Professional athletes dont get to the top by accident. It takes superhuman levels of time, dedication, and focusand that includes paying attention to what they put in their bellies. In this series, GQ takes a look at what athletes in different sports eat on a daily basis to perform at their best. Heres a look at the steadfast daily diet of San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard, who swears by high-alkaline waters.
Kawhi Leonard is typically a man of few words, which actually makes him the perfect star to lead a postTim Duncan Spurs team. (And now hes even getting some MVP contention.) Also fitting: His diet mirrors that same no-nonsense attitude. Grill up some chicken, toss in some vegetables, and youre good to go! Dont make it any harder than it needs to be. Kawhis only real concern: making sure he doesnt have to rush off to the bathroom during a TV timeout.
GQ: Im catching you right in the midst of an eight-game road trip. How hard is it to keep a consistent diet when youre away from home and in a different city every night? Kawhi Leonard: You definitely have to be focused in on it, but its difficult trying to eat something thats good for you on the road. We usually have a nutritionist who will let us know what we should eat and what we shouldnt eat from the hotel menus. She looks all of that over for us throughout the whole year.
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Thats an incredible resource to have. So what is your usual go-to meal when you land in a new city? I just try to stay away from beef and pork. Ill try to get something like grilled chicken or fish. Something like that with some vegetables.
I know that there are some athletes who travel a lot who rely on places like Chipotle or Subway when theyre on the road. Is there somewhere like that youll go if you need a quick meal? I try to go to hole-in-the-wall sandwich places if I do need something quick. Someplace fresh and healthy, like a juice bar. There arent really any household names that I go to.
More local establishments? Mhmm. Exactly.
You always get a better feel for whatever city youre in when you go that route. Yeah, for sure. You could go to Subway anywhere, even in your own hometown.
When you are in San Antonio and you have more options around you, do you have a routine that youre into? Or are you a guy who will eat whatever you feel like eating on any given day? I pretty much keep it free when it comes to that. I dont eat the same meal or at the same time every single day. You get tired of that real quick. I just try to make sure whatever Im eating is fresh and clean and good for my body. Thats about it.
A few years back, I actually had some of the most insanely delicious pancakes of my life in San Antonio. Those probably dont fall into the category of fresh and clean and good for my body, though. Nah. I rarely eat breakfast because of our schedule, actually. If I do, though, Ill try to do an egg-white omelet with some bell peppers and mushrooms. Maybe a side of a bunch of different fruits.
Playing for the Spurs, youre typically making pretty deep runs into the playoffs. You tend to have a longer season than some other teams in the league. Does that force you to make any changes to your diet the deeper into the season it gets? It depends. As the season goes on into the playoffs, sometimes you do lose a little bit more weight. I usually just try to see where my weight is at and either add more vegetables or proteins to my meals to get my weight where I want it to be.
The Spurs are pretty renowned in every aspect as an organization. Have you picked up any tips from the staff members or the nutritionists you work with that have helped out your career? You know, theres definitely a big difference from college into the league. Being in college, you dont have the money to even get organic foods or eat only organic vegetables, organic drinks. You really just go with what you have in front of you. And the college I was at, we were a mid-major, so we didnt really have all the perks and stuff like that other teams might have. We ended up eating a lot of fast food. Obviously, the NBA is different. This is a professional job, and they want you to play at your highest level. So Ive learned a ton being with the Spurs just about basic nutrition.
Was that a tough transition, going from college to the league? It was actually pretty easy, because I really didnt enjoy eating fast food, especially as I got older. It just didnt taste good to me. Ive always liked home-cooked meals. And my mom moved to San Antonio my rookie year and would cook for me, so it was an easy transition.
Theres nothing like mom cooking you a good meal, right? Nothing. Plus, I wanted to better my eating habits before I even got drafted. That summer, there was a lockout, so I had a long time to get everything situated. It was like a four- or five-month wait until I was actually able to be seen by the Spurs. So learning throughout that entire time about good eating habits was a key.
As someone who used to play basketball, Ive always been interested by whether or not professional players eat right before a game. I was the type of player who was sort of superstitious about it. I didnt like to eat anything within two hours before a game. Then I had teammates chowing down on something right before warm-ups. Where do you fall in that spectrum? I definitely dont like to eat a lot before I play. I dont like to play on a full stomach. Sometimes, if Im feeling hungry before a game, Ill eat one of those protein bars, but thats it.
Something thatll give you energy but doesnt weigh you down? Exactly.
That was always the big thing for me. Theres nothing worse than when youre running up and down and jumping and you feel like there is something in your stomach. Yeah, you got guys in the locker room who will be eating a whole sandwich or something. They want to feel heavy or something, I guess.
Nope, not for me. I wasnt trying to go to the bathroom during the second quarter. Like, youve got other things to be worried about out there. I never wanted to feel like I had to shit my pants. Yeah, I definitely understand that.
One last question, just so were not leaving people with that mental image: Now that youre a veteran in the league, do you have any advice, nutrition-wise, for the young kids preparing to make the jump from college ball to the NBA? Id just tell them to try to eat more fresh and natural foods. Eat organic products. Also, watch the type of water youre drinking. Not all water is great for you. I drink a lot of water during the day, but I stay away from certain waters because their pH levels are low. Stick to alkaline waters with a higher pH. Trust me.
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The Real-Life Diet of Kawhi Leonard - GQ Magazine
