Former NBA guard C.J. Watson has revealed that he spent part of his professional basketball career completing internships at major companies, including Google and EA Sports, as well as several real estate businesses, to prepare for life after retirement.
Watson explained that his interest in business began during childhood, largely because of his parents’ influence. His mother introduced him to professional environments by bringing him to conferences and seminars.
“I would say it started with my mom. My mom worked for the city of Las Vegas. She would take me when I was younger to seminars and conferences with her. I didn’t want to go, but it was more so, you know, back in those days, you just do whatever your parents say do.”
His father, who operated his own business, also helped shape Watson’s entrepreneurial mindset and desire to pursue opportunities beyond basketball.
“So I definitely had business acumen because of my parents. My dad was an entrepreneur, had his own business. So I saw at an early age that I didn’t really want to work for anyone, but also kind of manage my own schedule, but also be impactful and do something that creates an impact and solves a problem. And during my playing career, I guess I didn’t know how long I was going to be in the NBA. It was never like a fixed time, like, ‘Oh, you’re going to be there for 10 years or 12 years.’ But every year for me was a new year. I had to prove myself each and every year.”
Because he understood the uncertainty of an NBA career, Watson decided to explore different industries while he was still playing professionally.
“So every year I would go do internships. I interned at EA Sports. I did a couple real estate internships, Google. So I just loved tech also. I definitely wanted to put myself out there to see what I wanted to do in case this basketball thing didn’t work out or it stopped all of a sudden, maybe from injuries or just a team didn’t want to sign me anymore.”
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These experiences helped Watson identify potential career paths while also ruling out industries that did not interest him.
“So I just wanted to figure out what I wanted to do. And by going to those internships, I figured out what I liked, what I didn’t like, and that kind of just crossed boxes for me and let me know, ‘Oh, maybe this is something I want to do when I’m done playing,’ or, ‘I already tried this. I did a week internship there. I didn’t like it, so I know this is not something I want to do when I’m done.’”
Watson also rejected the idea that professional athletes must dedicate all their time outside games and practices exclusively to basketball.
“I never understood people who say you can’t do multiple things at once. I mean, at the end of the day, we’re just playing a sport, and we have so much free time, especially when you’re playing professionally, to do other things. And I’d rather do that than just sit at home and twiddle my thumbs or just watch TV or play video games all day. So I definitely think you can do multiple things at once.”
He pointed out that many athletes already balance basketball responsibilities with commercial commitments, including sponsorship agreements and promotional appearances.
“A lot of people have, especially these days, marketing deals, endorsement deals where their time is needed to do commercials or marketing ideas and stuff like that. So I just never understood people who said you can’t do more than one thing and still focus on the main thing and still be great at all of them.”
Watson spent 10 seasons in the NBA, playing for the Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic.
