How does Braden Smith keep up remarkable workload? ‘I just relax’
One of the most notable developments in the course of Purdue’s recent loss to Michigan State had nothing to do with the score or the Boilermakers’ slip from Big Ten contention.
It didn’t involve the exploits of any player. Rather, it was a particularly unusual substitution. In a rare turn of events in the second half of a 58-50 ballgame between two of the top teams in the Big Ten, Purdue’s star point guard and Big Ten Player of the Year frontrunner, Braden Smith, missed competitive game time.
Purdue was Smith-less for 36 seconds. Smith had just airballed a tightly contested 3-point attempt, one he and Painter felt was a little too tightly contested. They both pleaded with officials as the Breslin Center crowd chanted “airball” with glee, and once play resumed Smith was seated next to Painter, the coach patting his star on the back.
“It’s probably a good thing that he did,” the junior said in reference to coach Matt Painter’s decision to pull him. “Because I probably would have said something that I shouldn’t have.”
The sight of freshman CJ Cox dribbling the ball up the court and directing traffic in Smith’s stead was alien enough to spotlight just how relied-upon Smith is. In fact, Purdue’s dependence on its point guard has no equal at the school in the last two decades.
The last player to best Smith’s 36.6 minutes per game mark this season was fellow guard Brandon McKnight in 2004-2005. Most who rival Smith’s playing time completed the feat during the presidencies of Nixon and Carter, in an era in which being a star meant you didn’t take a seat.
“It’s incredible,” sophomore forward Cam Heide says. “When we were in San Diego (for the November Rady Children’s Invitational) I played 36 minutes the first game, and then 34 the next game. That was something that was new to me. He does it every single night.”
Smith’s rise to this season’s heights began last year, when his mileage ticked up from 30 minutes a night his freshman season to 34. He played a full 40 minutes on five occasions last season, including seven days apart during the Boilers’ Final Four run. He’s already matched that total and then some this year, going the distance eight times.
“I think just as the years go on and you’re used to the style of play, the speed, the physicality of the game, you kind of get used to it,” Smith says. “And I think I’ve done a better job of taking care of my body, resting, just doing those things.”
It’s possible Smith’s workload down the stretch of the Big Ten slate and into the postseason ratchets up even further; four of his complete games have occurred in Purdue’s last six contests. Managing Smith’s load isn’t a concern for Painter.
“He’s fine. He’s perfectly fine,” the coach said in November. “He could play another game after the game. If that’s something that bothers him that’s mental, he’s allowing that to bother him. The physical piece of it is what you work towards. He’s going to practice for two straight hours, and we’re not sitting around calling media timeouts.”
Some athletes achieve Smith’s thoroughbred-like stamina through strict routine; NBA star LeBron James reportedly spends millions of dollars and multiple hours a day on a biohacking regimen that includes a spotless diet and sessions in cryotherapy chambers that get colder than the moon at night.
Smith, at nearly 20 years James’ junior, has a different routine.
“I just relax,” he says.
The R&R includes frequent Xbox sessions and more basketball watching than most do in a lifetime. On a team of basketball-obsessed individuals, Smith stands out.“He’s up there at the top in terms of people that watch basketball and are around it,” Heide says.
“I would say I’m pretty not normal when it comes to that,” Smith grins.
When Heide lived with Smith last year, Smith would sometimes leave their apartment without turning off his TV or shutting his door, leaving basketball highlights to provide a soundtrack for Heide in the kitchen. When Smith returned, he picked up where he left off. “It’s 24/7,” Heide says.
The star guard’s favorite players are Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the longtime Los Angeles Clippers legend and 26-year-old Oklahoma City Thunder icon, respectively. His study of Paul, a comparatively diminutive 6-foot in the NBA who shares his height with Smith, has led the Purdue star to develop a now-deadly fade away jumper that he’s used to great success this season.
When Smith isn’t watching the pros, he often controls their virtual imitations on the basketball simulation video game NBA 2K. Just as in real life, he plays to win.
“There would be times when I could hear him screaming in the apartment,” Heide says. “He hates losing.”
Smith’s basketball-dominated free time also includes mini hoop games, which he shared with Fletcher Loyer during their freshman seasons. Smith has two at his current residence to make a full mini court in the hallway.
“He’s pretty childish,” Loyer says. “Anything he can do that’s competitive or active, you know he’s doing it. Horse games, dunk contests, all of it.”
For someone that hardly ever sits, it makes sense that he’d get so much out of play.
“I just naturally heal, and I believe in that,” Smith says. “I just take my mind off stuff.”
