By John Denton
March 30, 2015
ORLANDO – For most people, it’s a simple enough question – ``what did you have for breakfast this morning?’’ – that induces a brief, one-word answer. But for Orlando Magic guard Ben Gordon, a person who proudly admits, ``Hey, I’m cut from a different cloth, man,’’ the reply requires somewhat of a lengthy explanation.
So, Ben Gordon, what did you have for breakfast this morning?
``I woke up and had some oxygen for breakfast and then did a couple of meditations and some prayers,’’ said Gordon, who was up by 5 a.m. ``I went to Yoga and did an hour session just to kind of wake the body up. Then, I went back home and got some treatment and had breakfast. For breakfast I had a whole avocado seasoned with sea salt and ground peppers. I had yellow yams and red kale. Then, I had a smoothie called, `The Butterface’ that is a combination of strawberries, blueberries, peanut butter, Vegan protein and Almond milk. Yeah, that’s about it.’’
That’s about it? Gordon puts more focus on his body and does more exercise before sunrise than most people do all day long. Do you dare ask what he planned to have for lunch?
``We can’t skip my post-practice intake, which is going to consist of a protein shake, some water with concentrated vitamins and vegetable powder,’’ Gordon said with a wry smile. ``Then, for lunch, I’ll have something like some black beans and some texturized vegetable protein that will simulate pasta or chili and then some vegetable pasta. … That’s how I eat. I know my body fat is nearly unhealthy low, but a lot of people are living to eat and I’m eating to live. That’s the difference between me and some others.’’
If it isn’t already quite apparent, Gordon – a 32-year-old reserve shooting guard for the Magic – is extremely careful about everything he puts into his body because he wants to simultaneously improve his health and his maximize his performance on the basketball court. Gordon is former NCAA champion at UConn, a 10-year NBA veteran and someone who has had declining production in recent years, leading some to think that he is nearing the end of the line as a basketball player. Not only is that not true, but Gordon said he feels like he is just getting started with what he has left to offer because of the off-the-charts conditioning of his body.
``I’m still young. A lot of times I hear people calling me old and I’m like, `I’m 32 years old! I feel like I could play for another 10 years!’’’ Gordon said boldly. ``My body fat is 2.5 percent, which is not even healthy, but it just shows that when I put my mind to something that I can accomplish it.’’
Ahhh, Gordon’s famed body fat index – the talk of the Magic locker room of late because of his jaw-dropping numbers. Gordon recently started practicing veganism, a diet that revolves around plant-based foods while also staying away from meat, eggs, dairy and honey. Gordon’s one exception is the occasional slice of New York pizza as a nod to his home state, but he usually burns through the pizza so quickly that it rarely has time to even absorb into a body that looks as though it was carved from a block of granite.
In a matter of months, Gordon has whittled his body-fat index down from 7.5 percent to 2.5 percent. According to various health journals, the average body fat index for athletes is between 6-13 percent. Upon hearing about Gordon’s microscopic body fat number – 2-5 percent is the minimum needed for physical and physiological health – teammates joked that he should ``eat a cheeseburger’’ or go to the hospital and check himself in.
``All he does is work out, and to be honest, he’s got the most hours in in this gym – I hate to say that – but he’s been a good reality check for me,’’ said standout forward Tobias Harris, Gordon’s closest friend on the team. ``I’ve taken a lot from him. He’s made a lot of money in his career and he’s taken a lot of that and invested it back into his body.’’
Gordon signed with the Magic last July in hopes of revitalizing a career that has been in decline since he left the Chicago Bulls in 2009 to sign with the Detroit Pistons. He’s averaged 6.2 points a game this season, but he’s done that in just 14.1 minutes of playing time a game. Gordon has scored in double figures 17 times – including a season-best 22 in the second game of the season – and in just three of those games did he play at least 20 minutes.
Gordon has found himself in and out of the rotation all season regardless of whether the coach was Jacque Vaughn (52 games) or James Borrego (22 games). Gordon has appeared in 56 games, but he’s come up big recently in short spurs – he had 11 points in 17 minutes against Portland; 13 points in 19 minutes against Houston; and 12 points in 14 minutes against Sacramento – because he’s kept his body in impeccable shape.
``He’s done a good job. He’s stayed ready and he’s put his work in,’’ Borrego said. ``He’s helped our young group by being a pro and showing them how to come to practice every day and how to work. I think he’s put himself in a good position. He’s helped us in the minutes that he’s been given or earned and he’s been a positive for us this year.’’
A career 14.4-point-a-game scorer who is the only rookie in NBA history to win the Sixth Man of the Year award and someone who has twice averaged more than 20 points a game (during the 2006-07 and 2008-09 seasons), Gordon knows he could do more if given more playing time. But he understands his place on the Magic behind developing young guards Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton. He’s continued to work on his game behind the scenes while remaining hopeful that he will get more playing time to show what he can still do.
``It encourages me to think that if I was getting 30 minutes a game, I know my productivity would be close to what it was early in my career or even better because I’m a lot smarter now,’’ said Gordon, who has 99 20-point games off the bench since he entered the NBA in 2004-05 – the second-most in the NBA during that time period. ``That motivates me to continue to work. I’ve set out to show that I can still play this game.’’
He’s shown that he can still play because he has kept his body in tip-top shape by being disciplined with his workout regiment and being almost fanatical about the things that he eats. When he was coming out of high school in Mount Vernon, N.Y. and in need of adding weight, Gordon would wake up before sunrise, lift weights and then devour whole baked Cornish hens.
The 6-foot-3 guard was 175-to-185 pounds in high school, 195 pounds at UConn where he led the Huskies to the 2004 National Title and he said that he’s played at as heavy at 208 pounds before. These days, he’s at a ripped 202 pounds – but only after recently plummeting to 197 pounds. He said he recently lost four pounds – while adding to his muscle mass.
Raved Harris: ``He’s a strong guy. I’m strong too, but he’s a rock.’’
In addition to doing ``hot yoga’’ in 108-degree temperatures, Gordon hired a chef to cook him healthy meals, he has various rooms in his home packed with workout equipment and he talks regularly to a holistic doctor.
And he scoffs at being called a vegan because he says, ``that’s gimmicky.’’ Going to the extremes that he does, Gordon said, is all about improving his mind, body and soul so that he can live a better life while also being a better basketball player.
``My mindset is a little different, but taking care of my body is what keeps me going and it’s something that I love,’’ said Gordon, who is extremely well-red and someone who doesn’t like for his 3-year-old son Elijah to have junk food. ``To me, this is about so much more than just basketball; it’s a spiritual journey where I just continue to work and work and then I let it take me wherever I’m supposed to go.
``First and foremost, it’s about the law of self preservation,’’ Gordon continued. ``I just want to live longer. You can’t control how long you live, but I want to control the quality of my life. So if I live X-number of quality years and I die sooner than someone who has all of these complications, I’d prefer to have a higher quality over the quantity of years. Hopefully, by default, my game, my career and my life will improve too.’’
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