Being a professional basketball player isn’t just about showing up to games and during practice. To achieve true longevity, it involves a certain degree of discipline and commitment off the court as well.
Diet, for example, is a huge part of being an NBA player, and guys often have to be really careful and intentional about what they put into their bodies.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. For Washington Wizards big man Robin Lopez, he battles with temptations every day, and it’s not like he can just order a salad to make things all better.
(via Rob Mahoney of The Ringer)
“I generally will not order a salad…It almost seems like egregiously healthy, arrogantly healthy. I’m ordering a salad, look at me, look how healthy I’m being.”
As Lopez admitted, Snickers bars are his ultimate weaknesses, and seeing one in the minibar at a hotel really adds a new challenge to road trips.
“Usually, the big challenge for me is whether or not I’ll eat that Snickers bar in the minibar. That’s my challenge to see how mentally strong I am that night. Sometimes when I’m leaving the plane, I’ll grab a PB and J or two. I’ll be like, This is gonna be my meal. I’m gonna have a pasta and that’s gonna be my meal. Then it’ll be a challenge as the hours and the minutes tick away. I don’t need that bar. Do I need that bar? It’s an interesting little dilemma for me at times.”
While eating a salad is hardly as dramatic as Lopez makes it out to be, there is (funnily enough) a certain stigma that comes with ordering one. For Robin, it sends off too much “healthy” vibes for him to handle.
And while Robin isn’t the poster boy for healthy eating, he’s been in the NBA long enough to earn the benefit of the doubt from the fans. He’s got to be doing something right.
