Sergio Santamaria ‘18 earned the opportunity to spend a week in Los Angeles after being hired by the NBA’s Corporate Services Department to work All-Star Game Weekend. Santamaria was responsible for providing the NBA’s VIP Guests with the best experience possible. These guests included NBA owners, media personalities, CEOs and countless celebrity entertainers.
“I was responsible for delivering the tickets, gifts, and credentials to various locations all around Los Angeles,” Santamaria said. “This is an important responsibility because it allows the VIP Guests to have a smooth and enjoyable experience.”
Santamaria is no stranger to the All-Star Game Weekend, as he attended last year’s events in New Orleans with recent graduate, Nick Fleder. In fact, his manager gave both of them an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles this time around.
“I loved Los Angeles,” Santamaria said. “Since the Corporate Services Department is headquartered in Beverley Hills, it provided even more learning opportunities for me. L.A. is a great basketball city so there was a lot of excitement and buzz around the All-Star Game. I think this experience was even better than last year in New Orleans.”
While spending time around VIP guests, getting pampered with NBA gear, and enjoying an all-expense trip to beautiful Southern California is fun, Santamaria values the opportunity to understand the work that goes into putting the All Star Game together and getting to know all of the people involved.
“Even though there’s a lot of work that happens before I get there, my favorite part of All-Star Game Weekend is getting to see the behind-the-scenes prep that happens. I love being in an NBA office and working around employees in that type of environment.”
Santamaria is graduating this spring and hopes to land a job in NBA Basketball Operations. In addition to interning for the NBA Corporate Services Department, he has enjoyed interning with the Houston Rockets.
Jay Burlison, a senior from Salinas, California, is double majoring in Sport Management and Policy Studies.