Jaren Jackson Jr Attributes His Awesome Play To Drinking A Shit Ton Of Water And I've Never Related To Anything More
Joe Murphy. Getty Images.A few days ago I told you to start paying attention to what is currently going on with the Memphis Grizzlies. You know, the current 4 seed in the West who has won 7 of their last 10 and 6 of their last 7 all without Ja Morant. They've looked awesome and last night was no exception after a thrilling shorthanded win over the Lakers in which LeBron/AD/Westbrook all played. In that game we once again saw Jaren Jackson Jr look every bit the franchise big that team needs him to be, ending the night with 25/5 with 3 steals on 9-18 shooting
JJJ has really stepped up since Morant went out, he leads the Grizzlies in scoring, he's found a way to remain efficient while doing it and he attributes a lot of this success to…….drinking water
After having missed most of last season due to a torn meniscus, Jackson got off to a slow start in this campaign. He was criticized for it, and there were already grumblings from those critics about the risk the Grizzlies took in granting him that contract extension, and this week his coach, Taylor Jenkins, attributed those struggles to the weight of expectations.
But Jackson has worked through his trouble. He is attacking the basket more frequently, finishing flawlessly with an unguardable left-handed shot, even though he is right-handed. The Grizzlies are asking more of him on defense, asking him to participate in more complex coverages that he has been able to handle. And he is apparently hydrating with an extra-large “canteen” of water each day.
“You just got to keep drinking water,” he insisted. “And then we go home and get a good meal and drink some water. You know? It just tastes good.”
Did I wake up this morning and think I would learn that I'm basically an NBA player? Absolutely not. But here's the thing and I want to open this up to the group. Nice win by the Grizzlies, I'm happy for them and their fans but I wanted to find a way to segue into this topic about water.
I've noticed that as I get older, I'm pretty much exclusively drinking water whenever I sit down to eat. Maybe I get a little spicy and throw in some Crystal Light. Do people nowadays even know/use Crystal Light? It's been a Greenie household fixture for as long as I can remember, shoutout Peach Mango. It doesn't matter if I'm at home, at a restaurant, at a friend's house for a barbecue, whatever. I'm pretty much always going with water. I'm not saying every once in a while. I'm talking about for every single meal I eat. If I make breakfast? Water and coffee. Maybe grab a sandwich for lunch? I'm eating that with water. Dinner? Doesn't matter what's on the menu, I'm pairing it with ice cold water. That's weird right? I'm 34, is that just what happens? I honestly don't know when it happened because I am a fan of all beverages really. It feels like kind of a weak move but at the same time, I agree with JJJ here. When you're thirsty as shit, washing stuff down with some ice cold water is tremendous. Take last night for example. I had wings for dinner. Younger me would have gone the obvious route and had a beer with my meal because beer and wings are a delicious combination that everyone enjoys. When I tell you the thought didn't even cross my mind last night, I'm not sure how that makes me feel.
If I were to go all therapist on myself, it probably has something to do with the fact that as kids, my brother and I under no circumstances were allowed to get soda or anything when we went out to eat. Good luck trying to convince my mom to let that happen. No shot. You want flavor? Put a lemon in your water. But as I've gotten into my mid 30s (?????????????????) I find myself just straight up enjoying and preferring the taste of cold water. I know it doesn't really have a taste…but to my brain "cold" is a taste. I don't know how to describe it but I'm thinking JJJ knows what I'm talking about.
So I'm curious. Has this happened to anyone else? If you're an older stoolie, is this the first sign of the end? Like who goes out of their way to choose water? Me and JJJ apparently. It's a little fucked up that my love of water has not translated to dropping 25/5 on the Lakers like it has for some other people, but I totally get JJJ's love for some good old H2O.
I suppose this is where the comment section buries me or something but deep down I feel like this is pretty common if you're approaching your washed up years. So tell me, is this weird?