Coffee, the Portland Trail Blazers secret weapon

Forced to endure a brutal travel schedule, the Portland Trail Blazers stay high-powered and high-energy with high quality coffee.

There’s finally something me and all-world athletes have in common: we drink coffee to keep us going throughout the day and night. According to a story from ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, the players of the Portland Trail Blazers have turned to coffee to both combat their rigorous NBA schedule and keep them feeling alert and focused on the floor. In some respects, coffee has become the team’s secret weapon.

At the very least, it’s become a tradition. Holmes writes:

"“It’s a Blazers game-day ritual, carefully timed so that when the pregame meeting starts 35 minutes before tipoff, the players have a hot, fresh cup of java in hand — their pregame pick-me-up.”"

He goes onto remind us how NBA players are humans and how the league’s travel schedule is among the toughest across all major sports. Basketball players travel further and play more games than most any other athletes. It’s no wonder they’re tired.

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And the Blazers, due to their Pacific Northwestern geography, are hit even harder than the

average team. Holmes writes:

"“[The Blazers have] finished first or second in distance traveled in every NBA season since 2008-09. Over that span, not counting any seasons in any of the sports that were shortened by a lockout, Portland has clocked 542,383 miles, some 40,000 miles more than the second-place team, the Timberwolves, and enough to circle the globe 21 times.”"

Rip City, then, needs their coffee more than any other city.

Four years ago, former Blazer Chris Kaman unwittingly began the coffee-era in Portland. After using coffee before games, Kaman said this:

"“I thought it gives more of a good, even energy source than when you take some of the high-sugar, high-carbohydrate drinks,” Kaman says, “[which] really just gives you spikes.”"

Since, the interest in coffee’s effects have caught on among other future Blazers. The team is now never without their coffee setup when traveling, which includes an electric grinder, electric kettle, and two 16-ounce french presses. As Holmes says, they’ve become coffee snobs.

But hey, if it works, it works.

Keep Rip City caffeinated!