RealGM

Grooming Secrets of the NBA

DeAndre Jordan is a 6-foot-11, 265-pound pro basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers—and you'll never guess what kind of deodorant he puts on before a game.

"I use Secret," says Mr. Jordan. The 25-year-old Texan prefers the aerosol form of the product marketed to women because, he says, it is light and doesn't leave behind any visible white residue. "I'm always powder-fresh during the games," he adds. "I'm sure my opponents love that."

For 41 regular-season road games, Mr. Jordan brings his own toiletries instead of using products in his hotel bathroom. And then there's the issue of quantity. "They give you the little tubes of soap and I'm a big guy," he says. "I gotta have the full size." At home, Mr. Jordan uses a shampoo and conditioner from Herbal Essences that happens to be pink—"it's a manly pink," he says—and washes his face with a foaming scrub from Neutrogena.

Mr. Jordan cares most about the way he smells. He goes through a lot of deodorant, using products from Speed Stick and Degree, along with his can of Secret for games. "If you don't smell nice before the game, it's going to be pretty bad during and after," he says. Many teammates have their own arsenal of grooming products, Mr. Jordan says, but he does get "a little grief" for using Secret.

Elizabeth Holmes, Wall Street Journal