Mar 5
Inside The NBA Top Shot #7 Moustapha (Community)
Hello! And welcome to Inside The NBA Top Shot episode #7! Today I have Moustapha aka @MambaMo_ from Dapper Community Team for a chat. Mo has over a year of experience being on the community team now and is one of its leads. We chatted about how he started, his role, and the community itself, enjoy it!
Alex: Let’s start with just telling readers more about yourself beyond Top Shot, would love to know more about Mo the person
Mo: Hi Alex, it’s a pleasure to chat with you. More about me would involve that I obviously LOVE sports, but growing up I honestly only knew of one sport (Futbol or Soccer). It wasn’t until I immigrated to the United States at a young age with my family where I was introduced to the vast American culture. I mainly fell in love with the Sports World & Video games. Haha and my parents always made sure that academics were a focal point. Growing up, a lot of my days involved studying and gaming. Approaching my first year of college, I was attending my childhood dream school of Ohio State University while also going for a Professional NBA E-Sport league. Where I could combine two passions of mine, sports + gaming, while also balancing school. I spent about 2 years in the 2K league, before transitioning to the amazing culture of Dapper.
Alex: Immigrants we get the job done! haha my parents are immigrants so that’s awesome to hear! And not challenging you at 2K, got it
So you mention transitioning to Dapper, how that came about, and tell me more about your position (Blockchain Steve told me “he knows more than you might think” haha)
Mo: Haha yes!! My parents were very hardworking and made a lot of sacrifices for us. And were very supportive even when I was gaming
Transitioning to Dapper is a fun story
I started off my journey with Top Shot as a collector in January 2021. One of my friends actually told me all about it and when I heard of it I was in LOVE!!
I began pulling packs, and then suddenly found myself at 3 am waiting for a surprise stress to happen. Like many of you Top Shot was my first NFT and it was my bridge to the crypto and NFT World.
But on joining Dapper. I love Top Shot, and my 2 months over it as a collector had me 100% sure I wanted to be involved some way some how.
I joined in as a Community rep almost a year from today. When I first began I mainly started as coverage, but over time I found myself becoming more & more involved. Wherever I’m needed, I’m there. Additionally I aim to help build a bridge between all of you the collectors, and our team at Dapper. I also help with crafting comms, challenges, discord, Reddit, trivia, events, etc. But I always give everything 100% I have, and I always try to maintain a great work ethic.
Alex: I love so much about this!
I wanna know your favorite memory from this past year working at Dapper, maybe something we know or maybe we don’t, whatever you like to share
Mo: My favorite memory is honestly HBD Top Shot. The community is so passionate and amazing, and I think that day was a huge highlight of it.
But specifically working at Dapper, honestly just all the chats I’ve shared with my coworkers — the learnings, experiences and laughs 🙂
Alex: I need a spy in your chat! haha and yeah I loved that day, was so much fun!
Okay, let’s talk a bit about TS now, wasn’t the easiest month, a lot of feedback. How do you guys approach it at the moment and what would you like to say to the community right now
We honestly appreciate the feedback on all platforms. We’ve seen a lot of collectors really gather their thoughts and present them. A lot of us here at Dapper Labs are reading them, and it’s important that we hear from you. So many of you carry a passion for Top Shot that’s unmatched. Additionally, I would love to tell the community that I know there’s a lot going on, and a lot of different thoughts. But we’ve gone through a lot together, and we’ll get through it again. Ultimately, we want a Top Shot Journey with the best experience and will continue working hard towards it.
Alex: Honestly, I think that’s maybe the biggest reason why TS is gonna succeed because the community is so passionate!
Okay, last one, I know you’re super busy. Since you are the community rep, we always ask Top Shot what we would like to see, but what would you like to see from us? And also you can share something about the future, maybe tease something without any spoilers
Mo: I would like to see the community continue talking to us and to continue building with us. We appreciate each of you who takes the time to let us know their thoughts in a constructive manner. Haha I can’t really tease anything, Luke will read this 😅. But I’m really excited for the Partnership with the NBA growing, a good example would be the NBA All-Star VIP Pass. And also really excited for the upcoming WNBA season in May.
Alex: It’s all good! And I block Luke so he won’t read this 😂
Thank you, Mo! That was fun!
Mo: Lmaoooooo
Thank YOUUU
it was a pleasure :)
Hey, it’s me Alex back here. That’s all for episode 7, was super nice chatting with Mo, an amazing guy who I’m so happy is the part of the Dapper team. Also, a lot of heart emojis were shared during our chat haha. Stay tuned for the next week, the series finale where I’m gonna have a chat with Top Shot co-creator Alan Falcon! And a special appearance from Roham, just kidding, maybe not. I hope you enjoyed this, if you did leave a like on Twitter, it really helps to get it out for more people to read. Thank you as always and happy collecting!
