- Spoiler alert: it depends on whether it's pre-game, game time, and post-game...
To be an elite level basketball player requires a combination of factors, including dedication, skill, power, speed, agility and mental strength. It also requires a strong commitment to nutrition and ensuring their bodies are fueled for success.
Basketball is a high-intensity sport that demands huge amounts of energy from players, so it’s vital that these athletes eat and hydrate appropriately to support their performance. It’s not just on court where nutritional benefits can be found either.
Player nutrition benefits
- Provides on-court energy
- Aids post-game recovery
- Improves cognitive function and in-game decision making
- Aids muscle growth and reduces unhealthy fats
- Helps maximize benefits of training sessions
- Keeps players healthier potentially lengthening careers
- Reduces injuries and speeds recovery
There are so many games in the regular season combined with travel, training, injury, recovery, and more, which means player nutrition has never been more important. And with the NBA finals odds as close as ever, players and teams are desperate to find any extra advantage they can in order to win.
The Role of Macro and Micro-nutrients
Macronutrients
Macronutrients include Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat. Carbohydrates include grains, especially whole grains, fruit and vegetables, plus dairy products such as milk and yoghurt. Carbohydrates are the body’s number one energy source and should typically provide around half of an elite athlete’s diet.
Protein accounts for around a third of a player’s diet. Protein plays a vital role in building tissue, especially muscle tissue. Good protein sources include lean meats as well as poultry, dairy, beans, fish, eggs, nuts and nut butter. A third of the diet will consist of healthy fats, many of which are found in proteins, seeds and oil.
Micronutrients
Micronutrients are vital vitamins and minerals that the body needs. They may only be required in very small amounts but their impact on a body’s health is critical. Micronutrients perform a wide range of functions, including enabling the body to produce enzymes, hormones and other substances needed for normal growth and development. Crucially for elite players, micronutrient deficiencies can cause reductions in energy levels and mental agility.
Calcium and Vitamin D are vital in building strong bones, but they also enhance muscle function which is important in such a physical sport and vital in terms of recovery and injuries. Iron is also a key nutrient as it helps oxygen circulate in the bloodstream, as well as aiding growth and muscle function. Crucially for top-level athletes, they lose iron through sweat. The best sources of iron for a player’s diet are red meats, darker pieces of poultry such as chicken thigh, plus eggs, leafy greens and fortified whole grains.
When to Eat
The importance of micro and macronutrients can’t be overstated, however, there’s more to a player’s diet than just what they eat, it’s also important to understand when to eat. Frequency and timing are key. A player will tailor their diet and eating patterns around their day, with pre-game, post-game, training, recovery and more, all affecting what their body needs and when it needs it.
LeBron James changes his diet when it’s playoffs time by cutting down on sugar as it slows down the recovery process. He claims that in the postseason it’s all about recovery and who can recover quickest from game to game. Instead, he eats more carbohydrates because players burn so many calories on the court that their bodies desperately need more energy. Post-game, it’s all about rehydration, so he takes water and a carbohydrate-rich recovery drink to replace lost fluids.
Hydration
Multiple factors affect how much a player sweats, including temperature and humidity and intensity of the game or training session, so every player is different. That’s why a properly planned hydration plan helps players replace fluids lost from sweating, reduce their dehydration levels and better regulate body temperature. The effects of dehydration can drastically impair performance and include slower sprints and reaction times, lower shooting percentage and impaired decision-making.
To counter this, players ensure they start each practice and game fully hydrated. And they are encouraged to drink regularly throughout practice or the game. Sports drink – not energy drinks or caffeinated drinks – can also be used to replace some carbohydrates and electrolytes lost through sweating.
Private Chefs
So important is nutrition to athletes, that many of the top stars employ their own personal chefs to ensure they are looking after their bodies in the best way possible. Richard Ingraham, Traci Siegel, and Dena Marino are among some of the well-known personal chefs whose time and skills are highly sought after by elite athletes.
LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Enes Kanter, Dwayne Wade, Jimmy Butler, Russell Westbrook, Jayson Tatum and James Harden are just some of the NBA players past and present, who have employed personal chefs to help fuel their body for success.