Recipe for Success: The NBA’s Food and Beverage Obsessions
How comfort food and beverages became folk lore within NBA circles
JUST TWO GAMES after sustaining a groin injury that would derail his initial season with the Lakers in 2019, LeBron James made a statement that sent the league into a frenzy.
As he walked through the players’ tunnel at Staples Center, James, who was sidelined with the aforementioned injury, had something in his hands: a glass of wine. Social media was ablaze with thousands of opinions, with some claiming James was disrespecting the game and his teammates, while others claimed his choice of beverage didn’t matter. But why is it, some wondered, that an athlete of James’ caliber drinking alcohol — especially while rehabbing an injury?
James’ story begins many years earlier, and it tells of the “growing up” process of coming to the NBA.
While in Miami, James was praised for his strict diet and strong work ethic. Among the things banned from James’ diet was alcohol. But James, like many others in the NBA, watched from afar as teammates in his locker room indulged in the beverage. Additionally, James’ childhood friend and business partner, Maverick Carter, was a wine aficionado even in James’ days in Miami, easing James’ transition from abstinence to indulgence.
As he transitioned into his 30s, James interest grew — and the love affair between basketball’s greatest superstar and the gilded grape began.
During the offseason, James would travel to wineries, even traveling with Chris Paul to learn about the development of Napa red wines, James’ personal favorite. He also questioned the process of the development — like how much it cost to run a winery; why certain grapes were planted in specific areas; etc.
Soon, James’ growing interest in wine would go viral.
WHEN JAMES AND his closest friends in the league — Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony — became known as the “Banana Boat Crew” during a trip to the Bahamas, their love of wine was only beginning. The photo of James, Wade, Paul, and actress Gabrielle Union (without Anthony) on a Banana Boat made waves around the internet.
But, back on their rented yacht, another viral photo emerged. It is of the four NBA superstars enjoying a toast with four glasses of red wine. Their dilemma before the photo, according to ESPN, was choosing the right bottle of wine. Anthony brought his own to the trip, but he realized Wade and Paul both had their own strong opinions over which wine to drink. And after this moment, this quartet of NBA stars would never relinquish their newfound love for wine.
By 2017–2018, James’ last season in Cleveland, he had graduated from being mildly interested in wine to becoming a full-on oenophile.
After games, James, along with veteran teammates like Dwyane Wade, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, and Channing Frye, would go out to eat, with the wine selection of the evening quickly becoming of utmost importance in these team dinners. As the NBA’s oldest roster before a February trade deadline frenzy, the Cavaliers were among the teams at the forefront of this wine obsession.
James’ Instagram quickly became filled with wine-related posts, and though James often remained mum on his love for wine, for commercial and financial reasons, it became clear how much he sought the beverage.
In December, as James turned 33-years old, the Cavs took a detour on their road trip to accommodate the cravings of James and his teammates. The Cavaliers were on a California based road trip, with stops in Golden State and Sacramento, concluded by a game in Utah on James’ birthday.
The Cavaliers headed for Mayacamas, an extremely famous Napa winery, where the staff rushed to prepare for an NBA team to enjoy Napa’s finest offerings. One by one, glasses of chardonnay, Dom Pérignon, and cabernet begin to flow.
Later, on the same trip, James and the Cavaliers visited the Brand Napa Valley winery, where they were presented a challenge. Inside the fermentation room were three varieties of wine — a cabernet sauvignon, a cabernet franc, and a Petit Verdot. Additionally, there was a bottle of Brio, a Bordeaux-style red blend, at each table.
The challenge? Come up with the exact concentration of the three wines to create the brand’s Brio.
After tasting and testing, many Cavs players were close to the final formula (65 percent cabernet sauvignon, 30 percent cabernet franc, and 5 percent Petit Verdot). But none were closer than Kevin Love, who was within one percent of the actual formula, despite going strictly off of taste.
But when asked who knows the most about wine on the veteran-laden Cavaliers squad, Wade claimed it was James, and not Love. Even Love admitted, “[LeBron] has a supercomputer in his brain” when it comes to recalling senses — particularly the smells and tastes of wine.
Though it’s easy to forget, the 2018 season is among the most impressive feats of James’ illustrious career. His regular season, despite the Cavaliers struggling with injuries and chemistry issues, still stands out as one of his best, especially when considering this was an athlete turning 33-years old, who had played in 7 straight finals.
Throughout the season, James’ performance became so inspiring that his coach, Tyronn Lue, referred to him as “Benjamin Button” because of his ability to seemingly gain youth and athleticism as he aged, and James began to refer to his career as aging “like fine wine.”
In the playoffs, James arguably had the most dominant individual postseason ever, hitting multiple buzzer-beating, game-winning shots and dragging his ailing Cavaliers teammates to their fourth straight Finals appearance, which was James’ ninth overall.
So, one must be wondering, is there a correlation between wine and the continued athletic dominance of many mid-30s athletes who love wine? The supposed benefits of wine, supported by wine sommeliers, include cardiovascular benefits, increases mindfulness, and benefits the heart — through wine’s health benefits aren’t necessarily accepted outside of the wine community.
But, as James reasoned, “I’m playing the best basketball of my life,” when asked about his love for wine, “and I’m drinking some wine pretty much every day .”
DESPITE BEING THE most publicized advocate of the wine revolution in the NBA, however, James and his teammates aren’t the only players in the league that are infatuated with the beverage.
Many players, including Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Jimmy Butler, along with the aforementioned Paul, Wade, and Anthony are now full-blown oenophiles.
Curry, who lives in the Bay Area, often takes trips to Napa for a reprieve from the stress of the NBA season, where he usually unwinds with a glass of Bordeaux.
Durant, who, according to ESPN, is interested in both what wines taste best with certain foods and how the environment affects wine, prefers to settle down with pinot noir.
Butler, who, like Durant, admires pinot noir, often travels with a wine-equipped suitcase, which he brought to the summer Olympics in Rio. Butler, the new star athlete for the Miami Heat, admitted that, during the recent quarantine, he is “doing nothing but drinking wine and working out. Reportedly, Butler wishes to own an Italian winery in his retirement.
Anthony’s interest in wine began when he was in Denver, though, back then, his favorite wine only included riesling. But, as he engaged in taste tests, visited wineries, and hosting expensive dinner parties, Anthony’s wine knowledge grew. At one particular dinner, with over 80 guests (who were wine aficionados) instructed to bring their best bottle of wine, Anthony, who brought a 1990s Dom Pérignon Brut Rosé magnum, was placed in the top three.
Paul, who began with riesling, soon became infatuated with wine as well. In 2015, Paul met Chris Miller, whose wife is a sommelier, one of the most exclusive titles in the world, let alone the wine industry. After showing Miller a photo of Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay Taillepieds on his phone, Miller and Paul befriended each other, beginning Paul’s journey into the world of wine.
But all of these players are topped by Dwyane Wade, who, in partnership with Pahlmeyer wine, created, “D-Wade Cellars,” Wade’s very own wine label.
Gabrielle Union, the wife of Wade and one of the subjects of the “Banana Boat” photo, even claimed, “Now no longer are people impressed by your financial portfolio or how big your house is. Nobody talks about square footage. Nobody talks about cars or jewelry or whatever. It’s who can bring the best bottle of wine.” Union saw firsthand how star athletes went from avoiding wine to obsessing over it, a topic she writes about in her book, We’re Going to Need More Wine.
Aiding the growth of NBA players’ love for wine is Vivino, a Danish app created to help new wine enthusiasts navigate the variety of names, labels, and flavors found on menus worldwide. By simply taking a picture of a wine label, users are given thousands of reviews, along with food pairings and flavor notes.
Kevin Love described the app as “Netflix for wine” to ESPN, and Curry said “Shoutout to my Vivino app” during an interview.
Said Blazers guard CJ McCollum, who enjoys pinot noir and was on a veteran-laden, wine-loving, Trailblazers squad when interviewed by ESPN in 2018, Vivino is “life-changing.”
THOUGH EVERY NBA team hires athletic trainers and nutritionists of the highest expertise, there is one food, one desire that the league hasn’t been able to shake: the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
The story of the humble PB & J was passed down from teams and players for over a decade now. As the story goes, a player on the Celtics complained of hunger and asked for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Kevin Garnett, in a line now-infamous within NBA circles, added, “Yeah, let’s get on that.”
And from that moment onwards, there was no turning back.
Bryan Doo, then the strength and conditioning coach for the Celtics, began whipping up multiple sandwiches before every game. Garnett and the Celtics went on a roll after their PB & J epiphany. This season, the 2007–2008 season, was among the greatest in the storied history of the Boston Celtics, as Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen led the team by winning 66 regular-season games en route to the 2008 championship.
But the sandwich that took over the Celtics’ locker room was only beginning to spread to the rest of the league. Word about the Celtics’ new pre-game routine went around the NBA, little by little, changing from folklore to reality in every team’s locker room. The era of PB & J in the NBA was on, and there was no turning back.
IN 2013, WHEN Dwight Howard joined the Lakers, he had a massive issue. Once being touted as the next Lakers great who would follow in the footsteps of great Lakers bigs like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal, Howard was massively underperforming in L.A.
Stemming from his ailing back and shoulders, Howard looked like a shell of his former self, despite being by far the NBA’s best center the season prior with the Orlando Magic. But there was another issue. that plagued Howard, and only exacerbated his issues: his diet.
Whereas athletes like Tom Brady are legendary in sports circles for their strict, moderated diets, Howard became known for his candy addiction. Dr. Cate Shanahan, the Lakers’ nutritionist at the time, told ESPN, “You name it, he [Dwight Howard] ate it.” According to ESPN, as Howard complained of a tingling sensation in his legs and fingers, Shanahan vowed to resign if cutting back on sugar didn’t improve his performance.
But there was one demand Howard asked: could he still have PB & J’s?
Shanahan relented, albeit while demanding Howard try healthier, more nutrient-dense ingredients to make his sandwich — including organic peanut butter and low-sugar jelly. Howard relented, and his performance quickly improved, helping the Lakers salvage a postseason appearance in an otherwise disappointing season.
TWO YEARS LATER, in Golden State, as the Golden State Warriors embarked on their record-breaking 73–9 campaign, there was an issue that Luke Walton, the interim coach for the ailing Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, and the other members of the team needed to solve: there were no more PB & J’s.
See, in the summer, Golden State hired Lachlan Penfold, an expert in sports medicine and physical performance, with a background in Australian rugby. Penfold’s first mission was simple: have the players eat healthier, specifically by cutting out sugars from their diet.
So, on their first flight of the season, there were no cookies, soda, or candy to be found on the team plane, not even for the coaches. But, as Walton and Curry described to ESPN, there were no PB & J’s either. Now, by this time, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich was a staple in NBA locker rooms.
But as players wondered why their favorite sandwich didn’t make it on their first flight, Penfold stepped in: “We’re not doing sugar,” he said. Walton, who masterfully guided the Warriors to a 24–0 start, an NBA record, without Kerr at his side, was incensed.
According to ESPN, Walton began to engage in what was jokingly referred to by Baxter Holmes of ESPN as “the Great PB&J War of 2015.”
On team flights, Walton would tell attendants, “Peanut butter and jelly,” when asked what he wanted to eat. And every single time, he was told that the PB & J wasn’t an option. Still, he would ask for the same sandwich every time, even claiming that if he couldn’t have a PB & J, he wouldn’t eat anything. After being unable to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before a November 20th loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Warriors’ first loss of the season, Walton brought out his kingpin.
Steph Curry, who, like many other players, decided to make the PB & J part of his pregame routine after trying it once, begged Penfold for the sandwich. Penfold relented, and he, like many other trainers and athletic performance consultants in the league, found himself whipping up the sandwiches pre-game.
Now, PB & J’s are a source of warfare between teams, as hosting teams look to prepare the delectable sandwiches with organic nut butters and natural jellies. But, for visiting locker rooms, home teams often foist processed, once frozen ingredients on their opponents in a nutritional warfare of sorts. Nutritionists tell their players to avoid any processed, frozen PB & J’s, but, in reality, they don’t need to.
This is because NBA players are known to be superstitious and incredibly detailed when it comes to keeping a routine. Like memorizing multiple phone numbers, athletic trainers, team chefs, and nutritionists must remember the PB & J preferences of each player. There is a code for these preferences, almost like a foreign language: “S” means strawberry, “G” means grape, “C” means crunchy; that doesn’t even consider whether players like their bread toasted vs. un-toasted or crustless vs/ crusted. Yes, the sandwiches are so popular in the NBA that almost every player adopts the childhood classic as part of a pregame routine.
It is now customary in the NBA to prepare 20 specific, unique PB & J sandwiches before each game, and it is routine for all 20 of them to be gone before tip-off. And if any team tries to take away the sandwich, they, like Penfold in Golden State, will face the fury a league of players who demand their childhood favorite.
Whether it is a longing for childhood memories, the daily stress of an 82-game season, or a consistent feeling of anxiety, NBA players are known to cling to certain things, including food and beverages.
Athletes are known to be superstitious, and superstitious to an extreme level, at that. One only needs to hear the story of Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics to realize how quickly athletes cling to an object that they superstitiously believe is helping them perform better or win games.
In the case of wine, players likely believe in the supposed health benefits of wine, and, given their consistently stressed state, wine may be beneficial to wind down and relax.
But, the lack of physical, proven evidence around both the nutritional/performance-enhancing value of a peanut butter and jelly and a glass of wine proves a larger point that applies to all sports: if you believe something is true, it might as well be true.
Sources:
- “The NBA’s Secret Addiction” by ESPN
- “How PB&J Became the NBA’s Lucky Snack” by Vogue
- “Heat’s Jimmy Butler still up early, but with no one to play with” by the Sun Sentinel
- “The NBA’s Secret Wine Society” by ESPN
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Thanks for reading!
Spencer Young
