Jared Zwerling

In the world of Sin City， there are many different fast forms of dating. But none are like the speed dating that took place inside the Vinoly Grand Ballroom at the Vdara hotel during Vegas Summer League.

罪恶之城里有着太多闪电约会的形式，但没有一个能跟夏季联赛期间在Vdara酒店的维诺里大厅进行的快速“约会”一样。

Twenty-one current and retired NBA players， as well as former WNBA All-Star Adrienne Goodson， interacted with 11 front office personnel during a one-of-a-kind speed dating exercise to pitch themselves for future positions. It was part of the NBPAs fifth annual Leadership Development Program （LDP） for players interested in working one day in the NBA front office， which includes scouting， coaching， player development and general management.

21个现役及退役NBA球员，包括前WNBA全明星艾德丽娜·古德森在一个独一无二的闪电面试中与11名职场人士进行互动，为未来的工作进行自我推销。这是NBA球员工会为有意进入NBA管理层的球员举办的第五届领导力发展项目（LDP）的一部分，这些工作包括球探、教练、球员发展和总经理。

“I never knew what speed dating was until that，” NBA veteran Drew Gooden said. “It was an opportunity for GMs and guys who are in the front office to finally get in front of players they never had a conversation with， but theyve seen play for years. So that was a great opportunity for both sides.”

“在那之前我从来不知道闪电约会是什么样的。”NBA老将德鲁·古登说，“对总经理和管理层来说这是个机会，他们有机会和看了多年比赛、但又没有真正沟通过的球员面对面交流。所以对两边来说，这是非常好的机会。”

“Its very unique，” said Garrett Temple， who signed with the Kings earlier this month. “You get to meet 11 club executives and sit down face to face and look them in the eye and explain to them what your aspirations are. You can really understand and learn about a person in three minutes about how they carry themselves and the questions they ask.”

“这非常独特。”加雷特·坦普尔表示，本月早些时候他刚与国王队签约，“你需要和11个球队管理人员见面，面对面坐下，看着他们的眼睛，向他们说明自己的志向。在三分钟时间里，你确实可以理解并学习到一个人如何表现，如何提问。”

Added Blazers assistant coach David Vanterpool， who was one of the 11 front office personnel， “I never thought Id be part of speed dating at all， much less speed dating with basketball players. It was really fun and interesting.”

11名管理人员之一的开拓者队助理教练大卫·范特普尔补充道，“我完全没想过自己会参与闪电约会，更别提和篮球运动员闪电约会了。这真的很有趣，很有意思。”

The first two days of the LDP were headlined by panel discussions involving team GMs （Dell Demps， Masai Ujiri and former 76ers head Sam Hinkie） and former players who joined front offices （Calvin Booth， Jared Jeffries， Trajan Langdon and Anthony Parker）. The program invitees learned about the CBA， salary cap and how NBA agents， like Leon Rose who represents NBPA President Chris Paul， collaborate with front offices. In addition， the attendees scouted at Vegas Summer League games and conducted a mock draft featuring the players they watched.

LDP前两天的重点，是有总经理（戴尔·邓普斯、马萨伊·乌杰里和前76人总经理萨姆·辛基）和加入球队管理层的前球员（卡尔文·布斯、贾里德·杰弗里斯、特雷杰·兰顿及安东尼·帕克）参加的小组讨论。项目的被邀请人会学习劳资协议、工资帽以及NBA经纪人、比如球员工会主席克里斯·保罗的经纪人里昂·罗斯如何与球队管理层合作的方式。此外，参会人员还会考察拉斯维加斯夏季联赛，在考察球员中进行模拟选秀。

On the final day， the LDP culminated with the speed dating exercise， putting the players three days of new knowledge to the test and giving them a face-to-face business-like opportunity to sell themselves quickly to different front office personnel.

LDP最后一天的高潮部分就是闪电面试联系，对球员在三天学到的新知识进行检验，给他们一个面对面的商务式机会，快速将自己推销给球队的管理人员。

“It was absolutely the most powerful moment of the program and in my lifes transitionary period，” said Goodson， the only female in the LDP who dreams of working for the NBPA developing programs for players. “To get one-on-one advice from directors， scouts and VPs was priceless.”

“那绝对是整个项目和我的人生转化阶段最有力的一个瞬间。”古德森表示，她是LDP中唯一一个梦想为球员工会球员发展项目工作的女性，“能得到主管、球探和总裁们的一对一指导，这个经历是无价的。”

“This is probably my favorite event of summer league by far，” said Suns assistant general manager Pat Connelly.

“这大概是夏季联赛截至目前我最喜欢的环节。”太阳队助理总经理帕特·康纳利表示。

The setup was as follows： while half of the players stood and waited， the other half sat down in front of each of the respective front office members. Three minutes were on the clock， tracked in front of the room by the LDP director， Pops Mensah-Bonsu， who joined the NBPAs Player Programs department last fall after a nine-year NBA and overseas career. When time was up， Mensah-Bonsu shouted， “Rotate！”， and the players next in line would take a seat.

这个环节的安排如下：一半球员站着等待时，另一半坐在每一个管理人员对面。三分钟计时开始，负责计时的是LDP的主管博普斯·门萨-邦苏，去年秋天，结束了九年NBA生涯和海外生涯后，门萨-邦苏加入了球员工会球员项目部门。三分钟到后，门萨-邦苏会喊道“换人”，排在后面的球员会坐下准备。

The current players included Gooden， Temple， Alan Anderson and Beno Udrih， and the retirees included Keith Bogans， Greg Buckner， Derrick Byars， Brian Cook， Michael Hall， Junior Harrington， David Hawkins， Darnell Jackson， DerMarr Johnson， Fat Lever， George Lynch， Bostjan Nachbar， Mamadou NDiaye， Milt Palacio， Sean Singletary， Awvee Storey and James White.

现役球员包括古登、坦普尔、阿伦·安德森和本诺·尤德里，退役球员包括基斯·博甘斯、格雷格·巴克纳、德里克·拜尔斯、布莱恩·库克、迈克尔·豪尔、朱诺·哈灵顿、大卫·霍金斯、达尼尔·杰克逊、德玛尔·约翰逊、法特·莱沃、乔治·林奇、波斯津·纳克巴、马马杜·恩迪耶、米尔特·帕拉西奥、肖恩·辛格特里、奥威·斯托里和詹姆斯·怀特。

The front office personnel included Vanterpool， Connelly， his brother Tim （Nuggets general manager）， Dotun Akinwale （Hawks manager of scouting）， David Booth （Pelicans director of player personnel）， Trevor Bukstein （Suns assistant general manager）， Marc Eversley （76ers vice president of player personnel）， Matt Lloyd （Magic assistant general manager）， Malik Rose （Hawks manager of basketball operations）， Brendan Suhr （former Pistons assistant coach and current LSU mens basketball associate coach） and Ed Tapscott （Wizards vice president of player programs）.

管理人员包括范特普尔、康纳利、他的兄弟蒂姆（掘金总经理）、多顿·阿金维特（掘金球探主管）、大卫·布斯（鹈鹕球员事务主管）、特雷沃·巴克斯坦（太阳助理总经理）、马克·埃弗斯利（76人球员事务副总裁）、马特·劳埃德（魔术助理总经理）、马利克·罗斯（老鹰球员事务主席）、布兰登·苏尔（活塞前助理教练，现路易斯安那州大男篮助理教练）和艾德·塔普斯科特（奇才球员部门副总裁）。

“The speed dating part was cool because it forces you to develop your pitch in several different ways，” said Rose， a former participant of the LDP. “It makes you more prepared for that one moment when you do get a decision-makers attention. You have three minutes to either sell yourself to him or be forgotten the minute you leave him. That part helped a great deal when I did it.”

“闪电面试部分很酷，因为它迫使你用多种方式推销自己。”曾经参与过LDP的罗斯表示，“当你真的得到管理人员的关注时，这能让你做好更多的准备。你有三分钟时间，要么成功推销自己，要么一离开就被人忘记。这个练习那时对我的帮助很大。”

In addition to Rose， five other players landed positions after attending the LDP. They include Jarron Collins （Warriors assistant coach）， Royal Ivey（Oklahoma City Blue assistant coach）， Coby Karl （Westchester Knicks assistant coach）， Eduardo Najera （Texas Legends head coach） and Luke Walton （Lakers head coach）.

除罗斯外，还有五名球员在参加了LDP项目后也获得了好的职位。这些人包括贾伦·科林斯（勇士助理教练）、洛约尔·艾维（俄克拉荷马城蓝色队助理教练）、考比·卡尔（韦斯切斯特尼克斯队助理教练）、爱德华多·纳胡拉（德克萨斯传奇队主教练）和卢克·沃顿（湖人主教练）。

To tip off the speed dating exercise， the players extended handshakes and some handed out their personal business cards， including Gooden， Nachbar and Udrih， who created his own thick-stock one with “NBA Player” on the front as his job title and an image of a basketball court on the back.

面试开始后，球员先伸手握手，有人还会递上名片，比如古登、纳克巴和尤德里，他们印制的个人名片正面的职位上写着“NBA球员”，背面是一张球场的图片。

“We talked to the players about looking at them in the eyes and introducing themselves，” Mensah-Bonsu said. “Youd be surprised but professional athletes are not used to introducing themselves. Even though its three minutes， you can get a lot accomplished. Its a first impression and its a lasting one. Small talk is everything in this business.”

“我们对球员说，要直视对方的眼睛，做自我介绍。”门萨-邦苏说，“你可能会吃惊，但职业运动员不习惯做自我介绍。尽管只有三分钟，但你却能做到很多事情。这是第一印象，也是持久印象。在这个行业，寒暄就是一切。”

The front office individuals opened up the conversations. Tapscotts first questions were： “Where would you like to start？ And where do you want to be five， 10 years from now？” As the players talked， he wrote down key words on a notecard， highlighting strengths and weaknesses of what they were saying. Tapscott， a longtime executive who previously served with the Bobcats and Knicks， said that the two most important assets are leadership and communication.

管理人员开始对话。塔普斯科特的第一个问题是，“你想从哪个职位开始？五年、十年后你希望自己在什么位置？”球员作答时，他会在便签本上记下关键词，尤其是球员谈到的个人优点和缺点。曾常年在山猫和尼克斯工作的塔普斯科特说，最重要的两个素质是领导力和沟通能力。

“Think of your positives，” Tapscott told the players. “I want to hear what you are passionate about， like， ‘I want to teach fundamentals. Have an idea of what you want to do and sell yourself.”

“想想你的优势。”塔普斯科特对球员说，“我想听到你热爱什么，比如我想教基本功。知道自己想做什么，然后推销。”

As for Vanterpool， who was involved with the speed dating for the first time， his initial question to the players was： “What would your dream entrylevel position look like？”

第一次参见闪电面试的范特普尔向球员提出的第一个问题是，“你理想中的初始岗位是什么？”

“I wanted the beginning-stage thought more than anything. I wanted where the passion lies right now first，” he said. “I got destination answers from some guys， ‘I want to be a GM， I want to be a coach， I want to do player development. But its like saying， ‘I want to win a championship. But what happens now？”

“我最想知道他们的起点是什么，我想知道他们一开始的兴趣点在什么地方。”他说，“从一些球员那里我听到的是他们的最终理想。‘我想做总经理，我想做教练，我想做球员发展的工作。但这就好像在说，‘我想赢得总冠军。可你现在想干什么？”

Vanterpool stressed understanding the process， telling the players，“Youre basically starting over from ground zero from that eight， nineyear-old kid again.” He noted that working in the front office is “much more intricate” than playing， presenting an example of having to draw up offensive sets in front of a team and then explaining the plays accurately with confidence and clarity.

范特普尔强调了理解过程的重要性，他对球员说，“你们基本上就像八九岁的孩子一样再次从零开始。”他指出，在球队工作比打球“复杂得多”，然后举出了在全队面前画出战术、自信且清楚准确地讲解战术这个例子。

“Its really difficult for some guys，” he said. “Being able to relay that information and getting other people to understand exactly what you see is something that you have to learn.”

“对有些人来说难度确实很大。”他说，“传达信息、让其他人准确理解你的想法，这是需要学习的技能。”

Temple， a three-year participant of the LDP， has recently been fielding front-office information from Suhr and Tapscott. Suhr coaches at LSU and Tapscott works for the Wizards， where Temple played since 2012. Looking ahead， hes planning to do an apprenticeship with Kings assistant general manager Ken Catanella.

参加了三年LDP的坦普尔从苏尔和塔普斯科特那里学到了不少管理层的知识。苏尔在路易斯安那州大做过教练，塔普斯科特在奇才工作过，而坦普尔从2012年开始就在奇才打球。展望未来，他计划跟着国王助理总经理肯·卡塔尼拉学习。

“I feel pretty good about the salary cap and things of that nature， but I want to learn even more as much as I can before I get into this arena，”Temple said.

“我对工资帽什么的掌握得不错，但我想在进入这个行业前尽量学到更多东西。”坦普尔说。

Booth shared a story about how in the days before Sean Rooks passed away in June， he had two coaching job offers on the table from the Knicks and Sixers， as well as another in the D-League. As it turns out， he got his start by working for free for the Bakersfield Jam， now called the Northern Arizona Suns.

布斯分享了肖恩·卢克斯六月去世前的故事，后者得到了尼克斯和76人的工作邀请，还有一份发展联盟的工作。他最后选择从免费为贝克斯菲尔德果酱队工作开始起步，这支球队现在改名北亚利桑那太阳队。

“He was willing to sacrifice in the short term for a long-term gain，”Booth said.

“他愿意为了长远收益牺牲短期利益。”布斯说。