According To Patrick Beverley, 50% Of NBA Players Don't Love Basketball

The NBA is a grind. It's September - June if you're counting training camp. Free agency takes over the headlines in July. For the best of the best, the Olympics and world games are every other year basically. Not to mention to get to the NBA, you've played hundreds of thousands of hours of basketball in your life, continuing to try to get better to reach a level where you can do it professionally. 

Studies show that roughly 70% of people don't like their jobs and feel disengaged at work. And tens of millions of people watch the NBA night after night. Patrick Beverley has been in the NBA for 11 years and been with five different franchises. He's had over 100 teammates and has a career earnings approaching $100 million dollars. And on his latest podcast with Rone, he admitted that at least 50% of NBA players don't love basketball.

That's shocking to me as a fan. Isn't this a dream job? Making millions of dollars to play a kid's game in front of thousands of people seems like a dream. But when you factor in the constant travel, rumor mill, toxicity of social media, constant possibility you'll be traded and much more, I can see how the job can be stressful. But still, 50%?! That's an awfully high number for a job seemingly everybody that picks up a basketball would want. I do understand that Pro Basketball players can play basketball when they don't always want to, but it just seems insane to me that you can be so gifted and work so hard to get to that level and not completely love the game.

Listen to the full Pat Bev Pod with Rone here and pick up their latest Real Ones merch: