At one end of the spectrum is Wilt Chamberlain, the NBA Hall of Famer who built a Bel Air villa with a mirrored velvet sexual den and claimed to have read 20,000 women.
On the other hand, the three-time AC Green champion is best known for two stamina talents: appearing in an NBA record of 1,192 consecutive games and remaining a virgin during his 16-year career.
Somewhere between these two extremes, presumably, there are several hundred players floating in the NBA’s Disney World isolation bubble as the league prepares to resume competitive action on July 30th. Those who pass the first round of the playoffs will have to wait about seven weeks before the arrival of family or friends. The finals may not end until October 13, making it a three-month journey for the last standing teams.
It is clearly a logistical, physical and emotional test. LeBron James wrote on Twitter that going to Florida seems to go to prison. With 41 road games in a normal normal season, NBA players are used to living outside a suitcase. But this is very different: they are stuck in a state that is a Covid-19 hotspot, potentially resistant to boredom, anxiety and loneliness, however comfortable the accommodation is.
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(@Gifdsports)Stephen A Smith about NBA players who break the Disney bubble because they will be sexually frustrated and will have to go out for “recreational activities” … pic.twitter.com/trgMrAUeAl
June 30, 2020
The need to limit contacts to minimize the risks of spreading the virus is obvious, but a prominent expert wondered if libidinous players will adhere to the rules. “Do we really think that the” recreational activities “these kids are used to will be compromised for three months?” Stephen A Smith thundered ESPN.
“Do you really think people will be without their wives or women?” He added. “Forget three months – they will fight for three weeks … I tell you, they will violate the bubble.” Many players would have preferred to be kidnapped in Las Vegas rather than Disney World, he added, given Sin City’s more adult-oriented diversion set.
However logical and necessary, given the situation, putting players in a strictly regulated exclusion zone for months seems to want to take control that teams often try to exercise on extracurricular activities up to a dystopian extreme.
It was reported last year that U.S. public universities collectively spend millions of dollars each season on hotel stays for their American football teams – before home Games. Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson encouraged his accusations to marry young people, believing it would quench their thirst for wild parties.
Stories about sexual bans are a familiar feature of media coverage during major football tournaments. Ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Miguel Herrera, the then Mexico coach, told Reforma: “If a player cannot go a month or 20 days without having sex, then he is not ready to become a professional player. … Forty days of sexual abstinence will not harm anyone. “
The idea that sexual abstinence improves sports performance recalls ancient Rome and Greece, where sperm was associated with strength and athletes commonly tied their penises. Some coaches discourage sexual activity shortly before games or during tournaments, both believing that frustration encourages aggression, and that sex – and its pursuit – is a source of distraction and fatigue. Modern thinking, however, is more permissive.
“We know that sex, connection, physical contact and orgasms all help us stay healthy,” says certified sex therapist Dr. Jennifer Valli. “Studies show that orgasms help relieve pain, reduce stress and improve sleep.” He adds: “Sexual health is not frivolous. Contributes to quality of life and good health “.
A 2016 study on sexual activity and sport found that: “Current evidence suggests that sexual activity the day before the competition has no negative impact on performance, although high-quality randomized controlled trials are urgently needed” .
Athletes can benefit from the stress-reducing effects of sex, according to dr. Mike Young, Athletic Lab’s performance director, who also studied the topic in 2016, examining the effects of masturbation on acceleration, peak power and vertical jumping, among other things.
As long as you have no qualms about sex and performance – usually related to some sort of religious belief – it’s probably good for you. At least, neutral to you, “he says.” Probably the best summary is that if you feel you need it, you probably do it somehow. “
Contact is biologically important, he says: “Any physical touch reduces cortisol, a stress hormone. A lack of physical touch increases it. It’s not just a perception of need or harm to your well-being, there is actually a physiological response. Humans must have a physical touch. People who have sex regularly – or even a 20-second hug – have reduced cortisol levels. “
Upon restarting the sport, some NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, NWSL and MLS players gave up, citing reasons including fear of infection, injury, family issues and a desire to focus on activism for racial equality.
Young spent several weeks in a bubble in Utah in his role as director of performance for the NWSL’s North Carolina Courage, who returned last month from a pandemic-induced suspension.
“After about a week it turned out that people were getting a little crazy. Basically it’s groundhog day every day, “he says. Despite the sense of community that comes from living together, he believes there is a general mood of unease. In such an abnormal environment, being separated from loved ones is not the only difficulty.
“The teams don’t want to go together in the elevator, it’s a logistical puzzle with who gets the pool right now, who gets the weight room right now, how do you get rid of too many path crossings during meals?” he says.
“The fact that you don’t have free will is an important part of it. We literally have a Starbucks across the street and we can’t go to Starbucks. Players and coaches complain about coffee. To be honest, coffee isn’t all that bad. It’s just that you have no choice of what you want to eat or where you want to go. “
Young predicts that lack of physical contact will be “one of the biggest stress tests” for championships seized with long programs like the NBA. “One week, two weeks, it’s probably not a big deal, but we’re looking at more than six weeks. I think it will be one of the first places where the bubble will break, to be honest. “
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