Coach K: Zion never should’ve played Summer League

[Da ThRONe]

My personal philosophy is to endorse moves like this. They are always high reward low risk moves.

[dhsilv2]

He’ll be the first NBA Star to be on load management from his rookie year on. Won’t be the last.

all players should be...

[dhsilv2]

Summer League should be pushed back to like mid-August. Let the young men all get signed and practice for a couple weeks. These guys stop playing in March. So many players selected in the first round don't even step foot on the court in Vegas now. They're either out of shape, dinged up, or completely unfamiliar with the system teams want to run.

He looked like he put on more weight. Which isnt encouraging. Regardless he still had an impact. IMO his biggest red flag is his weight and lack of height for his position.

My post isn't Zion specific. I think a lot of first round picks who are held out aren't in basketball shape yet and are unfamiliar with the systems that are in place. Just give them July and early August to fix that.

System? It's summer league...there's no system

[SirCharles3434]

Watch on YouTube

[JeepCSC]

He’ll be the first NBA Star to be on load management from his rookie year on. Won’t be the last.

all players should be...

We’re a long way from when stars worried about giving it their all on a cold February night because of someone in the audience who might be coming to their first and only NBA game.

[dhsilv2]

He’ll be the first NBA Star to be on load management from his rookie year on. Won’t be the last.

all players should be...

We’re a long way from when stars worried about giving it their all on a cold February night because of someone in the audience who might be coming to their first and only NBA game.

We're also a long way from when we watched games on CRT's in 480p and 90% of the games weren't available to watch. Today even those of little means can stream every single game in 1080 and have the best seat in the house. I honestly don't understand why people waste money on going to the games, but that's there money.

[dautjazz]

So hyped, and he comes into summer league very out of shape. lol

[DaPessimist]

I almost never agree with the idea that players should avoid playing basketball to avoid injuries.

However, the Summer League is a different beast. You have a bunch of guys going 150% to try and realize their dream and make an NBA team. There's no reason to take an established star player like Zion and have him competing in this type of environment.

[JeepCSC]

We're also a long way from when we watched games on CRT's in 480p and 90% of the games weren't available to watch. Today even those of little means can stream every single game in 1080 and have the best seat in the house. I honestly don't understand why people waste money on going to the games, but that's there money.

Well technology can’t help us see what’s not there. A league where everyone is missing 20 games would be in crisis to say the least.

[dhsilv2]

We're also a long way from when we watched games on CRT's in 480p and 90% of the games weren't available to watch. Today even those of little means can stream every single game in 1080 and have the best seat in the house. I honestly don't understand why people waste money on going to the games, but that's there money.

Well technology can’t help us see what’s not there. A league where everyone is missing 20 games would be in crisis to say the least.

Not really...there are too many games to follow anyway. Would be better all around if there were less games to watch.

[dhsilv2]

So hyped, and he comes into summer league very out of shape. lol

I mean he has to move, has a million endorsement deals/meetings, odds are the man hasn't been "home" for a day since he ended college. The whole process has to be wonderful, but also stressful, time consuming, and likely doesn't leave much time for the gym. And certainly doesn't leave time for eating right.

[JeepCSC]

Cutting the regular season schedule down is different from players skipping 20 random games.

[dautjazz]

So hyped, and he comes into summer league very out of shape. lol

I mean he has to move, has a million endorsement deals/meetings, odds are the man hasn't been "home" for a day since he ended college. The whole process has to be wonderful, but also stressful, time consuming, and likely doesn't leave much time for the gym. And certainly doesn't leave time for eating right.

No matter how busy you are, you can eat healthy. Also, if he really wanted to, he could put in some 30-60 minutes of cardio/weights every other day. If you have time do a ton of endorsement deals/meetings, you should have a little to focus on your body.

[dhsilv2]

So hyped, and he comes into summer league very out of shape. lol

I mean he has to move, has a million endorsement deals/meetings, odds are the man hasn't been "home" for a day since he ended college. The whole process has to be wonderful, but also stressful, time consuming, and likely doesn't leave much time for the gym. And certainly doesn't leave time for eating right.

No matter how busy you are, you can eat healthy. Also, if he really wanted to, he could put in some 30-60 minutes of cardio/weights every other day. If you have time do a ton of endorsement deals/meetings, you should have a little to focus on your body.

He's 19...and honestly eating healthy is REALLY hard for most of us in our day to day. Unless you're someone who actually enjoys eating salads (I would actually vomit if I tried to force one down)...there aren't that many healthy options when you're traveling.

[bringinhinkie]

Summer League should be pushed back to like mid-August. Let the young men all get signed and practice for a couple weeks. These guys stop playing in March. So many players selected in the first round don't even step foot on the court in Vegas now. They're either out of shape, dinged up, or completely unfamiliar with the system teams want to run.

do fans really believe this?

not even close to true.. the rookies that ball year 1 in the nba, put in a TON of work from march -> day 1 of the season.. there is no stop for the ones that make it

this isn't nba 2k.. they don't get better doing nothing

ask donovan mitchell how much he played from his last college game, to his first nba game.. probably 8 hours a day+ towards basketball/basketball related activities easily, 95% of the days in that span

[drosereturn]

Coach K making excuses for his alumni as usual.
Lol Zion stans who said he was a superstar on day 1. Guys jumper is broken af.

[drosereturn]

I am willing to bet my entire money Zion will go through a semi-career ending injury within the next 5 years.
He will tear something like his ACL and rehab for at least a yr which is why I put RJ as the number 1 spot.

[dautjazz]

I mean he has to move, has a million endorsement deals/meetings, odds are the man hasn't been "home" for a day since he ended college. The whole process has to be wonderful, but also stressful, time consuming, and likely doesn't leave much time for the gym. And certainly doesn't leave time for eating right.

No matter how busy you are, you can eat healthy. Also, if he really wanted to, he could put in some 30-60 minutes of cardio/weights every other day. If you have time do a ton of endorsement deals/meetings, you should have a little to focus on your body.

He's 19...and honestly eating healthy is REALLY hard for most of us in our day to day. Unless you're someone who actually enjoys eating salads (I would actually vomit if I tried to force one down)...there aren't that many healthy options when you're traveling.

Ok, so I'm 35, I go to the gym with a personal trainer, and I eat well, but I don't really believe in most diets, like "blood type diet", "keto diet", etc.. I just do a low carb diet, high protein and high fiber. If you consume a lot of protein and fiber, and keep your carbs low, you won't blow up. In Miami everybody eats rice and beans daily, I don't, I try to stick to veggie and nutritious sides like beans. I have a couple of cheat meals a week, pizza, cheeseburger, you name it. I don't drink soda, eat pastries, candy, etc.. but yes once in a blue moon why not. I used to drink tons of beer, I still party a lot, but I've cut back heavily and drink mainly vodka/sodas. I almost never eat a salad, and I do, I"m making a REALLY good one. I went from 199 to 165, probably got a good 10lb muscle gain in the last 10 months. I did it because I wanted to be able to play basketball again, since I had a torn meniscus.

[dhsilv2]

No matter how busy you are, you can eat healthy. Also, if he really wanted to, he could put in some 30-60 minutes of cardio/weights every other day. If you have time do a ton of endorsement deals/meetings, you should have a little to focus on your body.

He's 19...and honestly eating healthy is REALLY hard for most of us in our day to day. Unless you're someone who actually enjoys eating salads (I would actually vomit if I tried to force one down)...there aren't that many healthy options when you're traveling.

Ok, so I'm 35, I go to the gym with a personal trainer, and I eat well, but I don't really believe in most diets, like "blood type diet", "keto diet", etc.. I just do a low carb diet, high protein and high fiber. If you consume a lot of protein and fiber, and keep your carbs low, you won't blow up. In Miami everybody eats rice and beans daily, I don't, I try to stick to veggie and nutritious sides like beans. I have a couple of cheat meals a week, pizza, cheeseburger, you name it. I don't drink soda, eat pastries, candy, etc.. but yes once in a blue moon why not. I used to drink tons of beer, I still party a lot, but I've cut back heavily and drink mainly vodka/sodas. I almost never eat a salad, and I do, I"m making a REALLY good one. I went from 199 to 165, probably got a good 10lb muscle gain in the last 10 months. I did it because I wanted to be able to play basketball again, since I had a torn meniscus.

Did you do that living out of a hotel?

I mean I'm not one to talk, I'd love to be a shredded 200 again instead of my much more portly shape, but that is 100% on me and my life style choices. If however I were traveling like these rookies often are during their first summer, man that's not easy and keep in mind Zion likely eats 5k calories a day to maintain his weight when playing. Maybe more. He's not someone who's had to watch what he eats is my expectation. Once he's home, in prep for the season, he'll shed some weight. It'll be up to him to get focused on being LEAN but the 20 pounds he's added likely stressed out and traveling will melt off.

[dautjazz]

He's 19...and honestly eating healthy is REALLY hard for most of us in our day to day. Unless you're someone who actually enjoys eating salads (I would actually vomit if I tried to force one down)...there aren't that many healthy options when you're traveling.

Ok, so I'm 35, I go to the gym with a personal trainer, and I eat well, but I don't really believe in most diets, like "blood type diet", "keto diet", etc.. I just do a low carb diet, high protein and high fiber. If you consume a lot of protein and fiber, and keep your carbs low, you won't blow up. In Miami everybody eats rice and beans daily, I don't, I try to stick to veggie and nutritious sides like beans. I have a couple of cheat meals a week, pizza, cheeseburger, you name it. I don't drink soda, eat pastries, candy, etc.. but yes once in a blue moon why not. I used to drink tons of beer, I still party a lot, but I've cut back heavily and drink mainly vodka/sodas. I almost never eat a salad, and I do, I"m making a REALLY good one. I went from 199 to 165, probably got a good 10lb muscle gain in the last 10 months. I did it because I wanted to be able to play basketball again, since I had a torn meniscus.

Did you do that living out of a hotel?

I mean I'm not one to talk, I'd love to be a shredded 200 again instead of my much more portly shape, but that is 100% on me and my life style choices. If however I were traveling like these rookies often are during their first summer, man that's not easy and keep in mind Zion likely eats 5k calories a day to maintain his weight when playing. Maybe more. He's not someone who's had to watch what he eats is my expectation. Once he's home, in prep for the season, he'll shed some weight. It'll be up to him to get focused on being LEAN but the 20 pounds he's added likely stressed out and traveling will melt off.

I'm not sure what the cutoff date would be for hyped players with similar circumstances, as in all the press and coverage in today's day thanks to social media, but lets use 20 years, it's a nice round number, most homes had the internet. So in the last 20 years, has there been a very highly hyped player (lets say something in the OJ Mayo to Lebron range) that has been this out of shape in the summer of their draft? I can think of many who came in maybe too skinny, say a Durant, but this overweight? I can't think of any. Lebron was signing endorsement deals with everybody before he even played an NBA game (Nike, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, etc), and he was in fine shape.

Look a program like Duke is going to have a basketball program that is as close to NBA one in terms of nutrition and training, then right after he gets drafted by NBA team. The most hyped player since Lebron, has to know he's got chances to make hundred of millions, potentially become a billionaire over the long term, he's got to take advantage of everything these programs give him. He's obviously hit the weights hard in Duke, no doubt about that, his diet I don't know much about, but I feel it's probably questionable. I don't know what you do for a living, but you get a pass if you're not an NBA athlete, Zion doesn't.