With the NBA off-season officially underway for all 30 teams, the long summer lies ahead, and CJ McCollum plans to make the most of his. A semi-regular contributor to The Players' Tribune—a media company that allows players to write and publish their own articles—McCollum will join on as a summer intern with them. Per their press release, his first task will be covering the upcoming NBA Draft on June 23:
NEW YORK, NY (June 20, 2016) — The Players’ Tribune (TPT) announced today that Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard and TPT contributor C.J. McCollum will be joining the organization as a star summer intern.
McCollum will be involved in many aspects of The Players' Tribune operation, primarily assisting the editorial team. He will help cover the upcoming NBA draft and will host a live, interactive Q&A with 2–3 top NBA draftees. Additionally, McCollum — who graduated from Lehigh with a journalism degree in 2013 and hosts a local radio show in Portland during the season — will conduct an interview with NBA commissioner Adam Silver and create unique content for both the website and TPT social channels.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to develop my journalism skills with The Players’ Tribune by serving as an intern during NBA draft week," says McCollum. "The Players’ Tribune has created a unique space for athletes to tell their stories their way. I am excited to take on this unprecedented opportunity to develop my craft, work behind-the-scenes alongside some of the best in the business and contribute to the creation of new and exciting content from the ground up."
McCollum has a longstanding interest in journalism, reaching back to his college days at Lehigh, where he served as assistant sports editor for the student newspaper and graduated with a journalism degree.
To read his full works for The Players' Tribune, check out the following links:
- Why Journalism Matters (March 11, 2016)
- The NBA Rookie Survival Guide (January 22, 2015)
- Underrated Guards 101 (December 8, 2014)
McCollum took a picture of his first day of internship, and posted it to Instagram.