Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Age 30 is the prime of your career in many professions — unless you happen to be a professional athlete. “It’s like they experience life backward,” says Loop Capital founder and CEO Jim Reynolds, whose career includes a nine-year partnership with Magic Johnson Enterprises. “They make their peak money when they’re exceptionally young, whereas in business, you typically don’t start accumulating real wealth until your 50s.”
The average NBA player retires at the age of 29, which sounds enviable if you ignore the fact that nearly 60% of them face serious financial hardships after retirement. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Although most retired players can’t jump like they used to, bringing them into the business world can still be a slam dunk for business executives like Jim Reynolds, who recognize their transferable skills like tactical smarts and an insatiable competitive drive.
Reynolds is currently CEO of Coco5, a fitness drink company he co-owns with an NBA dream team that includes Devin Booker, D’Angelo Russell, Derrick Rose, and the Morris twins, Marcus and Markeiff. The company made headlines this spring after partnering with the American Cancer Society to raise money for research and promote early detection.
Tech entrepreneur Julian Aiken, a former DII point guard, is also no stranger to professional sports. His uncle, Bob McCann, played in the NBA for five years, and many of his high school friends grew up to be professional athletes. Aiken is the founder and CEO of Brunswick Sports Management, a firm that helps athletes transition to business. Recently, alongside the NBA trifecta of Michael Carter-Williams (retired), Mo Harkless (retired), and Andre Drummond (active), Aiken founded his latest endeavor: Special Teams Real Estate, a property venture that converts vacant commercial buildings into residential ones.
Here are some of the universal principles that these elite athletes and their business partners say transfer from the sports arena to entrepreneurship.
Get a Little Better Every Day
In basketball, if you spend enough time alone shooting free throws, you’ll eventually make more of them in games. As Carter-Williams notes, though, there are no free throws in business. There are no predetermined rules. So for him, the first step in upping his business game was developing a self-starter mentality. In place of a rigorous schedule of physical drills assigned by a trainer, he now prioritizes strengthening his mind every day.
Related: How Carolyn Tisch Blodgett Is Striving to Change the Game for Women’s Sports
“Some days, I just force myself to do something or learn something to help me succeed,” he says. “It could be as simple as going on YouTube to learn about zoning laws. Or studying some complicated book about real estate.” His business partner, Aiken, shares that growth mindset and emphasizes that improvement doesn’t mean going from 0 to 100% overnight. Instead, the trick is to get 1% better every day.
“We don’t expect Mike or anyone else to complete an entire project immediately. But can you learn enough to complete a small percentage of it? And can you complete a little more next time? And so on.”
A slight percent increase won’t appear in Carter-Williams’ box score like in his NBA days. He notices his progress in new ways, like his growing comfortability in meetings and comprehension of real estate jargon.
“If I can understand more and answer questions I couldn’t answer two weeks earlier, I take those as my small wins,” Carter-Williams says. While Carter-Williams still has more to learn about the real estate game, his NBA background comes with a built-in advantage: premium access to other professional athletes.
“Not everyone is willing to listen to somebody like me that hasn’t been in those locker rooms,” Aiken says.
“But if Mike can walk in there and say. ‘I’ve grown a sustainable business that lasts way longer than an NBA career; here’s how I did it.’ Every NBA player will at least hear him out.”
Embrace Your Role
In basketball, a role player is an athlete with a specific skill and a willingness to put team success over personal glory. They might not score the most points or have the flashiest highlights, but they understand their strengths and weaknesses and get the job done. Having spent over a decade each as role players in the NBA, Marcus and Markieff Morris understand the importance of knowing your specific strength and using it to complement your teammates. It’s a skill that has translated seamlessly to their roles at Coco5.
Related: LeBron James Is Now a Billionaire — Here’s How He Makes and Spends His Money
As active NBA players, the Morris twins have delivered a product placement slam dunk by bringing Coco5 straight into some high-profile NBA locker rooms, they’ve also leveraged their status in some high-pressure conference rooms. During meetings, the twins often regale prospective investors with tales of their NBA journey, using their roles as athletes to gain respect, trust, and — more often than not — new accounts.
“People love the idea of having connections to professional athletes,” Markieff says. “We can get in certain doors by just being NBA players.”
Play the Long Game
In basketball, thinking ahead and anticipating where you need to be next is crucial. For Michael Carter-Williams, pivoting on the court is a good metaphor for pivoting once you step off. You always want to be thinking about the next move. It’s a lesson he laments not learning earlier.
“Do I wish I had reached out sooner to more people in the professional world? Do I wish I gained more investment knowledge as a rookie and a sophomore? Of course.” It’s a big part of the reason why Carter-Williams is so passionate about helping the next generation of hoopers. As NBA liaison for Special Teams Real Estate, he now makes it his mission to prepare athletes for their next chapters, bridging the gap between current players, former players, and business executives like Aiken. During a recent meeting at his friend (and former Orlando Magic teammate) Cole Anthony’s house, for example, he drew on his personal experience to discuss — minus the jargon — the importance of investing in your financial future earlier than you might think.
Jim Reynolds also knows something about playing the long game. For him, it boils down to one goal: owning equity. For young players like Coco5 partners Booker (27) and Russell (28), owning a piece of the company could be more lucrative than basketball long term.
“By the time they’re 45, they’ll have equity in a cash-flowing business, years of professional experience, and celebrity names to build on,” he points out. “The richest people in America own equity. It’s how Magic Johnson became a billionaire.”