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How to look like a good basketball player
How to Become a Better Basketball Player
Do you play basketball? Have you ever thought of becoming the best player in the court? This article is here to help you improve your basketball skills and become the best in the game. You have seen the list of the best basketball players in the world.
The likes of LeBron James, Michael Jordan, the late Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Magic Johnson all started like you. All they had was a dream and no skills. How did they make it? What made them rise to become the best basketball players of their times? Was it their condition, skills, strength, agility, and power?
In this article, we’ll look at the best tips you can borrow to become the best basketball player. Let’s go!
Be fearless
Do not be afraid to fail. It is through mistakes that we learn. Always encourage yourself to beat the records you have set. Do not see yourself as weak or someone who can’t do it. Never mind what your friends, family, or teammates will say.![]()
Try to overcome your fears. Hit the gym, train hard, and go the extra mile to improve your weaknesses. Avoid saying there is a stretch or part you can’t play. Try harder, and in the end, you will notice some good results.
Know your role
Know where you have been positioned in your team. Remember that you are not working alone but as a part of a team. Know your position on the court and acknowledge it. You can’t be everywhere, doing everything. If you are not comfortable with the role you have been allocated, talk to your teammates or coach. Ask for a change to a more suitable position.
By knowing your part, you will put all your skills into it, practice and hone your skills to become the best. Also, understand who is your immediate teammate, your role mate, and what roles your teammates are taking.
Learn and study the game
Always try to learn and practice the game to be the best. There are many resources out there that you can read or watch to become the best basketball player.
YouTube can be an excellent platform for training.
Vertical jumps, especially, can be hard to learn if you are new in the game. Luckily for you, this excellent vertical jump resource has done the hard digging for you, with a review of the top exercises you can utilize to enhance your vertical jumps quickly.
As opposed to most exercises out there that can be faulty, these are known to deliver the right results within a short timeframe. You only need to set your goals and dedicate yourself to them.
You might have the best skills, but without dedication, you won’t succeed. Understand the game and dedicate yourself to becoming an all-time performer.
Give your all
When practicing, playing or training, always try to give your best. Do not look at what anyone else is offering. Just try to be you and give it all you have. Avoid excuses and complaints, and always try to accept criticisms and corrections from your coach or people who are more experienced than you.
Take mistakes as a stepping stone and accept where you are wrong while improving on your weaknesses. Errors enable every individual to enhance, so make them work to your benefit.
Keep improving your skills
Being skilled in a game does not mean you stop acquiring more. Always try to learn from others and also through online platforms. With the advancement of the internet and other learning modules, you can easily acquire new skills even without paying for them.
Remember, in any field, the more you focus on one thing, the more you lose on improving others. It would be best if no skills were left behind. Follow the trends and be updated on every aspect of your game.
Avoid complaints
Do not be a complainer when you lose something. Never blame your coach or teammates when something does not work out. Be responsible and always learn how to fix issues. However, you need to accept that some situations are not within your control and always avoid anger, stress, and bad attitudes towards your teammates.
If possible, always encourage team building to bond with your teammates. Avoid evil thoughts and emotions while in the game. Focus on scoring and give it your best.
There are other tips which you can also borrow that include training both your body and mind, along with developing other capabilities. In this article, we have discussed some of the main aspects of improvement, hoping they will help you in your basketball career. Always try to give your best no matter the situation.
There is much competition out there, and everyone at any time hopes to outshine you. Use the advice provided in this article plus others to make yourself better. Provide your best to be on the top of your game.
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How to become a better basketball player, according to NBA legends
You play pickup ball with your friends each week, but you can’t seem to keep up.
You’ve been working hard in the gym, hitting the weights to boost your fitness, but nothing seems to be working. The best way to sharpen your skills on the court? By picking up tips, tricks, and training suggestions from some of the best professionals in the sport.
Whether it’s boosting your speed, stamina, shooting, or mental toughness, we have some options for you to help your pickup skills.
Here’s your basketball training guide:
PassingJason Kidd – former NBA point guard, Milwaukee Bucks head coach
Back when he was age 34, Jason Kidd had one of his best seasons, joining greats Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson as the only players to average at least 13 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds per game. Kidd shares some tips on how to deliver pinpoint passes and achieve your personal triple-double: strength, speed, and endurance.
Passing Skills
“I always felt passing isn’t so much working on passing as it is anticipation: What does the eye see, and can the mind relay that to my body? What does this guy like to do? Does he like to go right or left? If I see somebody is going backdoor, can I get it to him in stride so that he can catch and finish?”
Hand-Eye Coordination
“How do you work on sight and passing? Try to throw a strikeout in the [batter’s] box.
If you are playing strikeout with a buddy, if you see he doesn’t like the ball inside, can you throw on the inside corner on the plate consistently? I think this is good for anybody with a son or daughter—can you throw pitches to an 8-year-old consistently where you know he or she can hit it? Can you throw the ball so it is in their sweet spot? That isn’t a very easy thing to do.”
In the Gym
“I do a lot of leg work—stepups with 30-pound dumbbells, leg press, calves and calfraises—and I do situps in between each set. I’m a big fan of Pilates for maintaining your strength. I can go an hour or 30 minutes to stretch and work on my flexibility and my abs. I don’t run a lot, but I do try to swim five times a week. I also play one-on-one with a good friend not so much to beatng him but more to chase him, stay in front of him, andmove my feet.”
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StaminaKobe Bryant – Retired NBA legend, Los Angeles Lakers
When he was at his peak, Bryant was the NBA’s best overall scorer.
Over the years Bryant bulked up with a regimen that combined Olympic lifts with track work. He shared his secrets for playing with the same intensity each time you hit the court.
Conditioning
“You want to make sure you go into the upcoming season in tip-top shape. My conditioning comes from running, whether it’s on a track, on a field, or on the court itself just doing suicides or sprints. Whatever your program is, the key is to push yourself to a level where you’re hurting. You can’t gain conditioning without going through it. You’re going to have to feel some pain, you’re going to have to feel like your lungs are burning, that sort of thing.”
Consistency
“If you watch me train, it doesn’t look like I’m overexerting myself. It’s an everyday thing. You have to abide by your program religiously.”
In the Gym
“During the season, I focus a lot on weight training, building up my strength level as the season progresses.
Clean pulls, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, back squats, things of that nature. In the off-season, it’s about getting stronger as well as more agile. Then, obviously, you want to get on the court and work on your skills. I shoot between 750 and 1,000 makes a day.”
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ShootingCuttino Mobley – Former Houston Rockets, L.A. Clippers guard
The former Clippers and Rockets guard was one of the best 3-point shooters in the league during his playing days. Here’s how to shore up your own longdistance stroke.
Warm-Up
“Start in at the rim, almost like a layup with jump-shot form, and shoot about 100 shots inside, then start moving farther out. It’ll just become muscle memory from repetition.”
Proper Form
“Tuck your elbow and line it up with your knee, and don’t shoot at the rim, shoot up over it. Put some air under the ball so you give it a chance to go in.
Pretend you’re picking an apple out of the basket. Reach up, go inside the basket with your release, andfollow through with your index and middle fingers. That’s what your form should be: up, pick the apple out of the basket, then back down. You don’t want to be leaning back when you shoot, either; you just want to go straight up and come down on the same spot.”
In the Gym
“Do as many pushups pullups, and dips as you can. Your jump shot comes from your triceps and your wrist strength. You don’t have to be lifting all those weights to shoot.”
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SpeedLeandro Barbosa – Phoenix Suns guard
Leandro Barbosa, “the Brazilian Blur,” previously won the Sixth Man Award earlier in his career, partly because he’s proven himself to be faster than just about anybody in the NBA. His experience will help improve your speed.
Take Up Soccer
“When I was a kid, I used to play soccer without shoes on the street.
I don’t have a lot of ball-handling skills like Steve Nash, but my thing is just to get the ball down the court and score. Soccer really helped me develop my quick feet.”
In the Gym
“I don’t do a lot of upper-body stuff, but I do leg presses, Romanian deadlifts, and some other lower-body work every day. I also try to do exercises while I’m wearing a weighted shirt. People say it can be bad for your knees, but I do a lot of exercises with it on to keep my legs strong. Sometimes, I’ll just walk around the locker room with it on. Then, when I take it off, I can really feel the difference.”
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Mental ToughnessGilbert Arenas – Former Washington Wizards guard
“Basketball is all mental,” says eccentric guard Gilbert Arenas. “Everyone’s talent is the same, but the mental aspect separates stars from superstars.” Heed his advice and be as tough upstairs as this former clutch shooter.
Redirect Your Energy
“My confidence got hurt coming into the league [Arenas was drafted 31st overall in the second round; he expected to go higher], but after seeing an old highlight tape, I realized that it’s just basketball. I put all my frustration and energy into basketball for two weeks. I did it, and I got to play, and I just decided that [my intensity] is what got me on [the team], and this is what’s going to keep me on it.”
Find a Training Partner
“You need someone to challenge you, because it keeps you motivated. He’s going to make you work hard for what you do. You need somebody like that.”
The Psychology of Game Winners
“When we play pickup games, I won’t shoot the ball until it’s the last shot,” says Arenas. “I’m the only one who’s going to take it all the way until we lose or we win. I’ve been doing that for the last three years. You have to have that mind-set: If you don’t make it, you have to live with it.
As many shots as Michael Jordan’s made, he’s missed three times as many.”
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For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!
White envy They looked like ghetto bandits and pissed off the fans. Now the world is equal to them. In the United States, it has long been decided that there are no athletes who have a better sense of fashion than basketball players from the NBA. Lenta.ru looked into how basketball games turned into fashion shows.
“They're targeting my generation, the hip-hop generation. Even if you dress a guy in a tuxedo, it won't make him a good guy. A killer in a business suit is still a killer,” Allen Iverson said. The league's biggest star of the early 2000s, the man called the "new Jordan", the most popular and at the same time hated player of the generation, was furious. Before the next 2005/2006 season, league commissioner David Stern introduced an official dress code for basketball players, which banned all hip-hop in appearance.
And Iverson was one of the reasons.
Like gangsters
Hip-hop culture was already popular in the 1990s, but it was hard to get beyond the African-American ghettos. Successful black Americans dressed and acted exactly like whites. It is unimaginable that Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, or Tiger Woods would appear in public in trumpet jeans, a bandana, or a finger-thick gold chain around their necks.
But at the beginning of the new century everything changed. Young guys in the NBA carefully copied the behavior of rappers, and sometimes tried to become one themselves. The same Iverson, under the pseudonym Jewelz, recorded an album that the league commissioner banned from releasing under pain of disqualification. In 2004, the US basketball team flew to Serbia for a friendly match. For a dinner party at one of Belgrade's most fashionable restaurants, Iverson and young players like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony showed up in baggy jeans and sportswear. Diamonds glittered in their ears, and platinum chains swayed rhythmically around their necks.
The Serbian players opted for more appropriate trousers and jackets.
New generation basketball players looked like ghetto boys, talked like ghetto boys, and at some point started acting like ghetto boys. Day November 19, 2004 went down in history as Malice at the Palace - "Spite in the Palace." 45.9 seconds before the final siren, the players of the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers staged a massive brawl in two runs, which escalated into clashes with fans.
Pacers leader Ron Artest climbed into the stands and punched innocent spectators who he thought had thrown a Coke at him. After that, angry fans ran out onto the floor and began to answer the players. It was already too much. In the USA, unlike Europe, there is not and never was a culture of fans with their fights and obscenity in the stands. Overseas, the whole family go to see the top leagues, and the risk of getting from a two-meter African American is not something that viewers are willing to pay for.
As a result of the fight, the players involved received unpaid suspensions for a total of 196 games, financial losses from which exceeded $ 11 million, two spectators were issued a life ban from attending Pistons games, and the existence of the word malice was learned outside the English-speaking world.
Worst of all, the incident turned fans away from the NBA. The final series between the same Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs was watched by 29 percent of viewers less than the final of the year before.
No wonder: tickets to the games are expensive, so most of the seats in the stadiums are occupied by the middle class, which in the US is predominantly white and Asian. And they absolutely did not want the rules of the ghetto to apply to their lives.
One of the responses to what happened was the dress code that Stern introduced for the players. Starting in the fall of 2005, basketball players had to follow it wherever they appear as NBA basketball players. And it's not just about the space under the stands before and after the games, but also about all the interviews, charity events, visits to schools and so on.
Hip-hop is dead
Stern didn't want to turn basketball players into style icons: he just didn't want them to look like ghetto boys. The stop list includes sleeveless T-shirts, T-shirts, shorts, tracksuits, sneakers, work boots, bandanas and scarves, chains, pendants and medallions over clothes.
It was also forbidden to appear in public with headphones, wear sunglasses indoors. Players were encouraged to wear long or short sleeve shirts, sweaters, club jackets, jeans and even khakis.
All this had to be combined with "suitable footwear". Several players accused the league of racism and decided to defiantly ignore the dress code and pay fines, but Stern threatened them with suspension: "The time has come to decide how they will spend their adult lives: playing in the NBA or not." Sports stars of the past also spoke out in support of the dress code.
For example, 1990s star Charles "Sir Charles" Barkley reflected on the impact that the style of NBA players had on African-American youth. “Young black guys dress like NBA stars, but they don't make the same amount of money. When they go out into the real world, their clothes begin to work against them. If a white guy in a suit and a black guy in a bandana and jersey come to me for an interview, I will choose the one in the suit,” Barkley concluded.
Echoed him and star 1970s Walt "Clyde" Frazier: "These guys are all millionaires, and they should look like millionaires. No other employer would pay that kind of money for a look like that. The brand, image and level are important here - that's what the NBA is.
And the savior came
After grumbling, the basketball players adopted the dress code. And they not only accepted, but also surpassed it, having arranged a real fashion revolution. Instead of rather liberal business casual, the players began to compete in the knowledge of fashion trends. The revolutionaries were led to the barricades of style by the young star LeBron James, who had recently frightened the Serbs with his gangster appearance. In the summer of 2006, he hired stylist Rachel Johnson to design his wardrobe.
The player gave her complete freedom, but problems came from unexpected places. The fashion industry has lived for decades without six-foot African-Americans, and it would be great to continue to live without them.
In response to calls from Ms. Johnson, PR specialists for top brands asked the same question: “Who is this LeBron James?” Rachel had to court one fashion house after another, so that they agreed to sew a suit for a man with a height of 203 centimeters.
But the ice broke, and LeBron's example was followed by other players. Moreover, newcomers who came to the league after the introduction of the dress code looked at the old stars with surprise: how can you put on the first things that come across? Those in response only laughed it off, but it was the clothes that betrayed the difference in generations. Quite quickly, the industry realized that young, rich, athletic and famous men are ideal clients and even brand ambassadors. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, was one of the first to see the potential of basketball players.
The March 2008 issue of Vogue featured a King Kong roaring LeBron James hugging supermodel Gisele Bundchen on the cover. Now Ms. Wintour would be branded a racist, but ten years ago everyone was happy: James became the first black man in history to be on the cover of American Vogue.
In addition to Ms. Wintour, the global financial crisis of 2008 also pushed the fashion industry towards friendship with basketball players, which forced them to look for new tools to promote their products.
An excellent example of cooperation was the union of Calvin Klein and Amare Stoudemire, which began with the basketball player's interest in the brand's products, and ended with Klein's almost friendship with the Dallas Mavericks player. Amare just came to Milan fashion week, Calvin looked at him and realized that the best face of the brand could not be found.
Everything for the front, everything for victory
After the introduction of the dress code, NBA stars began to compete not only in the number of points scored, successful passes and block shots, but also in the number of appearances in glossy publications. Only on the cover of the American version of GQ visited: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Jeremy Lin, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant and Kevin Love.
“Today we are the most stylish and cool athletes. And no one is even close to us. Our generation knows how to look good, and we set an example for children and teenagers. They have to strive for the best,” — said the attacking guard “Golden State Warriors” Nick Young. According to Young, the only people who can be compared to NBA basketball players are the world football stars. “But they grew up surrounded by style,” the player remarked.
However, in basketball there is a person who is used to looking good from the cradle. It's about Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, whose mother, despite not the biggest wealth of their family, always tried to follow fashion and look stylish. Her mother also passed on her love for the fashion industry to Russell, who already in high school paid a lot of attention to appearance. Once in the NBA and becoming a star, Russell thought about the legacy he would leave, and wrote a book on how to dress stylishly.
What's more, unlike his high-end brand counterparts, Westbrook can often be seen wearing GAP, Zara or H&M, and for Barneys, Russell even released a special collection of 62 wardrobe items.
“It is important for me to remember my roots. I haven't always been able to afford shirts that cost $2,000. I don't want to be separated from the people I grew up with, the people from my neighborhood, the kids from the underprivileged neighborhoods, the people who want to dress well but don't have a lot of money. I mix things and find different combinations. I find clothes that everyone can afford. If some guys want to look the same, they can afford it, ”the player commented on his choice.
All-Style
David Stern can be pleased: the players have not even thought about hip-hop culture for a long time, and the attention of the press and television to their half-minute fashion show from the car to the locker room is almost more than to the game itself. As a sign of gratitude, the league commissioner even turns a blind eye to small violations of the dress code. Headphones, indoor goggles, pendants and bracelets over clothing, and even sneakers can be seen again on match day players.
But who cares when it comes to designer sneakers and glasses, and the chain is part of an image that has been adjusted to the details?
NBA officials appreciated the efforts of the players and in 2017 introduced an official award for the most stylish player in the league. Its first owner was, of course, Russell Westbrook. He was also named the Most Stylish Athlete of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine. In total, there are four NBA players in the top ten of the publication's rating - no other league has such a delegation.
But basketball players not only win competitions - they arrange them! Back in 2015, LeBron James' Springfield Productions hosted the All-Star Weekend All-Style Fashion Show. The best players in the league walked the runway and competed to be the most stylish. The winner of the three-round knockout competition was determined by American GQ style editor Will Welch, WNBA star Elena della Donne, designer John Elliot, and broadcasters Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.
J. R. Smith was declared the winner.
By the way, one of Smith's signature tricks - to put on a jacket or coat directly on the naked body - became an occasion for friendly jokes on the part of Barack Obama. The 44th President of the United States has been a basketball fan since childhood, and at the ceremonial receptions of the champion team, the players got hit by the president more than once.
When JR visited the White House in 2016 after the victory of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Obama thanked him for wearing a shirt to visit the president. Smith has already begun to capitalize on his image: he released a T-shirt with the image of his naked torso. Instead of becoming a typical bad boy, he became a style icon. Thank you dress code.
How can a basketball player develop without access to the gym?
4 tips to become a better player, athlete and personality
It happens to everyone that you want to train, move forward, progress, but there is no access to the court and the gym.
This article contains 4 recommendations for this case. Read and apply.
1. Start monitoring your nutrition and sleep
One of the most important components of progress and development on the court is recovery, and nutrition and sleep are its foundation. Without this, stretching, contrast showers and everything else make little sense.
So you can not sit if you sleep 4 hours a day
2. Work on your body
This does not always require a basketball hall or even a gym. Charging, yoga and stretching, some other recovery procedures (only with a really heavy load), core is the minimum that can be done at home.
In fact, at the initial stage, it is possible to exercise effectively and beneficially for the body at home. Add this and you will already become the best around, because you will train more.
Images from our online school where you can train at home
3.
Analyze matches
This will help you better understand the game and increase your basketball IQ. Analyze your game and the game of professionals you want to be like, analyze your opponent. And always pay attention to details.
Kobe Bryant was a crazy basketball player down to the last detail. He watched the matches and noticed the details so much that he knew how his opponent would act in any situation. In his book, he described a moment where, thanks to analysis, Kobe dunked through the center opponent, because he knew how he would put his hand to resist, and was able to remove it.
Curry said that when he watches his games, he pauses and notes what decisions he can make. Then he chooses the best and turns on the tape to test himself in the game. You can do that too.
You can also look at professionals. You turn on the match of a player you are similar in style to and follow his every move.
Kobe does not waste time watching the game during the flight
4.
Learn
Read books, watch educational and useful videos, do something else. You may not become a professional basketball player, but you can always become a good person.
To be successful in the game, one must not only have good athleticism and skills. Knowledge in psychology will help you better understand the actions of opponents. Communication skills will help build better relationships with teammates. Good time management will allow you to use your time more efficiently. A successful career consists not only of playing on the court, but also of acting outside of it.
We add material and tools to the online school that help not only in basketball, but also in life. Some guys start to study better and do more things in a day, because they become more disciplined and learn a lot of new things. This is important because life does not end with basketball.
LeBron has been using the slogan "More than an athlete" for several years now. Because basketball goes beyond the sport where everything ends in the hall.
