dautjazz wrote:dhsilv2 wrote:dautjazz wrote:
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.
How many hyped guys have been naturally well chubby? The last big name player I can think of was Chuck or maybe maybe shaq but he was pretty lean in his early days. Zion is a very odd body type for the nba. That said i've seen plenty of them out of shape. But most weren't going to gain weight like him. hell at 19 I could eat pizza every day and might gain 5 pounds over this time period, but let me tell you I couldn't add muscle like him either. All be it I did gain about 30 my freshman year of college, took 2 months to drop over the summer...god I miss being young.
Except Oden manged to play over 100 games in the NBA, I don't think Embiid will play more.
