Vegas Summer League: Fran Fraschilla offers tips for NBA jobs

In Las Vegas for the Summer League, 17-year ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla took time recently to pass along his knowledge to those interested in becoming an NBA coach or scout.

Or even to those considering some sort of move within the profession.

He spoke from personal experience when helping lead a class called “Managing the Basketball Profession.” Once considered one of the hot names in coaching when he was at St. John’s, Fraschilla turned his disappointment over getting fired into a long, successful broadcasting career.

“OK, I have a little competitiveness,” he recently told his students. “They’ve never recovered at St. John’s.”

Fraschilla was one of several lecturers at the Pro Scout School at the Hard Rock, and he offered four suggestions that should benefit anyone in nearly any profession:

1. “Have a Plan B.” Broadcasting was Fraschilla’s, and he regularly made himself available for interviews on New York’s TV stations while at St. John’s. He cautioned, however, against focusing on the next job and not properly concentrating on the current one.

2. “Do you have a personal board of directors?” In other words, a small group of people someone can go to for career advice.

3. “Make yourself indispensable.” Be varied and willing to take on tasks others don’t want.

4. “What is your brand?” That sounds catchy, but Fraschilla boiled it down to, “What do you stand for? Why is someone going to hire you?”

Summer League scare

Brooklyn Nets third-year center Jarrett Allen fell awkwardly to the floor Sunday night before leaving the game with a hip contusion.

Minimal harm, though, and no foul.

Allen, who started 80 games for the Nets last season, concluded his stint at Vegas Summer League with 15 points and 14 rebounds in an 85-77 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The organization collectively decided that Allen, a productive player on a playoff team, could stand to benefit by playing Summer League games, during which he was utilized more on the offensive end of the floor.

“We wanted to develop, put the ball in his hands more, make more decisions,” Nets Summer League coach Adam Harrington said while praising Allen’s vocal leadership. “We saw all of it encompassed in two weeks. … We’ve always been about player development. That’s No. 1 in our culture, and he got better these last two weeks.”

Riding the early wave

The Summer League looked like it was on the way to breaking the total attendance record after selling out the first two days because of the anticipation built up around No. 1 draft pick Zion Williamson.

Last year’s record total of 139,972 won’t be reached, but the high average is within reach. That’s because last year’s event spanned 12 days; this year’s is the more typical 11 days.

An announced crowd of 7,359 showed up for Sunday’s action at the Thomas & Mack Center, bringing the aggregate to 126,109 and putting the average at 12,611. The average crowd last year was 11,664.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter. Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjouranl.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.