Looking for a Slam-Dunk place to eat? Just ask any NBA player.
Pick a city, any city, on the National Basketball Association’s 30-team circuit, and Kelly Olynyk, a forward for the Utah Jazz, has an intimate knowledge of the local restaurant scene.
If you’re looking for top-tier sushi in Boston, where he spent his first four NBA seasons, he recommends Fuji at Ink Block in the Zuideinde. In Charlotte, NC, he will most likely suggest the smoked wings Haan’s wood-fired kitchen. Whether you’re craving the best Italian in San Francisco or looking for tasty treats in Indianapolis, Mr. Olynyk knows a place. He’s a six-foot-tall human version of Yelp.
“In every city there are places that you love and that you can count on,” says the 32-year-old Mr. Olynyk, after eating at thousands of restaurants in his 10 years playing professionally on five NBA teams. “But part of being interested in different cultures, cuisines and restaurants is trying new ones.”
In a league consisting of 28 cities, approximately 450 players and 1,230 regular season games per year, business travel in the NBA is frequent and premium. Teams fly privately and stay at five-star hotel chains such as the Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton. But they also eat a lot, and by embracing local culture and institutions with their deep pockets, they have become very credible restaurant authorities.
NBA players are taller than normal people (average height is 6 feet 4 inches) with equally high salaries (average annual salary is $8.32 million), a combination that results in voracious appetites and often in reservations at the nation’s most renowned restaurants country. Each player also receives $133 of food per day for days on the road.
“Sometimes, if we’re only in a city one night, I go to two dinners,” Mr. Olynyk admitted.
The 2023-2024 NBA season just kicked off on October 24, and in a normal season each team plays 41 games on the road, visiting every opposing market (including 27 U.S. cities and Toronto) at least once. There are also additional preseason and playoff games to consider. For example, the Golden State Warriors traveled to Los Angeles, home of the Lakers and Clippers, seven times last season. That means lots of meals and time to bond.
“We travel around the country so much that dining out has always been the best way to bring everyone together,” said Karl-Anthony Towns, a three-time NBA All-Star center with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
No matter which teammates or coaches they dine with, players pay attention to the food, service and setting: word of mouth between players is an important part of NBA restaurant culture.
“We’re a brotherhood, so you’re definitely going to get honest reviews from your 449 brothers,” said Mr. Towns, 27.
Timberwolves teammate Rudy Gobert gives Mr. Towns regularly tips off lesser-known eateries, with little fanfare on Yelp, Tripadvisor or other recommendation websites. Mr. Olynyk, of the Jazz, enjoys introducing his younger teammates to top restaurants in different cities (and picking up the tab), just as his former teammate Rajon Rondo did before him and treated Mr. Olynyk to Strega Italiano in Boston when Mr. Olynyk was a rookie with the Celtics.
“It’s a bit like a rite of passage,” said Mr. Olynyk, a Toronto native.
Kevin Love, a veteran forward for the Miami Heat, grew up in Portland, Oregon, a city known for its creative food scene. As his basketball career — which included five All-Star selections and a championship ring with the Cleveland Cavaliers — has progressed, his food knowledge has improved and his network of fellow food lovers has expanded (The Times documented his passion for travel in 2019).
“My love for food, but also for wine, has brought me into a number of circles where I have made very good friends with restaurateurs, chefs and people with similar interests,” says 35-year-old Mr. partner (along with his former teammate Channing Frye). Chosen family winesa wine brand based in Willamette Valley, Oregon. “That’s a fun world to be in.”
He has leveraged connections in the restaurant industry to organize team dinners, the key to building team camaraderie. Before the Heat visits New York City, Mr. Love calling area restaurants and designing unique dining experiences for his teammates.
“I’m going to take these guys and show them some great food and introduce them to maybe a different cuisine,” Mr. Love said.
He still considers Portland one of his top food destinations Kann And Ring Side Steakhouse (he strongly suggests the onion rings) as favorites in his hometown. In New York City, where he lived off-season before recently moving to Long Island, Mr. Love listed as a favorite Carbon, from Sadelle, Residence Bar-B-Que, Fini pizza And Misi (Sean Feeney, the restaurateur, is a good friend of his), and Eleven Madison Park (Daniel Humm, the chef and owner, is also a friend).
“It’s one of the most incredibly beautiful kitchens I’ve ever seen,” said Mr. Love about Eleven Madison Park.
For many NBA players, supporting minority-owned businesses can be as important as finding Michelin-starred establishments. Mr Towns, of the Timberwolves, will also reach out to locals for restaurant recommendations.
“I have always been intrigued by people and cultures,” said Mr. Towns, who has Dominican and African-American roots. “And the best way to get to know people and cultures is to sit down and enjoy their food.”
In Minneapolis, Mr. Towns advises Soul bowl, a soul food and Caribbean-inspired restaurant in the city’s North Loop. But it was Fratelli’s Pizza Cafein his hometown, Piscataway, NJ, where he took his girlfriend when they first started dating.
“I have to take you home to a pizzeria where I grew up,” Mr. Towns recalled. “I said, ‘All you need is a slice of cheese and I promise it will change your life.'”
“She agrees with me,” he said, laughing.
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