With their multi-million dollar contracts, we assumed NBA players were making some insanely over-the-top game day meal requests: Bring on the wagyu beef burgers! Send in the caviar! Order some more truffle-topped pasta! But those visions of a trainer spoon-feeding penne to Steph Curry while he laces up could not have been more off. Turns out, everyone in the NBA is obsessed with a dish you've been slapping together since childhood: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Players, coaches, and sports nutritionists alike confirmed as much in ESPN The Magazine's analytics issue, on newsstands now, and they let us in on a more than a few tasty secrets.
It all started with Kevin Garnett.
During his 2007-08 season with the Boston Celtics, Garnett played a particularly strong game after requesting and eating a PB&J on a whim. From there on out, he required one before every game. The tradition spread to the entire team, and the Celtics' strength and conditioning coach was soon making 20 sandwiches before tip-off. They were bagged and marked with codes. Garnett was a fan of the "S" variety — meaning it was made with strawberry jelly.
Dwight Howard was sent to the doctor for eating too many PB&J's.
Howard used to be a notorious candy fiend — Skittles, Starburst, Snickers, Kit Kats, you name it. Coupled with his peanut butter and jelly addiction, he was housing about two dozen candy bars' worth of sugar every day, and it was making his legs tingle and causing him to miss important passes. Howard got a talking to from literally everyone he knew in the league, but it was the Lakers' nutritionist who finally got him to swear off the sweet stuff … except for one thing. Howard wasn't willing to surrender his sandwiches, but the nutritionist convinced him to switch to organic peanut butter and low-sugar jelly.
Players have very specific requests, and they get pissed if you mess with them.
Carmelo Anthony takes his PB&J with crunchy peanut butter and strawberry or blueberry jelly on a cinnamon raisin bagel, whereas Stephen Curry has brand preferences — Skippy creamy peanut butter and Smucker's strawberry jelly — and don't you dare serve them otherwise. In one epic case, the entire Wizards team revolted when management tried to make their sandwiches healthier with organic peanut butter and whole-grain bread.
The reason behind the obsession is pretty adorable.
When asked why the humble PB&J was the food of choice for the NBA, a lot of players, coaches, and trainers pinned the tradition on the fact that the sandwich is the ultimate comfort food. "It's a soothing memory from childhood," the Lakers' nutritionist Dr. Cate Shanahan reasoned. What grown man wouldn't play better when he just ate the snack Mom used to make him before middle school matches?
The Warriors were put under a PB&J ban.
The team hired a head of physical performance and sports medicine in the fall of 2015, and the new guy had a strict no sugar policy. The players were fine with giving up candy, cookies, and soda, but they had a meltdown when their precious PB&Js were nowhere to be seen on a flight to a game. When the interim coach's pleas went unnoticed, he got Stephen Curry involved, who finally was able to get the sandwiches back on the menu.
The NBA Commissioner has strong feelings about the matter.
In a press conference, Commissioner Adam Silver went on record to say the NBA's official stance on the contentious snack is that it's healthy. He says he's an advocate of balance when it comes to nutritious meals, and he's not going to draw the line at the small amounts of sugar in a PB&J. Game over.
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