NBA Players are remaining productive during the season's suspension.
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00:00With the NBA season on pause, what have some players been doing with their time?
00:04Well, many have been using it to get more academically inclined. For more, I'm joined by our Ben Pickman. Ben, what did you find?
00:10You know, it's unusual for NBA players to have this much time at this point of the season.
00:15And so with limited resources in terms of working out, a lot of them are actually hitting the books and taking some online courses
00:21to further engage in learning and explore new interests of theirs.
00:24And so that's one of the most interesting subplots of this break. More than 35 players are actually enrolled in this program
00:29called Yellow Brick, which is an online platform, an online program that offers classes in streetwear essentials and sneaker essentials,
00:36sports management, interests that a lot of NBA players have.
00:39Now, I talked to some people at the league office and their SVP of player development, Greg Taylor.
00:43He said that they're excited to see all these players utilizing the resources that they've offered.
00:48They've also at the NBA office offered MasterClass, which gives lessons of all these different experts and players can enroll in that.
00:54And so we've seen a lot of players in this hiatus enrolling in things that they're passionate about.
00:59And interested in and furthering better themselves, putting themselves in a better position to succeed long term once their playing days are over.
01:05Did you get any good first person perspective on like a particular player and what they've been interested in?
01:11Yeah, I mean, it's a great question.
01:12One of the most interesting players I talked to for the story is actually a guy named Chasen Randall.
01:16Now, Chasen is a journeyman in the NBA of sorts.
01:19He actually started the season in the CBA and he fled China or left China rather amid the coronavirus pandemic and came to the NBA.
01:26The Warriors signed him in a 10 day contract and he has just one day left on that 10 day deal.
01:31Now, Chasen actually graduated from Stanford.
01:33He finished his undergraduate studies in three years and started a master's in psychology in his fourth year.
01:38So he's already very learned and he's actually looking to launch a brand.
01:42And so he took advantage of this yellow brick program, taking a fashion essentials class to help prepare him for eventually launching his brand this summer.
01:49He's working everywhere in his girlfriend's one bedroom apartment on the floor, on the bed, on her desk, on the kitchen counter.
01:55He's looking to better himself and continue to explore these new ideas during the break.
01:59You don't think of NBA players in one bedroom apartments, but it's obviously been an interesting few months for him.
02:04Ben, appreciate your time.
02:05Thanks a lot for having me.