Walk into any NBA locker room a couple of hours before tip-off and you might be confused. It appears NBA stars are preparing to play football instead of draining 3-pointers or throwing down rim-rattling dunks.
Thigh pads. Hip pads. Chest pads. Before players pull on their jersey and lace up shoes, they first put on their pads.
"Guys hit the floor a lot,” said veteran point guard Chucky Atkins. "You get bruises all the time. They’re just like regular tights. Almost everyone is using them.”
Imagine baseball-like sliding pants that feature permanently bonded compression pads worn underneath those baggy shorts.
"They’re really light weight. They don’t hinder you at all,” said Nick Collison. "The game is so physical. You get random knees to the thigh or an elbow to the hip. Little things like that are avoided.”
McDavid Inc., an Illinois-based manufacturer of protective sports apparel, has been the basketball "pad” leader. Other companies, including the shoe giants that sign players to lucrative deals, are investigating manufacturing padded shorts that help absorb shock.
"You really started seeing players start to use them two or three years ago,” said forward Desmond Mason. "Now almost everyone wears them. Why wouldn’t you? They help minimize injuries.”
The only restrictions are shorts and tops must use soft padding. Hard or metallic pads are prohibited. Padded shorts and tops also can’t be visible when a player is standing still in his natural position.
Shaquille O’Neal took NBA "pads” to a whole new level during the 2004-05 season.
After suffering a rib injury on Christmas Day, O’Neal asked Miami Heat trainer Ron Culp to borrow a flak jacket from the Dolphins. A couple of weeks later, O’Neal was presented with a lighter, less restrictive padded shirt he wore underneath his jersey.
Athletes in all sports have benefited from modern-day equipment. Golfers have benefited the most with titanium shafts and modern balls that do everything but dance on a green.
Baseball players have benefited from better gloves to maple bats that have raised controversy because they splinter more than traditional ash bats. Football equipment has come miles since those leather helmet days.
Basketball is no different. It’s now rare to see someone break a backboard. Wood floors are state of the art. But padded pants and shirts are a relatively new technology that has swept through the NBA and college programs.
Thunder rookie guard Russell Westbrook wore compression padded shorts underneath his sky-blue UCLA shorts.
"I always get hit. I’m taking hard falls all the time,” Westbrook said. "It helps coming off screens. One of the bigs (centers) can hit you with their knee. I can’t imagine playing without them.”
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