Internship leads Jordyn Clark to a possible career in the NBA Jordyn Clark, a junior majoring in sport management & leadership and minoring in marketing, had the opportunity to be an inside sales intern for eight weeks with the Dallas Mavericks in the summer of 2023.

Clark dreams of working for an NBA team in the future, so she set out to see if she was ready to take on the job. After talking with her mentor, David Gallianetti, Clark was pointed to Lakeland grad David Green, a Dallas Mavericks sales manager, to learn more about opportunities to work for the NBA. Both of them encouraged her to apply for an internship with the Dallas Mavericks.

This internship includes learning what sales reps do at the Mavericks, but when Clark got there all the season tickets were sold out. Since the internship was mainly having the interns talk with reps and try to make sales, they had to fill up this time with other tasks. Clark got to help out with a Relocation Event and a Draft Watch Party Event. The Relocation Event is for the season ticket holders to relocate and/or update their seats. This event is one of the biggest events in terms of revenue. She also got to work with a team of other interns on a marketing strategy for the Mavs Academy basketball camps. The interns were responsible for creating new ideas for the Mavs Academy, and they even had the opportunity to pitch their ideas to the managers and higher ups of the Mavericks.

Apart from the events, Clark got to participate in conferences and many informational meetings. She also got to go around to other departments and learn about their daily tasks.“It was a very inclusive environment with some of the most innovative people in the industry,” Clark stated.

Before Clark got to participate in these events and activities, she had to go through a grueling application and interview process. The first step she had to take in the process was to fill
out an application and submit her resume. Next, her application was selected with only a handful of others to move on to a virtual interview process. The first interview she had was one-on-one, and then her final interview was with the higher ups of the organization.“This is a pretty typical process compared to past jobs I’ve had, a little more in-depth though,” Clark stated.

Clark prepared for these interviews by learning all she could about the Mavericks, and by doing mock interviews with David Gallianti and some of her friends. After a month of interviews, and a month of waiting to hear back, she finally was told that she got the internship.When Clark finally got the internship she had yet another obstacle to get through, which was finding housing. Being a Milwaukee native, Clark did not have a house in Texas to stay in while she was doing her internship. She was fortunate enough to have a cousin who lives in Rockwall, Texas, which is about 30 minutes to an hour away from the stadium.

Unfortunately, Clark did not get to put her knowledge to the test by getting to talk with potential season ticket members, but she did learn so much about building relationships and working for an NBA team. In the end, Clark really enjoyed her experience at the Dallas Mavericks and discovered that an NBA team is exactly where she belongs.

When asked what her words of wisdom would be for underclassmen, Clark said, “Make connections, ask for help, and apply for countless positions even if you get turned away.” If you would like to have an opportunity like Jordyn, you can find more information at the website: https://careers.nba.com/early-career-programs