An economics major at Macalester, Robert Grace IV picked up a camera one day and found his calling. Photo by Christopher Mitchell, SportShotPhoto.com/d3photography.com; provided photos

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

Robert Grace IV understands that attitude and effort are two controllable factors.

That’s something he learned while watching his father hustle as an entrepreneur in the food service industry.

Those traits became a necessity on the basketball court, too, as a 1,000-point scorer in high school and an occasional starting point guard at Macalester College.

The hustle and positive approach continue to pay off for Grace as he landed a job as a full-time videographer for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves in the middle of his senior year while still running the Scots’ offense.

“Videography started as a hobby for me. I am grateful I am able to make a career out of it,” he said. “This opportunity I have with the organization is just incredible. There are 30 NBA teams and each team has three of four videographers and I am part of that group. I am just extremely grateful.”

Videography was not on Grace’s career bingo card four or five years ago. However, he first got into it as a hobby, filming other Macalester teams and cutting highlight videos for them.

“I really didn’t know what I was going to do for a career. That was something I was stressed out about when I came to school here,” he said. “Macalester is just a liberal arts school with those kinds of programs. So, I really didn’t know what I would do. My dad has always been an entrepreneur. I was always working serving, waiting or being a valet and that sort of thing. I’ve always been a hustler and knew I may want to do my own thing when I graduated.”

So, the economics major picked up a camera – and a passion for the visual arts developed.

“I didn’t start taking videography seriously until my sophomore year of college,” he said. “All the jobs I worked over the summer, I saved up every penny and bought myself a nice camera and lens and thought I’d see where it’d take me. I’d go film volleyball, water polo, track and field and baseball around campus. I just wanted to see what I liked and get some experience. I was filming all the stuff there.”

With his level of experience in a comfortable place after a year, he thought he’d try to take his skills to the next level. As a lifelong fan of the Timberwolves, where his dad has worked three-plus decades on game nights in arena entertainment as “Hoop Man” where he walks around wearing a basketball hoop above his head with fans getting a chance to make a basket to win prizes, Grace thought he’d start with the team.

After all, more and more players are seeking their own videographers to help build their brand on and off the court. So, he reached out to Jordan McLaughlin, who played for the Timberwolves last season.

“I sent him a cold DM. I saw he was looking for a videographer when he was home in California. I just wrote that, if he ever need anybody to film him or if he knew of anybody that needed a videographer, to reach out. Once the season rolled around, he followed up with me and put me in contact with his brand manager. They had me at the first game last season and liked what put out for him. Over the course of the season, I was pretty much at every home game. Jordan became like a big brother to me. We’re really close. I just got lucky he contacted me. I am sure he got other DMs. But, to do that – that’s every videographer’s dream to be at that high level. I am just beyond lucky enough that the first person I reached out to decided to take a chance on me.

“We have similar playing styles. He is an undersized point guard, just like me. I think he is a super underrated player. He is the first person I thought of reaching out to. I am very big fan of his game.”

Grace’s work with McLaughlin got the attention of the Timberwolves, who offered him a part-time videographer role with the team when the NBA playoffs started last spring.

“It was a super-cool time to start,” Grace said. “I continued in the same positon with the Minnesota Lynx over the summer during the WNBA season, just capturing content at the games, cutting highlights and turning around videos for social media and their website.” The Lynx played in the WNBA Finals this past season.

When classes started up this fall, Grace went back to a freelancing role so he could focus more time on his academics and playing basketball. Though McLaughlin left Minnesota for a free-agent deal with the Sacramento Kings, Grace picked up new clients like Rudy Gobert and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

“Nowadays, there’s a big emphasis on social media and players are trying to bring awareness to their brand. These people have other personalities beyond just the court and basketball and they want people to see that,” Grace said.

However, when December rolled around, Minnesota offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse – a full-time spot on staff alongside the organization’s other two videographers.

“They didn’t want to pass me up,” he said. “That forced me to have some tough conversations with my basketball coach. I definitely wanted to do it, but wanted to finish my last year strong. I am just trying to end on a high note. Fortunately, we were able to find a way to make it work.”

The full-time status meant that Grace would go on the road with the team, which he did frequently over winter break. Now that classes have resumed, the Timberwolves are working with his schedule to keep him at home as much as possible until the end of the semester.

“I am fortunate the Wolves liked my work enough and know I need to finish school. I am lucky they know I have a need to balance that and they are flexible enough to work with me and I can still get things done,” Grace said. “They could have gone with someone more experienced or older to fill the spot. I am fortunate they chose me.”

Grace turns more than a few heads of long-time game-night employees when he walks around Target Center. Instead of following his dad, who also runs a successful catering business, and helping with the Hoop Man promotion, Grace is lugging a camera or two.

“I have always been around Target Center since I was a kid, following my dad around and shagging balls and throwing T-shirts with him for his role there,” Grace said with a laugh. “A lot of people think that’s how I was hired by the team, but it’s not. There are no connections there and people are now piecing it together that it’s just come full circle for me.”

Between classes and working for the Timberwolves, Grace remains a key member of the Scots.

“It’s a very unique situation. There are 30 teams in the NBA and I would highly guess he is the only college student hired as a full-time videographer for one of the teams,” Macalester coach Abe Woldeslassie said. “He’s had to miss a couple of our games because of conflicts. But, it was an amazing opportunity and something we supported. This is a job he thought he’d get maybe five years out of college and he winds up getting it as a senior. It’s incredible.

“He could never do this while playing at the D-I level, but we’ve had to adapt and he had to adapt. We’ve made it work.”

Grace isn’t just there to make the program look good off the court. The point guard is there to help the team win.

“It’s not like he is just some guy off the bench. He is making meaningful contributions,” Woldeslassie said. “He is playing really well. He is shooting 58 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. He has 21 assists, too.”

Grace recently tallied 13 points in 20 minutes in a 95-93 loss to Bethel. But, he is happy to do whatever the team needs.

“I have been every role on the team. I’ve started games; I’ve played 36 minutes in games; I’ve played eight minutes. I’ve scored 13 points; I’ve scored no points. I’ve done it all,” he said. “Really, whatever the team needs me to do. I am just here to do whatever I can to help the team win. I am trying to be as unselfish as I can for the team. I will do everything I can to finish this year strong and try to get us in the playoffs.”

The Scots were 5-12, including 2-6 in the MIAC, through Wednesday. Grace wants to extend the season as long as possible.

“I have played basketball my whole life and am super grateful for Coach Abe and the coaching staff for recruiting me to come play college basketball at Macalester. Coach always says the ball will stop bouncing at some point and you have to prepare yourself for life after basketball. One of the biggest reasons why I came Macalester was for all the opportunities we have in this Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

“My coaches and teammates have given everything to me and I just want to return the favor and give everything I can to them. They put a lot of time into me and I am giving as much of my time as I can to them as well.”

Grace, who has more than 80,000 followers of his work on his Instagram account (@robertgraceiv), is not sure where his new job may take him, but he’s excited for the future.

“It was definitely weird, at first, walking around campus and having people coming up to me, telling me they saw my work on my account. I never thought it could happen to me,” he said. “It just grows and grows and more and more people come along with it. I try not to pay attention. I am just doing what I love doing. It started as a hobby for me and I am so grateful I am able to make a career out of it.

“I am honestly trying to figure out the next steps right now. I always want to be hands-on; I don’t want to direct or produce. So, will that be starting a social media agency where I work with other athletes to maximize their brand on social media or more of a senior videographer role with a team? I don’t know what it’s going to look like. Right now, I am taking it day by day and doing what I can to finish the year strong with school and basketball and do whatever I can for work as well.”

He’s going to keep the positive attitude and effort flowing, too.

“The biggest thing is just being a good person. A lot of people may have better work, but I am going to be me and treat people well,” he said. “I am not going to be afraid to get out there and meet new people, introduce myself and share my work, but be down-to-earth and humble, just a good person to be around.”