Hornets guard Sion James is exploring opportunities beyond basketball through Harvard’s Crossover Into Business program.
Charlotte Hornets guard Sion James is only in his second NBA season, but he is already intentional about pursuing opportunities off the court made possible through the game of basketball.
James is among the latest group of NBA players to participate in Harvard’s Crossover Into Business program, an opportunity he had been interested in pursuing. Developed in partnership with the NBA’s Player Engagement program, the annual program connects professional athletes with Harvard Business School students to explore business and career opportunities beyond sports.
“I was interested early just about being able to network with other professional athletes, Harvard business students, and really learn from them,” James said.
“The coursework we get to do, and just kind of get an inside scoop from Harvard Business students and professors about what the business world is like. It’s something I’ve always had an eye on, and understanding that throughout my career is the biggest opportunity that I and all the players have for business opportunities. I want to maximize that.”
Within the program, James chooses business case studies to analyze and joins Zoom calls to discuss his findings with fellow students. A little over a month into the program, James gives more insight on his experience.
“Going in, it’s been pretty cool so far. Getting to meet the advisors, meet some of the students, meet some of the other professional athletes that are in the program too. I think there’s a unique type of athlete that really wants to maximize their opportunity while participating in a program like this. So, it’s cool being able to be around those people.”
While balancing the demands of a full-time NBA schedule, James appreciates the program’s flexibility. This year’s cohort comprises 50 professional athletes across various sports leagues, as well as several Olympic athletes. Harvard works with each athlete to accommodate their individual schedules and responsibilities.
The program also gives James an opportunity to learn alongside athletes with different interests and ambitions beyond their respective sports. For James, who spent four years at Tulane before finishing his college career at Duke, continuing to learn and pursue opportunities beyond basketball has been a consistent priority.
“It’s just really understanding that I’m in a group of, or now in a network full of really cool people who’ve done really cool things and think similarly to me,” James said. “So a lot of it’s just been getting to understand the reasons that people want to participate.”
That interest in learning and development also carries into James’ work in the community. He runs the annual One 4 All Toy Drive, which collected more than 2,500 toys for kids in North Carolina in 2025, while his foundation (Sion James Foundation) has raised more than $50,000 to provide shoes to underserved communities through Samaritan’s Feet. He also launched SYNC-UP 4 GOOD, which offers community and media fellowships that include mentorship, leadership development and paid internship experience for high school students.
“It’s the opportunity to bring people together. Just since I got drafted here to Charlotte, joining the community here has been able to bridge those past worlds of mine, like my Tulane world, the world at Duke, my world back at home in Sugar Hill (Georgia), and the greater community here in Charlotte. So, I think the best part has been being able to bridge those through the Sync Up for Good Fellowship, where we’re getting high school students. We’re in the interview process right now, so in a few weeks we’ll have a number of high school students who will be participating in the fellowship and being able to bring some old Tulane teammates back to hold a camp for our teammate and you know to bring people out for the toy drive. Like those are the kind of things that make it a lot of fun, just kind of bridging the bridging different worlds there.”
With everything happening beyond the court, James understands that basketball is the engine.
“Like it’s (basketball) the most important reason I’ll get other opportunities and it will continue to be most important, but the other stuff, the outside of basketball stuff, is what makes it, what helps make it fun. It’s what helps make it enjoyable. It helps keep the curiosity, the learning. Like those are the things that I really enjoy on top of playing basketball.”
James joins a group of current and former NBA players who have participated in Harvard’s Crossover Into Business program, including Spencer Jones, Pat Connaughton, Steven Adams, Shaun Livingston and Chris Bosh. The opportunity is part of NBA Player Engagement’s broader work to connect players with professional development resources beyond the court. Through team meetings, direct player outreach and collaboration with Team Player Engagement staff, the department helps players identify opportunities such as Crossover and encourages interested players to apply, with Harvard making the final selections for each year’s cohort.
