. So for the record, I don't have a client on an NBA summer league roster. Not yet, at least. That day will come soon. Um, and in the past, I've talked about the exposure camps here, and I've had clients go through them and, you know, some are better than others, and we're not going to go down that path today. That's a, you know, another episode I've talked about. But this year, uh, Japan brought a team here to play against four NBA teams. And given my experience and relationships in Japan and, um, you know, the B league, I was obviously on top of it. Uh, and I got one of my guys, Donovan, on the roster. So he is part of the B league United team that came over and they're getting reps against NBA teams, which is awesome. Um, they got four games. Yesterday was the first game, and he ended with 21 points and a, uh, couple blocks and. And five rebounds. Actually, I think four blocks. Um, yeah, obviously I wasn't paying attention and I wasn't counting. Right. 21 points, uh, five rebounds, four blocks against the Raptors, which was a really cool experience. It was awesome to. It was kind of coming full circle too, because Donovan, for those who don't know, went to Quinnipiac University. Um, so Donovan and I played at the same school. And on the Raptors coaching staff is Ike. Ike Azatam, who was my teammate when I was at Quinnipiac. So, um, the Quinnipiac, uh, Bobcat family definitely runs strong in the NBA circles. Um, so, yeah, Donovan had the chance to play the Raptors yesterday and, uh, game today, which I'm going to head to right after this. This, um, this episode, uh, against Houston, and then day off and then two more games. Um, but, uh, yeah, really cool experience. And, and that kind of opportunity doesn't happen by accident. That happens because we. And I say we as in yes, myself. Um, but also my. My My guys, my clients. Right. We keep showing up. Right? Um, and that's. That's one of the biggest reasons that opportunities happen. So in other KTA news here, Toyo, which I talked about, I think, last episode, I mentioned the, um, the opportunity for the. For the national team, um, tryouts. Ah, very proud of him. Very happy and excited. He made, uh, his national team debut. He made the final roster for the training camp for the FIBA Asia cup. Um, so there's 16, I believe, 16 guys. Um, so he is one of the top 16 guys, um, that's representing his country, which is just super cool. Um, so they had their first friendly against the Netherlands. They had two games, um, earlier in the week. And he got in and he got his first minutes, and he did what he does best. He. He scored around the rim a few times, and he blocked shots. There's some. Some awesome replays. You follow me on Social. You probably saw me repost them, um, of, uh, of him just absolutely sending some shots into the crowd. So, um, that was. That was awesome to see. They're in Korea right now. They have two more friendlies, actually. Tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow and Saturday. Uh, and then they will, uh, we'll have a couple more things in the schedule there in July before the Asia cup in Saudi Arabia in August. Um, and as for me, there's always a lot of movement going on over the next couple weeks. There will be. And there's. There's plenty of noise here to navigate at summer league, but I'm just here doing what I do best. Showing, you know, catching up with NBA teams, catch up with international teams. Seeing friends that, um, you know, a couple months ago I saw halfway across the globe, and seeing friends that I only get to see once a year, meeting new people and learning new things. Um, it's quite the experience. So, always navigating the chaos, trying to choose quality over quantity, whether that's meetings or events or games. Um, and trying to be in the right rooms here, not. Not in all of them, which, uh, sometimes I struggle to want to do. Try to be in all the different rooms, which obviously I cannot. So if, uh, you're listening, here's your reminder that, uh, everyone has their own path. Whether you're, uh, a coach, an agent, an executive, a player, a fan, trying to get in the business, trying to get out of the business. Whatever you're doing, you have your own path. Some paths are loud, some are quiet. Some take longer than others. Some happen when, um, you least expect them. But your path is your path, so keep walking it and keep moving. I appreciate all you for uh, for walking alongside me, beside me and uh, hopefully we'll uh, we'll have some productive meetings here and get to watch some high level hoops and make things happen this week. So appreciate you tuning in and we will see you back here soon.

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Speaker B: Thanks again for listening. My friends. If you enjoyed the episode or if

Speaker C: it brought you any value at all,

Speaker B: it would mean the world to me if you could give it a rating and a review on on Apple Podcasts. If you share it on social media, make sure you tag me at Kevin Tarka. Uh, if there are any topics that you want me to dive into or any guests you'd love for me to have on the show, just shoot me a message and I will do my best to make it happen. Have an amazing day and hope to see you back here soon.