What James Harden And The Rest Of This Wild NBA Offseason Can Teach Us About Recruiting
For most folks, the beginning of summer often means sunset bonfires, camping, and backyard BBQ.
For us NBA junkies it also means the start of free agency.
Billion dollar franchises and their lawyer-bred managers play a game of mathematical chess hoping to build a championship-worthy roster. Devout fans all around the world wait in anxious anticipation as their 6’ 7” 215lb idol makes a decision that will forever change the course of history. 27 year olds are granted 200m+ contracts worth more than the GDP of entire countries like the Marshall Islands.
It’s the perfect storm of celebrity gossip, money and a dedicated fan base spanning the entire globe.
Found in the middle of it all is a seemingly under-the-radar skill that superstars, coaches, and managers have now mastered:
Recruiting.
On July 5th, Lakers beat writer Tania Ganguli tweeted,
48 hours later, Nick Young signed a 5.2 million dollar contract to become a Golden State Warrior.
This offseason has been littered with similar stories. From pivotal role players to perennial All-Stars, it’s been fascinating watching what teams will do to give themselves that extra edge in pitching their opportunities (more on that later).
With each new breaking tweet that broke, I couldn’t help but notice the stark similarities between two industries I have come to love: tech and the NBA.
It’s no secret the role recruiting is playing here in the Silicon Valley. VCs, founders and executive teams know that great products cannot be built without great minds. Recruiting has become a total team effort as the demand for top talent continues to explode amongst a supply that is struggling to catch up.
With the Lakers summer league team humming in the background, I thought it be interesting to dissect through some of these tweets and share a few recruiting tips hidden behind them.
1. Set The Right Expectations
Every great close follows the golden rule of setting the right expectations. Every stage of the recruiting process, whether it’s the coordination, offer delivery or compensation negotiation is an opportunity to under promise and over deliver. Folks who have had a few years under their belt also know the devastating results of not delivering on the guarantees that were too hastily promised.
This one year deal with JJ Reddick, one of the leagues most gifted 3 point shooter is a win-win situation for both sides. JJ gets to make 3 times his previous salary with the Clippers and the Sixers gets to open up their spacing and have a veteran guard mentor their young core of ultra-talented players. If all goes well and the Sixers make it to the playoffs, wonderful. Both parties can re-negotiate a deal Summer 2018. If not, no harm no foul.
For more on this read this in-depth article from The Ringer.
This is a smart play from both sides that was all about setting realistic expectations upfront and providing an opportunity for both JJ and the Sixers to go above and beyond in delivering.
In addition to setting expectations recruiters also often talk about timing.
2. Timing Is Everything.
In our modern culture of instant gratification, people tend to subconsciously cringe when they hear the words waiting and patience.
After all, why not just blast a hundred emails simultaneously to every engineer that has keyword A, B or C? Then rinse and repeat every week till a few folks finally respond out of annoyance instead of gratitude.
Some of the best passive candidates I’ve had a chance to work with took months and months of timely and gentle nudging. They are passive for a reason. They have wonderful jobs, tough challenges to solve and stable paychecks to provide for them and their family. There is, of course, a time and a place to turn up the pressure but more often than not it’ll take some gradual greasing before the wheels can start turning.
In one of the more surprising and dramatic trades of this summer, Chris Paul, aka the Point God of the NBA was traded to the Houston Rockets to join up with fellow MVP runner-up, James Harden.
Here’s a tiny sample size of awards he’s won over the years:
9× NBA All-Star
8× All-NBA Team First Team
9× NBA All-Defensive Team First Team
NBA Rookie of the Year
NBA All-Rookie First Team
In a point guard dominated league, there’s a fine line that separates the good, the great and the legendary. Chris Paul is a future Hall of Famer and will undoubtedly move the Rockets into every conversation around championship contending teams.
So how did a blockbuster deal like this happen just a few days before the official start of free agency?
To answer that we take a look outside of the magic behind the money and into recruiting.
Strong relationships take time to build. They follow a process that farmers all over the world have to adopt. You plant a seed, you cultivate it over time then you watch it grow.
Throughout the 82 game season last year it wouldn’t be crazy to think that James Harden took those principles to heart. Although no formal details have emerged we can imagine how a few text messages, social parties and on-court conversations eventually led to this monumental event.
In fact, if we took it one step further there could be an argument that in the summer of 2012 after James Harden was traded to the Rockets that he began his recruiting mission during the Olympic games where he Chris Paul were teammates. 6 years of gradual nudging and planting seeds can emphatically shift entire organizations and the millions of fans that follow them.
Watch out Warriors, the Rockets are coming and they are bringing some of their top recruiters with them.
And speaking of bringing the top recruiters, we’ll finish this post by taking a look at another franchise player’s route, Gordon Hayward and his journey to eventually a Boston Celtic.
3. Bring The Brass And A Little Extra Something As Well
Recruiters can not do it alone in closing top engineers. And nor should they. If there’s an opportunity for their hiring manager, onsite interviewer or even the director to provide that one home run hitting perspective it all becomes worth it. Everyone brings with them a different story on why they joined X, Y, Z company and why they are excited about the present and the future.
Candidate experience plays a huge role in the close as well. Smooth coordination, fast responses, constant communication and some combination of free SWAG, snacks, and coffee has become a mandatory part of the process as well.
What I love about the Boston Celtic’s recruiting strategy, (though it pains me deeply to even bring them up as a die-hard Lakers fan) was their emphasis on personalization.
How can we create a unique and unforgettable experience for Gordon Hayward that will make it a no-brainer for him to join this historic franchise?
Here are a few ways Danny Ainge, GM of the Celtics went above and beyond:
Unlike any of the other teams that Gordon met with the setting was truly unique. What better arena to pitch the story of Boston then the beautiful Fenway park?
Next up, let’s throw up a customized video on the ginormous jumbotron screen featuring some of Boston’s greatest stars like David Ortiz and Paul Pierce. (Video below if you wanted a sneak peak)
Let’s also have the head coach, Brad Stevens meet with Gordon Hayward personally who coincidentally was also Gordon’s college coach at Butler.
Best friends, re-united. Aww.
Gordon’s recruiting story is just one of many that showcase the importance of going above and beyond. Some of my personal favorites that you can read on include Lebron James and “The Decision,” Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets (again!) and Carmelo Anthony and the Summer of 2014.
Top tiered talent often takes extra effort, resources and a certain level of risk. Opportunities come and go and whether it’s in the ultra-competitive fields of tech or the NBA, the core principles of setting the right expectations, fostering trust over time and going above and beyond together will always hold steadfast in the chaos.
With a few days left in NBA free agency, I’m keeping my eyes peeled on more breaking news tweets and the skillful recruiters like James Harden behind them.
Go Lakers!
A.L
