This latest edition of Table Talk features FC Barcelona guard Kyle Kuric, Spanish break-dancer Ana ‘Furia’ Ortega, ex-EuroLeague player Patric Young, MotoGP™ star Maverick Viñales, newly-designated Hall of Famer Pau Gasol and Anadolu Efes Istanbul dietician Buket Mamur
The term “healthy habits” is often related to food and a person’s diet, but as former professional basketball player Patric Young puts it, healthy habits are “attached to some type of goal or identity, who we want to be as people, and habits are… they’re hard to create. They take discipline.”
In the latest Table Talk documentary by Euroleague Basketball Originals, four individuals who are playing or have played sport at the highest level came together to engage in an informed discussion about the importance of healthy habits and how this applies to the wider population at large.
ABOUT EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL Euroleague Basketball (EB) is a global leader in the sports and entertainment business, devoted to running the top European competitions of professional basketball clubs under a unique and innovative organizational model. Owned and administered by some of the most successful and historic clubs in the world, EB manages the continent’s two premier men’s basketball competitions, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup, as well as the sport’s premier under-18 showcase, the EB Adidas Next Generation Tournament.
The EB competitions bring the elite of European basketball to all five continents and to the entire sports community through the OTT platform EuroLeague TV. EB also organizes a series of community and educational activities, led by the One Team program, in alignment with the United Nations Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. On the academic side, the EB Sports Business MBA trains future professionals in sports management.
About One Team One Team, Euroleague Basketball’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) program , supported by Turkish Airlines as the One Team Founding Patron and with the collaboration of Special Olympics as Proud Partner, uses basketball to achieve real social impact in our communities. With an innovative model of interconnectedness across an entire continent, Euroleague Basketball and its clubs have developed a complete CSR program that brings together activities from each team in an integrated, impactful way, working under the theme of “community integration” that actively addresses targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 on Reduced Inequalities. Each participating club develops a specific One Team project tailored to its own community needs to benefit groups in danger of exclusion due to problems such as substance abuse and gender, physical or intellectual disability. Since its founding in 2012, the One Team program has reached already directly and indirectly more than 23,000 participants through its various team projects.
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42.097 -> - Hello.
- Hello.
43.226 -> - Nice to meet you.
- Thank you.
45.303 -> - Okay.
- Come on through.
49.388 -> - This way…
- Yeah, if you go this way.
54.231 -> - Do you need help?
- No, appreciate it, though. There we go.
58.643 -> Brilliant. Thank you all for coming.
60.96 -> We've got a great setup here,
and today it's a Table Talk talking about healthy habits.
65.729 -> First of all, I think what we need to do
is define what health is.
70.414 -> It's a sign of your physical, mental
and social health well-being,
75.418 -> and trying to maximize that as much as possible.
78.064 -> Not just not having a disease.
80.631 -> Following on from that,
healthy habits are a series of behaviors
85.57 -> which are beneficial to someone's health
and physical well-being,
91.178 -> but it's a combination of routines
93.133 -> and looking at areas such as your eating, sleeping,
resting and socializing as well,
99.209 -> so looking at all of those factors.
101.744 -> So, the first question to everyone is:
104.194 -> What does healthy habits mean to you?
106.929 -> Could you introduce yourself
and let everyone know about your background as well.
110.047 -> I'm Maverick Viñales,
I'm riding a MotoGP bike, so I race for…
113.475 -> - Great name. Great name, by the way.
- Top Gun.
116.139 -> Exactly. I feel the speed, always.
119.94 -> And I ride for Aprilia,
122.618 -> that's the factory bike.
124.659 -> For me, healthy habits means peace of mind.
128.118 -> To be well rested for me
is trying to find this peace of mind,
133.307 -> which gives you also a room to become more focused
when it is the time to be on the track.
140.791 -> Having healthy habits, especially on the mental side,
for me it is very important.
146.979 -> Healthy habits are very important, in general and in life,
150.534 -> because you have to be well prepared physically
but also mentally.
155.359 -> How do I deal with stress? I try to do sport.
158.426 -> I try to do a lot of things, not just riding bikes.
162.11 -> One of the best things for me to take out the stress is cycling,
but also I like to read.
167.425 -> It is very different,
169.09 -> but sometimes when I read I also relax
and it's something that also takes the stress out.
180.55 -> My name is Patric Young,
182.473 -> 30 years old from Jacksonville, Florida.
185.341 -> I am a former retired professional basketball player.
189.606 -> I played professionally for Galatasaray in Türkiye,
193.181 -> Olympiacos for two years,
195.212 -> Milan and Avellino,
197.873 -> and after retiring I began a career with the SEC Network,
202.389 -> where I currently work as a college basketball analyst.
205.293 -> My habits… Or my convictions and my faith, first off,
209.621 -> were an important aspect for me
to be prepared for circumstances in my life to change.
215.715 -> I've understood that having my identity already rooted
in things greater than just what I can do
223.353 -> and being able to have the lens of gratitude in my life
228.35 -> prepared me for when life was going to change
231.293 -> or if things or the circumstances were to change.
234.506 -> No one can really prepare exactly
for such a life change as getting in a car accident
241.45 -> and being told you may never walk again.
243.543 -> Huge credit to my wife,
246.019 -> being that person that not only picks me up
but also pushes me
249.803 -> when I need that nudge to get back on track
to being the man that I know I am.
258.637 -> When everything in your life is changed,
263.082 -> what remains is your foundation.
267.128 -> So, that's just been so important for our family.
273.698 -> When you go through huge life-changing events
as a couple,
279.104 -> you have to be a unit,
283.533 -> but then within that unit, obviously,
285.745 -> he has to be good and I have to be good.
289.104 -> Even when Patric, his accident first happened,
292.221 -> we were in Sioux Falls for two weeks,
I continued to go to the gym.
296.159 -> I went to the gym at least five days a week,
300.399 -> and even when we were in Denver for 45 days,
305.016 -> I got a gym membership,
306.282 -> so, to me, healthy habits,
309.866 -> you set them during your time when life isn’t crazy
314.735 -> and then, when you need them, you have that.
322.493 -> For healthy habits to me,
325.165 -> what's so cool about habits in general
327.344 -> is that we create them.
329.703 -> Usually, it's attached to some type of goal or identity,
333.068 -> who we want to be as people, and habits are…
335.998 -> they're hard to create.
337.474 -> They take discipline,
338.701 -> and my life has become a lot more free
341.88 -> now that I have this discipline and understanding
and control of creating the life I want to have now.
348.459 -> And yourself, Ana?
352.521 -> My name is Ana Furia.
354.115 -> Everybody calls me Furia.
355.92 -> I am a professional dancer,
with a specialty in breakdancing.
360.611 -> I have been dancing since 2011,
363.658 -> and I am from Barcelona, but I'm currently living in Madrid.
373.949 -> When I dance, I feel free.
388.871 -> The Olympic Games in 2024 in Paris is going to be the first year
with breakdancing in the Olympics,
399.214 -> and it means a lot for me to be part of this.
409.792 -> When I am feeling like I am eating right
and I am sleeping the time that I need it,
415.956 -> I really feel my body completely in peace
and harmony with everything,
420.955 -> and my energy, I think it's more clear, too.
424.327 -> - A happy body means a happy mind in that sense as well.
- Exactly. Completely, completely.
428.996 -> Yeah, brilliant. And yourself, Kyle?
430.741 -> I think the first thing that everybody thinks about
when you say a healthy habit is nutrition,
434.615 -> but I agree that it's important,
436.693 -> but I think the thing that is becoming even more important now
is just the mental aspect of everything.
441.015 -> When I was going through all my surgeries
and all my recoveries,
444.773 -> mentally I was so far ahead of where I was physically
448.563 -> that I just propelled myself to get back even quicker,
451.954 -> so I would argue that just being mentally ready
and focused on what you're trying to do
457.613 -> can overcome any physical limitation
that you're having at that point.
461.574 -> Professionally and personally,
464.331 -> I really had to take a specific look at food
and what I was eating, how I was eating
468.798 -> and how much, just so that I could build my body back up
471.665 -> and then to try and keep some consistency
in how my body was reacting and recovering.
478.284 -> It not only helped me physically,
479.675 -> but mentally I had to become a lot stronger,
481.956 -> and it propelled me to return back to playing
a lot quicker than the doctors had told me.
486.882 -> So, it was a really overall positive experience
that helped me grow a lot.
495.679 -> So, what are some examples of healthy habits
that you tend to go with to help you out?
501.153 -> If we start with yourself.
502.731 -> Trying to switch off the television,
the mobile phone before I sleep.
507.231 -> Half the time, you realize,
'What am I looking at?' There's no need.
510.091 -> It's a habit that you take that you put the TV
and then you sleep,
514.084 -> but in the end, I don't think you disconnect at all.
517.49 -> I don't see how… a lot of people I know,
they sleep with the television on.
520.873 -> I don't…
522.318 -> No. Sounds stressful.
524.674 -> A healthy habit that I've picked up recently is journaling.
528.002 -> Simply answer three questions:
530.393 -> How are you feeling?
532.229 -> Why are you feeling that way?
533.575 -> This could be positive or negative.
534.914 -> And then the last one is: What can you do about…?
537.603 -> So that you can reflect
on what's happened in the past and gone,
540.19 -> 'Actually, I'm on a good pathway,
542.783 -> I'm seeing some change,'
and that makes a big difference.
545.682 -> It makes a huge difference, yeah, absolutely.
Just having that…
548.737 -> Because sometimes you can't always talk to somebody,
like a therapist or whatnot,
551.768 -> which I highly… I'm pro-therapy,
553.768 -> but that writing down has been therapeutic for me.
557.52 -> It is important to know about yourself.
559.692 -> Sometimes we try to help others,
but we never think about ourselves
563.698 -> and trying to understand what we need or how we are.
566.01 -> Letting go of the ego and allowing yourself to change,
569.284 -> and you can see yourself develop, yeah.
572.584 -> For me, I cut a little bit my social life.
577.242 -> - Just a bit.
- A little bit.
580.484 -> In this high level, I can't keep this lifestyle
583.585 -> and trying to wake up early
and push a lot of hours practicing.
588.549 -> It's not healthy for my body and I can't do it.
591.526 -> What I've started changing is,
when I wake up in the morning,
593.885 -> not going straight to social media.
597.049 -> I do take the phone, but I do it for meditation,
600.166 -> so you still use it,
but you kind of get a better wake up
603.635 -> and it started to really help me
just stay focused and be present.
607.342 -> Conscient in the moment.
610.014 -> And are there things that,
because of the routine you have,
613.842 -> you feel that you're sacrificing in a way?
618.099 -> As an athlete,
I feel that when you take something as a routine,
622.884 -> it's complicated to go away.
624.267 -> It's hard to come back,
but I also think that it is such a long season that,
628.216 -> after the long season, you need a break.
631.708 -> So, I take that week where I eat anything.
635.877 -> It doesn't matter… Because I don't eat ice cream
or candy or all the sweets during the season,
639.496 -> but that one week, on vacation with my kids,
I'm eating more ice cream than they are.
644.959 -> You're making up for it.
646.169 -> But then after that one week,
it's like, 'Okay, I've had enough.'
648.302 -> I want my body to come back to reality
and go back to my routines.
653.041 -> When you're racing, what's your training regiment like
to push your body and…?
658.104 -> Normally, I like cardio.
660.244 -> Cardio is important for us.
662.071 -> It is important, not on the bike because, in the end,
on the bike you don't need a lot of cardio,
666.055 -> but the lower the heart rate is, the better you can think.
669.54 -> But, I can do gym, everything that,
672.619 -> when you go again in the season, the first day is…
677.025 -> You have pain here, here, everywhere.
679.929 -> I can do everything, but, in the end,
the bike needs you to be on the bike.
684.078 -> For myself, my non-negotiable,
my healthy habit, is:
687.059 -> I need eight hours of sleep. That's what I need.
689.551 -> If I don’t get my eight hours,
I can't perform in my job the next day.
693.5 -> However, when it comes to weekends,
I tend to relax, have a drink,
697.961 -> maybe not have the healthiest diet, but coming back to then,
on the Monday, back to my routine.
703.816 -> That weekend is my release valve and I allow myself to have that,
but I'm not an elite sportsperson.
710.804 -> For yourselves,
what are you missing in terms of your general life
714.984 -> that your friends might be doing, that you feel like,
717.744 -> 'I wish I was doing that, but I can't
because I'm in this environment at the moment now'?
722.508 -> You know, in the summer especially,
I have competitions still,
726.508 -> so I see a lot of people on vacations, in special places
and I was like, 'Damn, I need to be there.'
734.044 -> But I can't. I need to be focused on my way,
736.849 -> so this sometimes makes me feel like,
'Damn, I missed this,' but…
741.38 -> When I'm in season,
I've got such strict routines that I stick to it.
746.388 -> And I think it's maybe a little bit too obsessive
750.197 -> to where my wife will be like,
'Let's go to lunch.' 'No, I can't go to lunch.'
753.628 -> Because I don't know what they're going to cook
and how many ounces my chicken is going to be,
756.563 -> so I like to very strict,
but, like you said, my release is my off day.
761.852 -> I sleep in later than normal,
764.213 -> I have something different for lunch
and try to enjoy what I'm working so hard for.
769.291 -> For me, it's curious, because when I want to release
all of the stress, I go with the bike, so…
775.662 -> That's your stress release: back on the bike.
778.523 -> Yes, for me it's very curious,
because in the end I love this sport,
781.039 -> I love it because I have been doing it
since I was a kid and it's my joy.
785.989 -> I guess, for me, in this period in my life,
789.802 -> my recovery during my journey is the most important thing.
794.036 -> And I'm so grateful for my wife in this time,
795.982 -> because she will challenge me
and make sure that I'm prioritizing that.
800.12 -> I realize… I look at the big picture,
802.901 -> and especially for my daughter,
804.893 -> she saw me before my accident
807.667 -> and then she sees me in the middle
and I'm just thinking, to get back to walking again,
813.257 -> to witness and the strength that she's going to have,
815.886 -> and for my wife, I'm like,
'I've gotta to staying committed to this.'
818.87 -> Because it's not about the short term,
820.487 -> I'm thinking about the big picture, long term.
823.054 -> I do miss certain parts,
but when I think about that, I'm like,
826.249 -> 'It's alright, I can sacrifice for now
for what's to come in the future.'
830.931 -> Brilliant.
845.103 -> I've always felt that health is the most important thing.
849.478 -> If you're healthy, you're active,
851.791 -> you're going to be able to learn more,
853.322 -> absorb more and have more energy and so forth.
