Key Takeaways
- Michael Carter-Williams has joined Brunswick Sports Management as Head of Basketball, overseeing its division and expanding a roster of nearly 10 NBA and college NIL clients.
- The 2014 NBA Rookie of the Year plans to draw on his nine-season career to help young players build strong habits, navigate business decisions, and handle adversity.
- The role keeps Carter-Williams connected to Philadelphia, where he began his career with a near quadruple-double and became the first Sixer since Allen Iverson to win Rookie of the Year.
Michael Carter-Williams is moving into the next phase of his basketball career—this time in the executive suite. The former Philadelphia 76ers guard and 2014 NBA Rookie of the Year has been named Partner and Head of Basketball at Brunswick Sports Management, where he will oversee the growing firm’s basketball division and help guide a new generation of players through life on and off the court.
Founded two and a half years ago by sports executive Julian Aiken, Brunswick combines business management, marketing, financial coordination, and long-term career development for athletes. The company already manages more than 30 football players and represents nearly 10 basketball clients across the NBA and college NIL ranks.
Carter-Williams has been tasked with expanding that basketball roster while managing client relationships, developing routines and mentoring players through the pressures surrounding modern professional sports.
It is a fitting transition for a player whose own NBA journey delivered both immediate success and plenty of hard-earned perspective. Selected by Philadelphia with the 11th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Carter-Williams nearly posted a quadruple-double in his debut, recording 22 points, 12 assists, nine steals and seven rebounds in a victory over LeBron James and the defending champion Miami Heat.
He went on to average 16.7 points, 6.3 assists and 6.2 rebounds that season, becoming the first Sixers player since Allen Iverson to win Rookie of the Year. Carter-Williams later played for the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Charlotte Hornets, Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic during a nine-season NBA career spanning a decade.
Now, Carter-Williams plans to turn those experiences into practical guidance for younger players. “I’ve seen teammates, I’ve seen friends in the NBA deal with all types of issues with different people,” he told Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson. “I feel like I just have a lot to give back to a lot of the young guys, whether it’s building systems in their lives [or] helping them develop good habits.”
That guidance has become increasingly important as NIL agreements allow athletes to earn money—and make consequential business decisions—before entering the professional ranks. Carter-Williams also sees a need to prepare players for the adversity awaiting them once transferring is no longer an immediate solution.
“When they get into the league, and you’re not able to [just transfer], it’s like, how do we handle struggle?” he said. “We’ve got to be ready to give good, sound advice for guys that go through some adversity.”
Aiken believes Carter-Williams’ firsthand understanding of NBA locker rooms gives Brunswick a perspective that conventional management experience cannot replicate.
The new role also keeps Carter-Williams connected to Philadelphia, where his career began and his breakthrough season made him one of the faces of the Sixers’ rebuilding era. He recalled receiving “nothing but love” from the city, whether he was playing or simply walking around town.
