NBA Players Keep 1-Game Rituals Alive, From Jason Terry’s Opponent Shorts to Rondo’s 5 Showers
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 19
NBA Players Keep 1-Game Rituals Alive, From Jason Terry’s Opponent Shorts to Rondo’s 5 Showers
5 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 19
Jason Terry said his superstition streak began in 1997, when he and Mike Bibby slept in full Arizona uniforms before winning the NCAA title over Kentucky.
Terry carried the habit into a 23-year career, wearing opponents’ shorts to sleep before games, keeping signature “CATS” socks and later tattooing the Larry O’Brien Trophy before Dallas won the 2011 NBA title.
He said the rituals did not always hold: without his custom socks in a 1998 NCAA Tournament game, Terry went 0-for-9, then scored in double digits after the socks were FedExed in for the next round.
Other former NBA players described similarly fixed routines, with Eldridge Recasner requiring a gameday nap and salute to his late father, and Tim Hardaway sticking to the same driving route at home and the same meal on the road.
The report places those habits in a broader NBA tradition that has included Michael Jordan’s UNC shorts, Ray Allen’s timed head shaves, Rajon Rondo’s five showers and Kevin Garnett’s pregame PB&J ritual.
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