The NBA season is too long a marathon. That’s 82 regular games spread over six months — and that’s before things get intense in the playoffs. Players wear out physically, making injuries (and shorter careers) more likely. This is also why we all know the term “load management”. Sixers coach Brett Brown was the first person I heard say it that way, but it’s almost a mantra in the NBA now:
“It’s a recovery league.”
Sleep is central to this recovery – and players simply can’t get enough of it. Playing games that take place overnight, followed by travel and strange hotel rooms, and then filming the next day, is not conducive to getting eight or more hours of sleep. Or seven. Or often six. This lack of sleep – especially good, deep REM sleep – takes a physical toll on players, and the league is just beginning to understand the science of it all.
In a must-read article by Baxter Holmes on ESPNhe addresses the “dirty little secret” of NBA players’ lack of sleep and the impact it has.
Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum started taking naps in high school and seeking nine hours of sleep a night. And in the NBA, he goes to bed as early as possible. “Lack of sleep disrupts your recovery, disrupts the way you play, your cognitive function, your mindset, the way you move around the field,” McCollum says. “Sleep is everything.”…
So how much sleep do NBA players get per night during the season? It’s difficult to pin down a ballpark figure, but Czeisler, who has worked with three NBA teams, says five hours a night isn’t an uncommon response from players… That said, a former and four current members of the NBA’s athletic training staff all separately say that six hours of sleep per 24-hour cycle is common among players, an estimate that combines nighttime sleep and the pregame nap typical of many NBA players…
By January, just three months into the 2012-13 NBA season, the testosterone levels (which decrease with lack of sleep) of a player in his 20s had dropped to that of a 50-year-old. (It should be noted that these reductions in testosterone are not permanent, but they require several days of recovery to compensate for.) And as testosterone levels declined for more players, injuries seemed to pile up. Consequently.
It’s worth reading the entire article to see the science and impact. For example, many coaches suggest that most players sleep five to six hours a day, including afternoon naps (and science shows that these naps are not as beneficial as nighttime sleep.
Solving this sleep deficit problem isn’t simple, it exploits scheduling issues – and number of games – which are a topic around the league with no clear and simple solution. There is a growing consensus that there should be fewer games overall and that they should be spread out more to give players more recovery time, but this will likely have an impact on revenue – via receipts door, television offers, etc. – and no one wants to give up money.
Players recognizing the problem is a start, they can take charge of their own health. Just keep an eye on the sleep issue in the years to come, because the problem of lack of sleep is going to become more and more important for teams and players.
