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Abstract

a storyteller.I have to create, communicate, and deliver what is happening on a basketball court. And while doing that, I must add value for the coaching staff, players, and front office.When I first got an internship in the NBA, I attempted to execute everything to the T.Kaleb Canales, the current assistant coach with the New York Knicks and former video coordinator of the Trail Blazers, tasked me as a young intern with helping put together the pre-game edit for an upcoming game. I don’t think I was his first option, but with him and the assistant video coordinator (Tim Grass) working on other tasks, time was limited before game time. Kaleb gave me a list of around 20 clips he needed that would have resembled something to the effect of 1st Q, 10:12, 1st Q 4:48, 2nd Q 8:15, 2nd Q 3:37, 3rd Q 6:54, etc.I clipped each one to perfection, giving the exact times that had been requested.Kaleb looked at my clips and asked the assistant video coordinator: “Tim, do we have time to fix this?”I didn’t understand the mistake I had made. I had done everything “perfect”, just as it had been asked of me.Turns out, I made 20 mistakes on 20 clips.They didn’t just want the time of the clip. They wanted what led to the clip. They wanted the possession to start at half court. They wanted the transition after the turnover. There was a bigger picture and story to each clip.Year after year, I picked up various nuances of the game and of cutting up film. And I learned how to tailor it to each person that would watch.A player would typically want to watch their own touches and shots. A coach would want to see an entire play and what led to it. A front

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office would want to watch the flow of a player’s game. And an owner would want to see some highlights.As time progressed, I no longer saw video as video, but as an art.I wasn’t just putting some clips together. I was telling a story. And I had to sell my story to those who were watching or someone else would be given the task (or in my case, someone else would be given my job).It took me years of breaking down game film before I learned the ins and outs of every possession… and what led to that possession, and the possession that led to that possession. It was a puzzle. A story unfolding throughout a game.When I first showed up as an intern with the Trail Blazers in 2007 with minor video experience, I attempted to complete my tasks with perfection.The problem was, doing video in basketball wasn’t about perfection; it’s about art, it’s about flow. It’s about the play within the play. It’s about how we get there. It’s a story.<blockquote id="4998">It’s not the assist, it’s the pass. It’s not the turnover, it’s the response. It’s not the rebound, it’s the positioning. It’s not the shot, it’s how we got there.</blockquote>Some may watch basketball for fun or look at breaking down the game film as an IT role. But those who are in the business can tell you that it’s art. And your job is to market that art and sell it to your coaches, players, and front office.<figure id="028e"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*SdGm9LoKu6yK6PyT"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@tjdragotta?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">TJ Dragotta</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></article></body>

NBA Video Coordinators are Really just Great Storytellers

And these are the stories I tell each day

I’m a video coordinator for an NBA team. So what does that have to do with marketing? Everything.

First off, what’s a video coordinator?

Video coordinators in the NBA are those who curate game film for the coaching staff and front office. The position became well known as Erik Spoelstra rose through the NBA ranks from video coordinator to Head Coach of the Miami Heat, winning back-to-back NBA Champions with the Heat in 2012 and 2013.

The responsibilities of a video coordinator vary from team to team, but it includes logging game film and creating video edits for the coaching staff, players, and the front office. Video coordinators will be found scouting opposing teams, rebounding for players at night, and being used as an extra body at practices.

So how is breaking down game film some form of marketing?

Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as “the activity, set of institutions, and process for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

I’ve never seen myself as someone who just cuts up the game film.

I’m a storyteller.

I have to create, communicate, and deliver what is happening on a basketball court. And while doing that, I must add value for the coaching staff, players, and front office.

When I first got an internship in the NBA, I attempted to execute everything to the T.

Kaleb Canales, the current assistant coach with the New York Knicks and former video coordinator of the Trail Blazers, tasked me as a young intern with helping put together the pre-game edit for an upcoming game. I don’t think I was his first option, but with him and the assistant video coordinator (Tim Grass) working on other tasks, time was limited before game time. Kaleb gave me a list of around 20 clips he needed that would have resembled something to the effect of 1st Q, 10:12, 1st Q 4:48, 2nd Q 8:15, 2nd Q 3:37, 3rd Q 6:54, etc.

I clipped each one to perfection, giving the exact times that had been requested.

Kaleb looked at my clips and asked the assistant video coordinator: “Tim, do we have time to fix this?”

I didn’t understand the mistake I had made. I had done everything “perfect”, just as it had been asked of me.

Turns out, I made 20 mistakes on 20 clips.

They didn’t just want the time of the clip. They wanted what led to the clip. They wanted the possession to start at half court. They wanted the transition after the turnover. There was a bigger picture and story to each clip.

Year after year, I picked up various nuances of the game and of cutting up film. And I learned how to tailor it to each person that would watch.

A player would typically want to watch their own touches and shots. A coach would want to see an entire play and what led to it. A front office would want to watch the flow of a player’s game. And an owner would want to see some highlights.

As time progressed, I no longer saw video as video, but as an art.

I wasn’t just putting some clips together. I was telling a story. And I had to sell my story to those who were watching or someone else would be given the task (or in my case, someone else would be given my job).

It took me years of breaking down game film before I learned the ins and outs of every possession… and what led to that possession, and the possession that led to that possession. It was a puzzle. A story unfolding throughout a game.

When I first showed up as an intern with the Trail Blazers in 2007 with minor video experience, I attempted to complete my tasks with perfection.

The problem was, doing video in basketball wasn’t about perfection; it’s about art, it’s about flow. It’s about the play within the play. It’s about how we get there. It’s a story.

It’s not the assist, it’s the pass. It’s not the turnover, it’s the response. It’s not the rebound, it’s the positioning. It’s not the shot, it’s how we got there.

Some may watch basketball for fun or look at breaking down the game film as an IT role. But those who are in the business can tell you that it’s art. And your job is to market that art and sell it to your coaches, players, and front office.