General Zer washed the dirty clothes of his university basketball team and cleaning floors to prove his passion – now he is one of the youngest trainees in the NBA

And in an industry such as professional sports, where competition for even unpaid roles is essential, rupture often takes even more creativity and sometimes a desire to do the work that no one else wants.

This is why Daniel Sung has used the cleaning of the detergent of his university basketball team and a flourishing of the soil to stand out – and he ended up ensuring a court seat to succeed as one of the youngest trainees in the history of the NBA at only 19 years old.

“When I cleaned the floors, people came to take pictures of me and called me” Mop Boy “. I am a human being. At one point, when people continue to laugh Fortune.

Sung spent a year volunteering as director of the prestigious college The basketball team and laughed tirelessly.

“Even my friends would be like,” guy, you are a concierge “. But honestly, I knew what my ultimate vision was, and it was to get this internship – and I was able to really prove to them because, realistic, no one after their first year, he did not know me. Now, they are all like, `Daniel, we are so proud of you – Evit The Wheat Net did not know me before.”

Cleaning floors with several job offers that roll

The driving of Sung was shaped very early by the experience of his family immigration from South Korea to San Bernardino, and by opening a 7-Eleven and later a Mexican restaurant to reach both ends. Without any personal connection in the sports industry, Sung knew that it should open its own doors.

“In the world of sport, you survive either by being a hustler, or you have people who open doors for you – with my history, I have no one who can open these doors for me, the only person who can open these doors like me,” says Sung. “I knew that working in sport would first give me the ground I needed.”

“I had to do 30 to 40 hours of unpaid work, and the work I was doing was washing the laundry for these 6-foot 8-inch basketball players who had just finished training hours. So I do their laundry until 1 am, passing the ball to them during the days of match. If a player falls, I am the person with the towel and putting the ball on my knees, wiping this place. ”

NBA courses are generally reserved for juniors or college seniors – over 20 to 22 years. This year, the basketball league has received more than 19,000 requests for its 2025 summer internship program. And despite years less than competition, Sung says that his request to join the Clippers of the Clippers because of the very experience that his university peers had snubbed.

“After my interview, one of the people said that my story was unbeatable because many people come to sport and just say that they wanted to work in sport because it’s really cool or they love basketball,” adds Sung. “But I literally built my last year for that. I was not there to joke.”

Last week was the last week of his marketing internship. Sung had published updates on his experience on LinkedIn, detailing the challenges he faced and the lessons he learned along the way.

“Since I started to publish on LinkedIn, which was about four weeks ago, many people have in fact noticed my story – and that really opened the door to many opportunities.”

Online attention has already resulted in thousands of followers and tangible job offers. Sung is now working with two startups: one, a application platform with a concentration on AI, where he helped launch a new cohort program; The other, one agency managing the LinkedIn pages for large companies. Later this year, he will also have a marketing role aligned with Red Bull in Nashville – which he will have to juggle university.

“I actually obtained these offers from a month of publication,” explains Sung. “What really opened my eyes after working this internship is that you really have to be innovative, you have to think differently and you have to get started.”

“It also taught me about how I have to extend my personal brand – hence the LinkedIn messages. And as I post, I had a lot of opportunities and doors that I never thought, so it was a hell of a summer, that’s for sure.”

Tips for generation Z on landing of their dream internship

Instead of applying for jobs that correspond to your experience after graduation, Sung advises his colleague Zers to think about their ultimate career goal – and align each experience to this, regardless of size.

“When you think of candidates, it is very important that your life tells a story,” explains the teenager. “My story was that I wanted to work with the Clippers, right?” And so I somehow worked upside down from there. If I wanted to work for the clippers, I knew I had to work in sport. ”

Knowing that you need experience to gain experience, Sung has thought that its best options to start belong to its university sports team.

“So I think if you want to set foot in the door, just be very clear on your WhyAnd you have to start very small, ”he says.

In the end, this year of Drudge work gave him more than a relevant curriculum vitae – she also gave him access.

“Even if it is the work not glorified and not remunerated with invisible visibility, being in an environment where there are professionals in the industry simply gives you this exhibition,” says Sung, adding that he was able to obtain career advice from coaches and the director of college basketball operations. Whenever they went through him at work, he asked rapid questions in their own way.

“It is difficult for a normal student to do it,” he adds. “So, being in this environment, you are surrounded by people who have done so and therefore you just have to enter it. But first, you just have to know why, and it must be your beginning of guidance through all this.”

Fortune wants to hear about unusual routes and creative strategies that have led to your first role. Contact: Orianna.royle@fortune.com