Scott Rochelle began his career at the law firm of Querrey & Harrow, Ltd. in Chicago where he represented government and corporate entities, and in particular, served as legal counsel to the NBRPA. He partnered with Tom Kaufmann in the firm's sports practice area (Kaufmann Sports Management Group) where he served as a contract advisor, marketing agent, and legal counsel to current and former athletes on matters from negotiations to estate planning. He was appointed Interim CEO of the NBRPA in 2017 and become full time CEO in early 2018. He continues to advise on sports related topics and regularly lecture on sports law issues.
1. can you give us a brief background on the national basketball retired players association and its mission?
The NBRPA was founded by five former players as an advocacy group to support former players. Early on the focus was on earning pension rights, healthcare, and other benefits after players were finished playing. At the time, the NBA didn’t have bandwidth to support those things for their retired athletes, so the NBRPA stepped in to fill those needs. Now, we are 1000 players strong. Our mission is to help NBA players transition into retirement, as well as serve the communities our retired players come from.
​2. tell us a little about your story and how you came to be president and ceo of the nbrpa.
I became involved with the NBRPA in 2011 as outside legal counsel. I wanted to dive deeper into sports and was able to take the organization on as a client. I took advantage of the opportunity to learn more about the sports industry and how the Association works. From there, I moved into Membership and Player Programming and then, eventually, to Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Programming. In 2017, I moved to Interim CEO, and a year later, I became CEO in February of this year.
3. What are the benefits of joining the NBRPA?
The most obvious benefit of joining the NBRPA is that you will remain in the NBA family. In essence, our members are part of the extended locker room, and that connection is really important as players retire. Transition takes on many different faces, and players often experience a deep identify crisis when the time comes for them to walk away from the one thing they’ve done their entire lives.
​So, we offer our members transition programming, professional development opportunities, and licensing and player appearances. Our signature programs are education-based; we partner with Purdue University Global and Anaheim University where members can finish or earn a new degree. We’ve also launched an entrepreneurship program with Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management allowing our members to learn new skills in marketing, branding, and business development. Lastly, we partner with the NBA and NBPA to offer career development opportunities within the game itself. Members can learn about coaching, scouting, skill development, and front office management at the highest level of the sport.
​4. Can you tell us more about the Dave DeBusschere Scholarship Fund?
The Scholarship Fund is a tremendous opportunity for NBRPA chapters to grant out money to their communities. In fact, the Association granted out $250K last year. What makes our scholarships unique is that our typical applicants are adult learners and even professional players. We recognize that education is the most important factor in building a successful life, so we want to provide opportunities for nontraditional students to build their careers. Additionally, we fund local reading programs through our thirteen chapters across the country.
5. what is the annual legends conference?
​6. How are you able to engage and support retired players of all ages to be involved with the NBRPA’s programming?
Our goal is to make our organization something that former players are eager to be a part of! We’ve been putting in a bit more effort around recruitment, and as we get the word out about our offerings, more and more people want to join.
We’ve had a culture shift in recent years, and we are looking to expand our WNBA membership. We are excited to have Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman on our Board of Directors. The Legends Conference includes our Women of Influence Summit to speak to retired WNBA players and the unique challenges they face in transitioning to post-basketball life. We intend to keep building our programming to be inclusive of everyone in our membership base.
7. Can you talk a bit about the importance of NBA players and their partners using their unique platform to impact community?
For a lot of our current members, their playing time was mired in the civil rights struggle; they have very vivid memories of those challenges and other powerful social issues, so they are still very outspoken on matters that are important to them. They very much appreciate seeing current players use their platform, kneeling during the national anthem, etc. Moreover, for those players who weren’t able to speak up during their playing days, they are feeling empowered now and looking for opportunities to find their voice. The entire NBA family – NBA, NBPA, and NBRPA – supports players as they use their resources to impact their communities.
8. What's the biggest challenge you've had as an organization?
​I think our biggest challenge is that we serve such diverse membership. We truly encompass all demographics, so we need to create programming and fellowship that can provide for everyone’s needs. We are attempting to find commonalities, but simultaneously support each individual through their transition. Another challenge is our capacity to get out in front of our members and potential members. We like to be at chapter events, so we can interface with our members, and we will continue to do a better job with that. Right now, we are endeavoring to reach every NBA city by 2020 with a listening tour, so that we can really get in touch with our players’ needs and develop services that meet them where they are.
9. What's the greatest success story or proudest moment?
10. Where do you see the sports philanthropy industry in 5 years?
11. What's a book you're currently reading or would recommend?