19-year-old Vanderbilt student lands LA Clippers internship after year of washing team laundry

A 19-year-old college freshman who spent a year washing his basketball team's sweaty jerseys and mopping court floors to prove his dedication has landed one of the most competitive internships in professional sports. Daniel Sung, a scholarship student at Vanderbilt University, completed a marketing internship with the NBA's LA Clippers this summer, becoming one of the youngest interns in league history.

Sung volunteered as manager of Vanderbilt's basketball team for a full year, a role that involved 30 to 40 hours of unpaid work each week. His duties included doing laundry for players until 1 a.m., passing balls during game days, and running onto the court with a towel whenever a player fell. The work drew relentless mockery from his peers, who took pictures of him mopping and called him «mop boy».

«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,» Sung told Fortune. «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.»

NBA internships are typically reserved for college juniors or seniors, usually aged 20 to 22. This year, the league received more than 19,000 applications for its 2025 Summer Internship program. Despite being years younger than most applicants, Sung said his unusual background set him apart during the interview process.

«After my interview, one of the people said my story was unbeatable because a lot of people come into sports and just say they want to work in sports because it's really cool or they love basketball,» Sung added. «But I literally built up my past year for it. I wasn't there to joke around.»

Sung's drive was shaped by his family's experience immigrating from South Korea to San Bernardino, California, where they opened a 7-Eleven and later a Mexican restaurant to make ends meet. Without personal connections in the sports industry, he knew he would have to create his own opportunities.

«Within the sports world, you survive either by being a hustler, or you have people that open doors for you. With my background, I have no one that can open those doors for me, the only person that can open those doors is myself,» Sung said.

The internship has already translated into tangible career opportunities. Sung began posting about his experience on LinkedIn about four weeks ago, gaining thousands of followers and attracting job offers. He now works with two startups: one a job-application platform with an AI focus, and another an agency managing LinkedIn pages for large companies. Later this year, he has a marketing role lined up with Red Bull in Nashville, which he will juggle alongside his college studies.

«I actually got those offers just from a month of posting,» Sung said. «The thing that really opened my eyes after working this internship was that you really have to be innovative, you have to think differently, and you have to get yourself out there.»

Sung advises other young job seekers to work backwards from their ultimate career goal and align every experience to that vision, no matter how small the task may seem. «When you think of job applications, it's very important that your life tells a story,» he explained. «My story was that I wanted to work with the LA Clippers, right? And so I kind of worked backwards from there.»

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Delaney Sawyer

Society Reporter

Delaney Sawyer covers public affairs, politics, business, culture and daily news for Core Memo. The role focuses on verification, context, and clear explanations for readers.

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