SPORTS
Bryan Meyers, of NBA
Entertainment
Hoop Scoop
SUSAN WEINGAR DEN
Special to The Jewish News
A basketball
junkie from
Detroit wins his
dream job with
the NBA.
I is been two years and I still
can't believe I'm living in
New York and working for
the NBA. It's like a joke —1
watch basketball for a living. It's
the best job in the world," says
Bryan Meyers, formerly of
West Bloomfield.
A production assistant for
NBA Entertainment, a division
of the National Basketball As-
sociation, Meyers, 24, describes
himself as a sports freak; more
specifically, a basketball junkie.
Following his 1986 gradua-
tion from Andover High, Mey-
ers studied broadcast jour-
nalism at Syracuse University
in New York.
In addition to his studies,
Meyers honed his skills by
working for the university as a
basketball referee for intra-
mural games, and as assistant
basketball coach for a local high
school. He did newscasts at
Syracuse University cable tele-
vision station, but says his best
training came from a volunteer
job assisting the sportscaster at
the CBS affiliate in Syracuse. "I
got interviews and edited the
highlights," he explains. "You
have to take advantage of every
opportunity. I did it for the
training."
A summer internship at
WXYZ in Detroit exposed him
to working in a larger market.
"More is expected of you. There
is more pressure because there
are more teams."
Meyer's job search began the
first semester of his senior year.
"At first I wanted an on-air
broadcasting job," he recalls. "I
sent out dozens of resume tapes
to small markets. I was willing
to go to Australia if I could get
a job there. But the rejection let-
ters piled up."
His next option was to seek
work behind the scenes in pro-
duction. "I sent hundreds of re-
sumes everywhere and only got
two interviews — NBC and
NBA Entertainment."
After sending his resume to
NBA Entertainment, Meyers
said he called once a week for
three months. "I kept pushing
and I think they gave me an in-
terview because of my persis-
tence."
Meyers was asked basketball
questions and felt extremely
confident with his answers.
"Basketball is my niche. I follow
every team and the answers
rolled off my tongue."
Still, it was six seemingly
endless months before he land-
ed the job over hundreds of oth-
er applicants.
As luck would have it, NBA
Entertainment was shooting Isi-
ah Thomas' "Comic Relief" in
Detroit and hired Meyers as a
freelance production assistant.
"It was sort of a trial by fire," re-
calls his boss, Alan Goldstein,
director of videotape operations
for NBA Entertainment "Bryan
came across as hard-working
and dedicated. He impressed
our executive producer, Don
Sperling, but ultimately it was
his knowledge of basketball that
won him the job."
When the call came from
Goldstein offering him the po-
sition, Meyers says, "I went ab-
solutely crazy. I was so ecstatic
I jumped all around the house.
My parents were wary of a ca-
reer in sports and worried that
I wouldn't get a job. I felt so good
because I proved to them that I
could do it."
Meyer's main task at work is
to watch basketball games, rate
the highlights, select great plays
and file them in the computer.
"Production assistants are the
eyes of the NBA," Goldstein ex-
plains. "They have to be focused
and dedicated and log the nu-
ances of the game as well. Bryan
is hard-working and dedicated
to the task. He's our top pro-
duction assistant and is in line
to be promoted to an editor."
When a producer needs a
shot, it is Meyers' job to find it.
"A producer may want a three-
point shot made by Isiah," he ex-
plains. "I have to go into the
library and find the best shot.
Our library is enormous; we are
the archives for the NBA and
have tapes of every game. We
have thousands and thousands
of tapes."
Another responsibility is as-
sisting with home videos pro-
duced by the NBA, such as
Magic Johnson's "Always Show
Time" and Michael Jordan's
"Playground." "I was also an as-
sistant editor for the 'Dream
Team' video featuring members
of the Olympic team, and 'Su-
perstars Two,' a video that com-
bines music with highlights of
NBA players."
In addition, he works on are-
na highlight videos such as
those shown at the Palace, and
his name appears on the cred-
its of "NBA Inside Stuff," a
weekly show on NBC, and the
"NBA Action" show presented
on PASS in Detroit.
One of the perks of his job is
being privy to inside informa-
tion. "We knew that Chuck Daly
was leaving the Pistons," he
said. "rm a huge fan of all De-
troit teams, but it is very tough
being a Piston's fan in New
York."
Occasionally he assists the
producers with interviews at the
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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