Why Do NBA Players Wear Hoodies?
NBA players wear hoodies and sweats to STAY WARM and prevent their bodies from cooling down so they can stay at the right temperature and compete at a high level. NBA players also wear hoodies as a FASHION STATEMENT.
Carmelo Anthony is a NBA player that gained alot of media attention for wearing a hoodie constantly in his workouts during the offseason of 2017.
Why Do NBA Players Need to Be Warm?
The main reason why NBA players wear hoodies is to stay warm. But why?
NBA venues are heavily air conditioned so NBA players tend to wear hoodies on the bench to prevent their bodies from cooling down.
When a NBA player is running up and down the court and engaging in all types of movement, they sweat alot. When they aren’t moving, their bodies naturally will cool down. NBA players need their muscles to be warm as possible since this provides many benefits on the court. This is also why they wear sweats.
Benefits of Wearing A Hoodie
Wearing a hoodie keeps the bodies of NBA player’s warm and improves performance and allows them to compete a high level.
The hoodie holds the moisture and heat so when a player takes them off, their muscles are more ready to be active. If they stayed in their shorts and jersey, they would lose alot of heat.
When the players muscles are warm, they don’t cramp up and it helps their muscles recover. This means their performance doesn’t suffer when they go back in the game.
Researchers have done studies on this and it was found that cooling hurts the muscles’ ability to absorb glycogen, while warming helps the muscles absorb glycogen.
It’s important for the NBA players to stay WARM AND READY. They need to keep their energy or adrenaline up so when they’re called, they perform. Coaches don’t want a “cold hand”.
Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal has said:
“It gets cold in the arena, so we want to keep our heads warm and still be able to pay attention to the game, or warm up and stay warm. At the same time, we want to be in something with swag and style.”
Source: ABS-CBN
Hoodies Are Also Fashionable
Hoodie are also good for NBA players because it allows them to sit on the bench in comfort and style. it’s very fashionable.
Nike designers not only made the hoodies NBA players wear to be comfortable and performance oriented, but also made them fashionable and stylish.
For example, Nike worked on designing a performance hoodie jacket called the Nike Therma Flex for NBA players to wear on the court during warm-ups. The material is smooth, allows the player to move freely, and looks amazing.
The designers put the seams on the back of the shoulders, which makes the player wearing the hoodie look like a slimmer silhouette.
Hoodie Melo
During the 2017-2018, Carmelo Anthony increased the popularity of the hoodie. Hoodie Melo was a term that was created after fans began to see Carmelo Anthony constantly wear a hoodie while working out, mostly with personal trainer, Chris Brickley.
There were numerous clips of Melo playing pickup games in his hoodie and it became big on social media. It was one of the most entertaining highlights in the offseason.
Knicks superfan Robert Gordon even constructed a Carmelo Knicks jersey featuring a hoodie on top of it.
Carmelo Anthony speaks on how it all started:
“It started with a beanie, like I was just in the gym and I didn’t have a haircut, and I was like, ‘I’m just gonna go and throw a hat on. I wanted to sweat, and I just started working back out in the summer. From there, it went to a hoodie and it got out, and the phenomenon started. For me, it was just about showing a different focus that I have, a different motivation, and just locking in to what I have to do. And locking myself into the gym, and locking myself into focusing in on my body,” Hoodie Melo continued. Because I didn’t know what was going to happen. It was so much going on that was surrounding me that I just wanted to find a way that I can just focus in, and that’s when Hoodie Melo was created.”
Source: SBNation