A new article by CBSsports.com reports on the problem of sleep deprivation affecting NBA players, like Lebron James, and how teams are responding to the problem.
In the NBA, trainers, coaches and the billionaires who pay millionaires to play basketball for them are only now beginning to realize how poor sleep habits can devastate performance and perhaps even affect longevity and injury rates. They can be damaging to the bottom line, too.
“I just felt like sleep wasn’t important and the only thing that mattered to me was how I was going to try to get back up there and win,” Lebron James told CBS Sports. “It was very difficult to get sleep, because my mind was racing so much that it didn’t allow me to go at ease.”
Scientists are in agreement that even one sleepless night is the equivalent of having a few alcoholic drinks; 22 hours without sleeping has been shown to cause cognitive and reactive impairment comparable to being legally drunk.
“Sleep is the most important thing when it comes to recovery,” James said. “And it’s very tough with our schedule. Our schedule keeps us up late at night, and most of the time it wakes us up early in the morning. … There’s no better recovery than sleep.”
