The latest trend in the NBA is for players to be as lean and strong as possible to maximize speed.
This season, there are 19 teams averaging over 100 possessions per game as the NBA has been played at a faster pace than ever before.
“I think that will be the trend for a while,” strength coach Travis Reust says. “Because you always look at who's being successful, and Golden State right now, that's what they do, so everybody tries to emulate who's winning.”
“Fives want to be 4s, 4s want to be 3s, 3s want to be 2s, 2s want to be 1s,” says Dan Barto, director of offseason training at IMG Academy. “Teams are playing smaller so there's just more open space. Whether you're a scorer or distributor, the advantage is being able to move quickly through that space and you're going to move quicker if you're 10 pounds lighter.”
When players are lighter, they're also less prone to injury.
Players are doing more yoga, boxing and even SoulCycle.
“[SoulCycle] is easier on my joints,” Draymond Green says via email. “Soul classes also have that team mentality to them, so I like bringing the guys to do a ride together. It's a cool way to get out of the training facility and add some variety to our workouts.”
