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50
MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2017
the
Eat Right
issue
C
onsider the average size and weight of a player for the New
Orleans Pelicans, the city’s National Basketball Association
(NBA) franchise.Answer — the average player stands at around
six foot, seven inches, on any given day weighing in at 221 pounds.
Now throw into the equation the length of the season. In a season
that lasts from October through April, teams play 82 games, half
at home, half on the road. Add to that pre-season contests and a
training camp that kicks off in late September. And if a team is
successful, there are playoffs, which can last for another two months
given the gods of fortune. There are practices, shoot arounds and
pre-game warm-ups.
Add to the mix the length of the basketball court, 94 feet long and
50 feet wide.
Throw into those statistics the full court presses, the jumps, the
quick turnarounds, fast breaks, soaring two-pointers, three-pointers
and the occasions, powerful dunk.
Those who research such things report that on average an NBA
player will run just shy of three miles in a game, with college and
high school players covering more territory. These are distances in
actual games, not adding to the distance the amount covered in the
many hours of practice and training sessions.
It’s a recipe for exhaustion, given the statistics. Saying that it takes
an incredible amount of energy is quite the understatement, leading
to the question …How does such an athlete fuel his body? Or hers,
for that matter. Let’s not forget the Women’s NBA.
To succeed as a basketball player requires the athlete to be in tip-
top shape, as Jamie Meeks, the staff sports nutritionist for the New
Orleans Pelicans and the New Orleans Saints professional football
team describes. “Basketball is demanding on a different level, a
different plane,” says Meeks. Part of her role with the team is similar
to what she does for the New Orleans Saints, simultaneously for
most of the time, as the teams share the Metairie, Louisiana, sports
campus.
The Pelicans occupy a separate practice facility on the campus and
have a separate players’ lounge, where they can dine and relax.They
are also welcome to enjoy the offerings in the Saints’ dining hall,
part of the organization’s sprawling campus, renovated in 2013.
There are three dining stations, each stocked with food items
designed for health and injury prevention, energy and refueling, and
strength and repair. Like the New Orleans Saints, their brothers in
Feed Me the
Basketball
by
Mary Beth Romig +
photos courtesy
The New Orleans Pelicans