Billy's Open Road

BILLY KING

Former President/General Manager
Philadelphia 76ers Basketball

LEADER INFO:

INTERESTS:

Business Sports

THEMES DISCUSSED:

Confidence Exploration Fulfillment Passion Regrets Self-Reflection

TAGS:

bartender, bartending, basketball, career, confusion, consequences, debt, Duke University, ESPN, happiness, money, paying the bills, self belief, stress, video editing

BIOGRAPHY:

"Everybody says that: How did you get here? How did you choose this?" It's no wonder everybody asks Billy King this, seeing as he's the former general manager for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. "I just wanted to play pro basketball; that was it. And then once I got to school, I realized there was more to life than basketball." Billy became very interested in film and got a job as a color analyst at ESPN after he graduated from Duke University. However, working there just wasn't for him. To pay the bills, Billy bartended at Chili's and took up a full-time job working as a sports analyst for a TV station in North Carolina. Although it was hard work, Billy enjoyed it. Since he started working for the Philadelphia 76ers, he has been named Sports Executive of the Year at the Rainbow Sports Awards, Forty under 40 by Street and Smith's Business Journal, and 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports by Sports Illustrated. "I always say that my job beats working because I don't look at it as work, I look at it as something I enjoy doing."