Thriving While Inside the NBA Bubble Portland Trailblazers star and podcast host C.J. McCollum shares why he's perfect for the NBA's isolation zone.

By David Meltzer

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C.J. McCollum is a shooting guard for the Portland Trailblazers and the host of the sports podcast "Pull Up." He talks with #ThePlaybook host David Meltzer about life in the NBA bubble, building his brand and lessons he learned early in his career.

McCollum discusses how he uses video calls with family and focusing on basketball and his businesses to deal with the isolation of the NBA bubble. He says he's comfortable with stillness and finds peace through meditating and reading.

McCollum talks about his team's bonding activities, mentioning that teams made up of members who enjoy hanging out with each other outside of the work environment work better together.

McCollum stresses the importance of authenticity when building a brand and for podcasting. He talks about his consistency as someone who cares about journalism, kids and education, and that people understand who he is as a result.

McCollum talks about his media experience before launching his podcast and how he began podcasting once he'd established himself as an NBA starter. In retrospect, he wishes he had been less concerned about what other people thought and started his podcast sooner.

Related: Empathy First, Economics Second

David Meltzer

Co-Founder of Sports 1 Marketing, Speaker, Author and Business Coach

David Meltzer, co-founder of Sports 1 Marketing and host of Entrepreneur's podcast, “The Playbook”, is a Top 100 Business Coach, global public speaker and three-time international best-selling author who has been honored by Variety as “Sports Humanitarian of the Year”.

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