Barry Carlin is the Director of Event Management for the NBA, a unique job and with only a handful of people with the same job. He has been working for the NBA for 25 years, and took a weird path to acquire his current job.
As director, Carlin produces and directs important events and press conferences for the National Basketball Association. Some of these events include the NBA All-Star game, the NBA Finals, and other programs like the WNBA All-Star game and Finals.
Carlin is in charge of all facets of these programs. He works together with other professionals to make sure the audio, video, lighting, and staging are set up correctly and run without issues.
To do this, he hires experts on the subjects well before the show and holds meetings and conference calls to go over all the details. When the show calls for a schedule and a script, the responsibilities fall on Carlin.
That is the main part of Carlin’s job, but there are also other things he does. He produces clinics where NBA players teach children to play basketball, runs panel discussions with NBA personalities, and sometimes helps produce programs for NBA TV.
The route Carlin took to get this job was very unorthodox. He started off as a sports producer for Boston News for 12 years until he was fired. After he was fired, he applied for a job at the NBA in 1993.
The NBA took Carlin in for one week and asked him to produce a video for the company. They liked it, and asked him to come for another week, then another week, and then another week. This lasted for six months until they finally hired him full time.
When he started out, he began by making in-game entertainment, like halftime shows, for major games (not including the finals). Around 1998, he was promoted to producer for shows on NBA TV. Finally, in 2005 he started setting up press conferences, which is mostly what he does now.
One of the better qualities of the job is the travel. Out of all 30 NBA teams, he has been to 28 of their cities, with the exceptions of Milwaukee and Utah. He has also gotten to travel outside of the US, traveling to places like France, China, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Canada all to produce events for the NBA.
Carlin said, “Getting to travel and see all the different places in the world has to be the best part of the job.”
Traveling is not the only interesting part of his job, though. He also gets to meet with NBA players and coaches while discussing events with them. He has met some of the most famous NBA players, including Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant.
There are some negative parts of the job, however, like the amount of pressure it entails, especially on event dates. Those are the most stressful days because it is when all the work can pay off, and it is nerve-wracking hoping the event goes right without a mistake.
Would this be a job you could see yourself doing? If so, what are the parts of the job that interest you the most?
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