While many people around the world play basketball as children and into adulthood as a hobby to enjoy with friends, the elite will go on to make it their careers. There is no higher pinnacle in the sport than competing in the NBA for end of season honors and fans around the world will be betting on who they think will take home the championship this season. 

The NBA is the most globally recognized basketball league in the world which dazzles fans throughout the season with action packed excitement and exhilarating plays every matchday.

We get to watch the best of the best compete in compact fixture lists which involve regular games and a lot of travel for the players of the NBA to endure. Keeping motivated can be tough and it is often the off-court hobbies which help them unwind after a match and help them mentally decompress and relax ready to then start again whether its leading into the off season, or those rare days of rest between games.

Damian Lillard

An all-star NBA player who currently plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, Lillard is also well known for his ventures into rap music. 

Lillard began his career in the NBA at Portland Trail Blazers back in 2012 and only recently left for the Bucks in 2023. While on the west coast he took his hobby of rap further by releasing his debut single in July 2015 “Soldier in the Game” under his rap name Dame D.O.L.L.A. 

He has since released a total of four studio albums and even wrote a song titled “Kobe” which features Snoop Dogg and Derrick Malino as a tribute to Kobe Bryant and was included on the soundtrack for NBA 2K21.

Pau Gasol

Sticking with a musical theme, former six-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA Championship winner with the Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol has always dedicated a lot of his downtime to the violin.

A fervent follower of the arts, Gasol is a close friend of Spanish tenor Placido Domingo and will regularly be in attendance for his concerts and operas and is also a talented pianist with a focus on French classical music. 

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan was one of the greatest of all time in the NBA and went on to play pro baseball as well as star in movies like Space Jam. A hugely successful man, Jordan also took this Competitive Edge to the card tables too. 

Jordan has been a keen poker player since the 90s and would be a difficult player to come up against. His cool demeanor and impressive aura will make it near impossible to tell if he was bluffing or not. 

Chris Paul

The veteran Golden State Warriors point guard, often known as ‘CP3’, keeps his competitive edge in his hobbies too. His love of indoor sports goes from the NBA courts to the bowling lanes which is spurred on further as it’s a great way to spend time with his family.

While bowling may just be a hobby, he can take a lot from the sport into his day job, working on his concentration and aim with the ball in different ways. On top of playing, he has gone on to become the owner of the Los Angeles based bowling team LAX as a real passion project.

Tim Duncan

Two MVPs and five NBA championships to his name, Tim Duncan was a formidable force on the court and so to at the Dungeons and Dragons table. 

Duncan spent his full 19 years in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs and is one of the top players to play the game. Off the court he liked to escape into new worlds playing the popular Dungeons and Dragons game as well as attending renaissance fairs.

Karl-Anthony Towns

The Minnesota Timberwolves star is a huge FIFA fan. With Messi arriving in MLS, American soccer fanhood is booming and the Nba Stars are also well on the bandwagon. 

Towns and his teammates took to FIFA regularly during lockdown to help keep their competitive edge, and the loser each game had to do 20 push-ups as a punishment, so they got some good exercise in while playing too.

Serge Ibaka

An NBA player from 2009 to 2023, Ibaka has since moved to Europe where he plays for Bayern Munich in Germany finishing his NBA career with one NBA Championship while at the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

Alongside his basketball prowess, Ibaka is well known for his love of cooking and has his own YouTube channel “How Hungry Are You” where he goes by the Mafuzzy Chef.

While reaching the top of our profession takes dedication and commitment, players and coaches understand the necessity of finding downtime away from the game to recharge and come back stronger. There are some wildly differing ways of doing so but all are used for the same outcome. 

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