NBA Players Increasingly Switching To Plant-Based Diet
Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Wilson Chandler, Al Jefferson, Garrett Temple, Enes Kanter, JaVale McGee and Jahlil Okafor have all made a switch to a vegan or vegetarian diet over the past year or so.
"Been on more of a plant-based diet, getting away from the animals and all that," Irving told ESPN during the preseason. "I had to get away from that. So my energy is up; my body feels amazing."
"He's had great energy all year," Boston coach Brad Stevens says of Irving. "The nutrition side is huge."
"I wanted to eat cleaner," Lillard told The Oregonian this offseason. "Also I want to play lighter this year and be easier on my joints and feet. I'm getting older, you know what I mean?"
"For athletes, it's tough," Chandler tells B/R Mag. "It's not a plant-based world."
The weight of the league increased by seven pounds per player from 2000 until 2013 but has fallen three pounds on average per player over the past four years as the NBA has moved towards a fast playing style.
Irving attributes to his increased energy to his diet.
"It works," Irving tells B/R Mag. "I mean, I'm not eating a whole bunch of animals anymore. Once you become awake, you don't see that stuff anymore."
Kip Andersen, the director of the What The Health documentary, says his friends joke that the NBA will soon be called the NVA, the National Vegan Association, because "that's how many players are going vegan or vegetarian."
Jaylen Brown hasn't eaten red meat or pork for his entire life. In college at Berkeley, Brown went full-on vegetarian, but he's found it harder to stick to it "outside of Cali." Brown aspires to go vegan by his 25th birthday.
"That's my goal," Brown says. "I just want to do it. I just think it's a healthier lifestyle. Maybe it can give me a competitive edge on the basketball floor. I think that's the next step."