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lambchop wrote:Gaming definitely disrupts your rhythm, if you plan to get up early and train, but most players don't follow strict training regimens.

Also, other players have other vices, like going to strip clubs or nightclubs or sleeping with a lot of women every week which is tiring too cause guys don't want to be done after just 2 minutes and those threesomes can be demanding.

The only real argument against gaming is probably how it can effect dopamine and might numb players to the thrill of working hard and getting that delayed gratification. But you'd have to conduct a study in order to truly prove that.

If this were true, you would expect lower prevalence rates of ADHD among professional athletes than in the general population, but current research suggests the opposite.

It's literally a non-issue. Jokić said he plays Counter-Strike with Vučević and Dončić. Doesn't seem like it affected them
There's also this gem of a quote:

76ciology wrote:It’s better than gambling and doing drugs

Says someone that obviously never gambled and did drugs.

TV in general robs you of valuable time that could be spent learning another skill, or just experiencing the world.

ghillphx wrote:

Phystic wrote:Booker was streaming on twitch during COVID peak, and he's also know to have a great work ethic. So no I don't think there is any correlation. Though clearly DA has shown there's an issue there

Not sure DA has an issue. DA's issue isn't practice or talent, it's his motor... which I highly doubt is bc of his gaming. I doubt the two are coorelated. Anyone who watches him knows that he doesn't lack "talent", it's simply drive. Lacking skills or talent would have more to do with gaming and lack of practicing. Again, as fans, here we are overanalyzing a silly thing to which you'll never know the full answer.

Ya talent and potential is not the question. And yes motor is a problem. Staying up all night could absolutely impact his motor. But even more, it could also impact his drive to improve/grow his game. DAs game is almost identical from the day he entered the league.

Not staying it's solely because of gaming or even necessarily connected at all. But it could be

It was bad for Meyers Leonard.

Rendei wrote:

og15 wrote:

Rendei wrote:Being a gamer doesn't necessarily correlate to a lack of sleep. Giannis claims to watch 8 hours of Netflix per day. These guys have time to kill.

Netflix and gaming are definitely on average very different in potential to disrupt sleep and keep people up. Not that binging Netflix can't do that, but it's just far less likely to do so than gaming.

Depends on the game, I suppose. The point is that these guys have 8 hours of free time per day to burn. It doesn't take very much discipline to restrict your gaming to 8 hours per day.

Well...you would think so, but with how many people are addicted to gaming and will even skip studying on an exam night to game, skip family time, etc for gaming, restricting to 8 hours is difficult for those people.

The Laker Kid wrote:TV in general robs you of valuable time that could be spent learning another skill, or just experiencing the world.

It's true, so can forums even, but luckily for the most part, forum participation can be accomplished in the midst of doing other things.

Liam_Gallagher wrote:

svart wrote:Depends on the person i guess.

I am 49, still a hardcore gamer. But i am disciplined, i always was. i don't pull all-nighters during the week. i still do it on occasions in the weekends, but i don't let it impact my work or my time with my family.

You pull all nighters on the weekend and it doesn't affect your family time lol?

yes, my man, i still get up earlier than them, i don't sleep that much regardless of what i do, and they do a lot in weekends.

and just read what you bolded , it says right there on occasions. like, once in a while. hope it helps you better understand.

so you can laugh as much as you want, but it doesn't make you right

hyper316 wrote:Purely from my own experience, I was an avid gamer in my younger days, I spent countless hours overnight playing online games. I can see that see negative effects to lack of proper rest leading to fatigue during the day affecting school and work.

Off the top of my head, I've read Ben Simmons, DeAndre Ayton, Kevin Knox were some NBA players that were big into online gaming. I'd say these players havent lived up to their potential and their work ethics are highly regarded.

Is this a correlation or totally unrelated?

Edit: autocorrect having, should be havent

Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were drunk 12 hours a day.... Not too worried about it personally. Everyone has their vices but who controls them? Thats what makes a champion IMHO

MrBigShot wrote:Online gaming isn't killing their careers. The real reason they haven't lived up to their potential is because they aren't really that passionate about basketball. Didn't DRob and Tim Duncan play dota?

Exactly.
What makes the true greats special is that they have passion. It's a key factor and one of the most important to be truly great. Tom Brady would be a perfect example.

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HMFFL wrote:

MrBigShot wrote:Online gaming isn't killing their careers. The real reason they haven't lived up to their potential is because they aren't really that passionate about basketball. Didn't DRob and Tim Duncan play dota?

Exactly.
What makes the true greats special is that they have passion. He's a key factor and one of the most important to be truly great. Tom Brady would be a perfect example.

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for whatever it's worth, think it was sean elliot maybe who did? i seem to recall that he played starcraft, instead. i don't recall any nba player (other than jeremy lin) being a dota player. think there's an NFL player who talked about it too, blake martinez IIRC.


as far as the actual discussion, i couldn't really quite make out OP's examples as tending to his point but i think i probably agree with most people's takes here: overdoing it = bad, if it means degrading your passion for basketball, that would be bad, if it means degrading your basic life functions then that's super, duper bad. but in the right framework it could certainly be good and help train some skills that these players might not get the chance to train, or give them more reps in doing so. probably endless pros and cons if you dive into the neuroscience of it, too. so if you wanna talk about dopamine, impact on the nervous system, and if gaming is negatively impacting those things too much then it'd be uber bad.

brutalitops wrote:Nah I want my players at the club and drinking till 2am instead like the good old days

And don't forget that good ol' half pack of cigs during halftime too, kind sir!

Like any hobby, if you do it in moderation, it's not an issue. Yeah if you play to 5am the night before a game it'll impact your performance, but that's more about not sleeping than it is about whatever you were doing staying up.

Chemical/body altering substances being the exception. You could play 8 hours of games a day and go to bed early and you'll play great. But if you party for 8 hours and drink, no matter how much rest you get you'll be slower the next day from alcohol in your system.

The Laker Kid wrote:TV in general robs you of valuable time that could be spent learning another skill, or just experiencing the world.

Another time waster is social media, and I'm sure also NBA players waste their free time scrolling mindlessly their social media feeds when they could be doing something more productive.

Any time not working on their basketball career is a waste. Just give it all to the game for a decade. And give it your best. NBA players retire in their 20s or 30s. Not in their 60s or 70s.

Just give it all to the game

As opposed to other stuff like cocaine and hookers?

Also:

I'm 38 and still play video games. Career is going well. Only reason I can see it as an issue is if it's an addiction and playing 12 hours a day.

I think it's odd we try to shame players for having hobbies.