Pro Ballers, Stop making highlight tapes for your friends

They are not the ones this highlight reel is for. And the music you choose to use is more important that one might think. Pro ballers, looking for their next job are at times, getting confused about choosing the wrong music. Cussing, trashing and badmouthing others will not make you look good. In front of the decision makers, at least.

Yay! You got the right footage, had a great game that was filmed (fully, finally) and you are so excited about the awesome highlights you are going to put together. And then you sit with a friend who prepares it for you. He even said he will make it for super cheap (or even for free:-) ). Now you are talking about choosing the music. And you two have a history together and this awesome heavy rap song reminds you of good ol’ days…. So you pick it. Still - don’t get confused. Your friends and you love this song, and it means so much to you…. But this is not the place. Your friends are not the target audience for it. A highlight reel is your tool to present yourself to owners, GM’s and coaches. And should be treated as such.

Where does it say it has to included insults to other people?

Let me draw the picture for you. Where this highlight reel will be tested and really make the difference for you (or not). Once a coach is signed with a team he has few forces working in different directions simultaneously. 

GM’s always have a couple of names to give you. Sadly enough - most likely in the wrong position but that is a subject for a different post. 

The coach might inherit an assistant coach staying from last year and probably will bring one along with him. In this mix out of these 4-5 active guys, there are about 20-30 players names of imports they are to look at. Sometimes there are changes in the position you choose to bring the import on, due to availability (or lack of) locals. So typically there are about 20-30 names in the initial pile. Nowadays - list. Sent by email. Back in the day, there were videotapes (yes, dear we are talking VHS…) or DVDs and CDs. So after like a resume, you have to wait for a DVD. Totally different days.

On the list, you will find the names and a couple of other details that will help to understand who this guy is. Size, weight and last team played would appear in the vast majority of them.

And then you block an hour or two to watch them. This is a process. In this post, we will not go into verifications and other references coaches take. If you want to hear more about that let me know and I will make a video just on that alone. 

So during these couple of hours, the head coach would sit with one or both assistants and go over these resumes and highlight. To choose who are the guys making it to the next cut, which means, they are going to watch his full game (or two). 

During this evening (somehow it is always after a practice and it starts to get late in the evening) they sit in the club or one of the coaches’ house to watch and screen together.

 As someone who does not know you, never heard of you before and have about 20 other guys to watch during this way-too-ling-of-an-evening, you want your highlight reel to stand out, which means: to be sharp, clear and convey a message. It has to clearly declare who you are as a player. Side note - self-description, (position and ability wise) is another subject we will cover on a different post. 

You want this clip to have uplifting fast pace music. That is always a safe choice. Heavy slow music cursing the world for its existence is not. And thus you should avoid it at all cost.

-do you really think that harsh words and unpleasant insults are what needs to go along with your awesome cross-over and incredible ball handling in traffic? I don’t think so.

-Do you think a foreign non-American GM or a coach will pick the deeper meaning of this cussing stuff talk about mothers? Not a slight chance. 

Way too often I hear:” But coach, this song is what I am about….” Have to argue with you about this one, young man. You are not about undermining women, being racist or blaming everybody else about your shortcomings. 

If you are here, reading this, the odds are - you are more about ”I had adversity, I faced challenges and look at me now, I overcame all that and made it through.” Or something along these lines. Am I right? So why wouldn’t you bring this to the front? Let the background music say that. 

Other players might look to convey a msg like: “Happy and fun through rough times and a loyal friend”. This is a message any coach would love to here. So find a song that will deliver YOUR message. In a positive exciting way. Make that coach say - hey, I like it, I want this guy around my team”. Let me go even further and say - imagine he says: ”This guy can lead my team reaching new heights”. Why not? Why not you? Don’t we all want to be part of the puzzle of a team that creates something special together?

So my invitation to you is to keep your highlights clean and fun so you will remain in the pile one more screening round. And that’s what it intends to do. Help you proceed to the next step until you concur your next gig.