Gen Zer washed his college basketball team’s dirty clothes and mopped floors to prove his passion—now he’s one of the youngest interns ever at the NBA

With over 4 million Gen Zers unemployed, the competition for entry-level roles has never been fiercer. One college student even spent a year washing his basketball team’s sweaty jerseys and socks to stand out and prove his passion for the industry. His peers mocked him at the time, but now he’s having the last laugh, having secured his dream internship with the NBA’s LA Clippers—at just 19 years old.

Gone are the days when showing a passion in a subject was enough to land an internship. With more than 4 million Gen Zers unemployed (and AI continuing to wipe out entry-level roles), even a degree is no longer enough to get your foot in door. 

And in an industry like professional sports, where competition for even unpaid roles is cutthroat, breaking in often takes even more creativity and sometimes, a willingness to do the jobs no one else wants.

That’s why Daniel Sung resorted to cleaning his college basketball team’s laundry and mopping the court floors to stand out—and he ended up securing a courtside seat to success as one of the youngest interns in NBA history at just 19 years old.

“When I was mopping floors, people would come take pictures of me and call me ‘mop boy’. I’m a human being. At some point, when people keep laughing it does get to you,” the Vanderbilt University scholarship student told Fortune.

Sung spent a year volunteering as manager of the prestigious college’s basketball team and got mocked relentlessly for it.

“Even my friends would be like, ‘dude, you’re a janitor’. But honestly, I knew what my ultimate vision was, and that was to get this internship—and I was able to really prove them wrong because, realistically, no one after their freshman year gets the internship. Now they’re all like, ‘Daniel, we’re so proud of you—even the people like that didn’t know me before.”

From mopping floors to multiple job offers rolling in

Sung’s drive was shaped early on by his family’s........

© Fortune