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Washington Wizards head coach Scott Brooks knows all the tricks of the trade. Having been an NBA player for 10 years, he's seen every tactic and every sign from players, enough to give him credibility with stars from the old school and the new.
Coming into the start of training camp, some players comes looking bigger and in much different shape than the prior season, but Brooks is aware of just what has gone on, even if it doesn't come from their mouths.
“Being a former player, I kind of know all the tricks,” Brooks told Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. “One of the tricks is: ‘I lifted a lot of weight this summer and bulked up.' That’s a trick. You didn’t ‘bulk up,' you just gained weight. And your body fat percentage is higher.
“When a player starts the conversation with that, you know he’s not in shape. But we [keep in] touch [with] our players all summer, we text them – that’s the only way you can communicate with some, who never check their voice messages – but you know once guys come in.”
But while a lot of former players and traditionalists insist that the legends of yesteryear were in better shape, Brooks is very much aware of the difference between the two eras.
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“The guys we’ve had come in the last couple weeks, I see no problem with their conditioning,” noted Brooks. “People who always say ‘The old school was better,' taking all of October to get into shape, that’s one place the old school wasn’t better. …Guys are in shape. It’s big business.”
The NBA is more competitive than it's ever been, with more talent out from college, the G League, and an abundance of international players that can take one's spot at a moment's notice. The game is more demanding and physically-exerting than ever, with a demonic up-and-down pace in most high-level games that would force teams of the past to take a breather.
Players are lankier, more fit, and more dynamic than ever, from 6-foot-11 gifted-ballhandlers to 6-foot-3 rim-rocking speed demons that stick to a disciplined diet to pull off heroics through and 82-game season.
