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Jalen Duren, the starting center for the wildly entertaining Detroit Pistons, is an athletic marvel. With a six-foot-ten stature, 250-pound weight, and protruding muscles, Duren has the type of body that was ready-made for the NBA as a teenager. In fact, when he made his professional debut, he was the youngest player in the league, at just 18 years old.
Four years later, Duren is primed to make his first All-Star team, and credits many internal changes for his improved play. Given his revamped approach to health and wellness, it’s perhaps no surprise that his points per game average is the highest of his career. Out went Sour Patch Kids and massive, growing-young-man portion sizes, in went tasty summer fruits and regular soft-tissue massages. Duren has kept a few things consistent during his four years in Detroit, though, like avoiding the pregame spreads at NBA arenas, and maintaining his cinephile habits on the Pistons’ charter flights. In our conversation, Duren explained the dental hygiene-based reason for his new diet, his favorite Leonardo DiCaprio movie, and the mindful technique he practices as soon as his morning alarm goes off.
Jalen Duren: Yeah, that is true. That is very true. I was coming in, just being young and not really understanding the importance of everything. I was big on candy, really huge on sweets. But I changed that, switched it over and started eating fruits that were similar, like grapes, strawberries, pineapples, those types of things.
I do eat a lot of grapes. One, because at our practice facility, our chefs do a great job. I don’t know where they get them from or how they pick them or whatever, but these are some of the ripest grapes. I’m telling you, they’re the best grapes I've ever had. I feel like a lot of people will tell you that.
That plays a lot into it, and that just kind of kept me off the sweets. Now, at this point, I’m not even thinking about candy. Grapes are definitely my go to. It’s easy. It’s convenient.
Man, all the gummy things, just the worst kind of candy. I was on Mike and Ikes. I was on Sour Patches, just all the BS that puts you in a bad spot.
I don’t care. You can mix with me.
No. I’ve tried it frozen. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just not for me.
It’s just kind of my snack, honestly. This is what I eat between meals. I wouldn't say it’s the first thing I eat when I wake up, but after breakfast, in between breakfast and lunch, going through practice or getting treatment, moving throughout the day, after workouts, all those types of things. I definitely fit them in a lot.
Yeah, but it’s rare. I’ve just got accustomed to eating the way that I do. It’s tough. I’ve lost the taste for it. It’s crazy that I’m saying that now, but it’s just not the same. I can’t imagine myself eating a whole bag of Sour Patches or a bunch of cookies. I had a birthday and my mom made a cake. I was like, ehh. I had a slice and then I had to let other folks eat it. It does take a lot of discipline.
Absolutely. Over the summer, I took a look at my body. Honestly, getting older, my body has been changing. What I’m putting in it has become more and more and more important. Talking to my team nutritionist, talking to my personal chef and everybody around me, we came up with a plan that started over the summer that actually helped me get my weight to exactly where I wanted it to be. From there, we just kept it going.
The diet really just lowered my portions. You know what I mean? Instead of eating so big and bulky, I lowered my portions and made it more about protein, a lot of green. At first, before the season, I was cutting out the carbs. Now that we’re in-season, I kind of got those back in there, and I cut out the sugar. That was the biggest thing, too. I cut out all sugar. So, the juices and the whatever, everything that I thought was good before, cut that out. I started having my chef make fresh juice, so instead of normal apple juice, I have my chef squeeze real apples. It’s nothing added, no flavors, nothing.
I got a green juice going. I think he does lettuce, cucumbers, green apples, all type of stuff that he throws in there. Cutting out sugar, I think, is what made the biggest change. But altogether, just eating healthy has done a lot for me. I went to Europe recently, and the portions they eat out there—and what we’re accustomed to in America—were night and day.
I think it’s just consistently learning your body and learning what it needs throughout the season. Like you said, this is a long season, you’re going to be hurt. It’s inevitable. You’re going to be sore. I mean, you’re going to have aches, you’re going to have pain. Understanding what treatments and what exercises and what routine really helps your body feel as good as possible to be able to be in shape, perform, just going from there. For me, I look at it like, being hurt and being injured are two different things in my mind. Everybody’s hurting somewhere and that’s just the name of the game, but being injured is obviously a whole different thing.
What part of my body takes the most beating? That’s a good question. Man, I mean, it’s tough for me to even point out one more than the other. I’m a guy whose whole body is sore. Right after games, I’m jumping in that cold tub. I’d be lying if I said one spot would be more sore than another.
No, I definitely needed help just to understand what I needed. Like you said, I was young. I still had bad eating habits coming out of college, DoorDashing and whatnot, so it took time. It took me learning from my vets and everybody around me, just learning how to be a pro. That’s really what it came down to—learning how to be a professional basketball player and take care of my body. They tell you over and over again, “In this field, our body is our business.”
It’s night and day. Rookie year was DoorDash. I’m talking about, I was sponsoring DoorDash. It’s nothing like that right now. Now I have a chef that I’ve been working with for the last two years. We’ve been locked in, and he’s been locked in with the nutritionist and with the team on keeping everything together.
Right now, it’s good, man. We’re still not really adding too much sugar into anything. We’re still on the juice and still keeping portions at a minimum. But being in-season now, got to mix it up, make sure I’m getting all the fuel I need. But it’s night and day for sure. More fish and salmon and rice, you know what I mean? No more hoagies and Chick-Fil-A. I haven’t had fast food since my rookie year. It’s just gone.
Nah. The arena food is actually horrible. In my opinion! Some people might like it, but to me it’s been bad, and it’s been consistently bad in every city. I’ve never leaned towards, waiting [to eat] until I got to the arena. Maybe at home, but not even there so much. I would really get on DoorDash before I would go eat at the arena.
Absolutely. I’ve been eating breakfast every day. I’m the type of guy who can eat the same thing every day. I don’t have no problem with it, but my chef does try to switch it up for me. So, I usually go eggs, turkey, or beef bacon—most of the time it’s beef bacon—and probably some chicken sausages and some potatoes. Then I usually have a shake. My chef and the nutritionist for the team makes a shake that I probably drink, I want to say, maybe two to three times per day, depending on what it looks like.
There’s almond milk, orange juice, clean protein powder, collagen, creatine, strawberries, I want to say honey. It’s pretty good, but it also gives me what I need. I start my day with that and breakfast, and then, let’s say it’s game day. I’m going to shootaround, and then I’m probably having another shake just like that after.
You have all the time, all the resources, everything you need to be the best you could be, so why not?
It’s consistent lifting. One thing that surprised me when I first got to the NBA, that I understand a lot more now, is lifting after games. It’s not, obviously, like a bodybuilder lift. It might not be a long lift. It’s more like tendon load and stuff, just keeping the muscles right. It might be just keeping your body warm. See, it’s hard to explain, but for me it works. It’s another form of treatment and recovery.
When you’re running and you’re out there playing all these games, you’re losing a lot of water, you’re losing a lot of weight, you're losing a lot! So, being able to lift after games, on practice days, and just load your tendons and muscles is good for the body. Learning about the different ways I can take care of my body—because coming in, I was 18—I didn’t know what I should be doing. Even if I wanted to, I didn’t know, so I just had to ask questions.
For me, stretching. I stretch all day, even when I’m not on the court. Before bed, waking up, stretching. I think honestly, it’s building a routine. I do everything, bro. I mean, I lift, I do soft tissue treatment, work with PT staff, I do cold tubs consistently, massages consistently, everything. You name it, I do it.
This is what it costs. I mean, to be able to perform, you got to feel your best. If you don’t feel your best, you won’t be able to perform your best, so it kind of goes hand-in-hand.
It’s tough. You go on the road, you’re moving around, you don’t really spend too much time with your family. But you also understand the main goal. This is our job, this is what we wanted to do our whole lives. Everybody just keep the main thing the main thing. You kind of got to be where your feet are and just stay locked in. When you start to dwell too much and overthink things, there’s so many ups and downs that can happen. There’s so many things that can happen in the outside world, and so much that can happen throughout the season.
I think meditation is a huge thing. I think people should partake in it. Just being able to clear your mind and being able to breathe, just be sane, you know what I mean? Because it does get tough.
That’s for sure first thing in the morning. I would say after a game, for sure. Before games, I’m usually napping, try to just reset. You got to get away from the game, too—not get away from the game completely, but just kind of take time. If you got free time and you’ve done what you need to do for the day, I think it’s good to have another hobby, something to step out that you could do. Whether it be movies or music, or some guys do [video] games and stuff. I think you got to have an escape.
I’m a big music guy. I like to listen to music a lot. I’m a big movie guy, too. I don't want to say every movie, but I’ve watched a lot of movies. I’m chill. I don’t do too much. I’m not too big on gaming or anything like that. I would say music is my biggest hobby, listening to music.
Every time. I got my iPad and my headphones charged. I got a couple movies downloaded. I’m for sure watching a movie.
Cast Away with Tom Hanks, I literally just seen that for the first time. Meet Joe Black, I’m in the middle of that. That’s a good movie. Wolf of Wall Street is one of my favorite movies.
That’s a great movie.
In Real-Life Diet, athletes, celebrities, and other high performers talk about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.