How Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Guards His Position On and Off Court
While Jeremiah Robinson-Earl’s father, Lester Earl, played basketball professionally, there was never any pressure for this kid from Kansas to shoot hoops himself. But with a love of sports, particularly basketball and soccer, “JRE” chose to pivot towards the court rather than the pitch. As a talented young athlete, he helped the United States basketball team win two FIBA gold medals (Under-18s and Under-19s) before signing with the Oklahoma City Thunder and since 2023, he’s played for the New Orleans Pelicans. M&F sat down with JRE to find out more about his training, nutrition, and love of community.
“I’ve always been pretty tall,” says Robinson-Earl. “Like, I never had one of those moments where one summer I grew 5 or 6 inches. But I was always just kind of gradually growing and I was always the tallest kid.” At 6’ 9”, JRE works hard to maintain his lean, 235-pouind frame and protect it from the physical demands of his sport. “I think we’re on our feet and legs so much that those are definitely the bigger areas that take punishment,” he explains. “I feel like basketball is one of the sports where it’s important to be strong on both upper and lower body, but also being nimble enough to be fast and be agile, laterally, is really important.” To that end, JRE notes that he is a fan of the gym. “Basketball players aren’t, like, max-lifters, but I definitely take a lot of pride in being as strong as possible, especially the position I play, having the guard.”
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How Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Fuels His Fitness
“I’m very, very routine, oriented,” says the NBA star, explaining that he thinks about his health and fitness from the moment that his morning alarm goes off. “I take a lot of supplements; from fish oil to antioxidants, to zinc, vitamin D, but I also eat things like fish and lean meat, and vegetables. So, I try to get a good mix of both whole foods and supplements.” JRE tracks macros by scanning his foods and products using the Yuka app ( https://yuka.io/en/ ). Also critical to crushing it on the court is staying hydrated. “I give a lot of props to my University; I went to Villanova and they did a great job. When I was there, We did hydration tests before every practice and every game, and it’s stuck with me.”
How Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Activates Himself Physically
This player is a proponent of ‘activating’ his body from the ground up. “If I’m foam rolling my calves out, doing quad stretches, or using bands for hip flexes, I’m putting my body in a in a good spot before I even get running or get jumping or getting really active, but I like to add the activation aspect,” he explains. “So, when I’m rolling out my calf, I’ll making a flexion, or instead of just rolling I’ll make an ankle pump, just to kind of get it waking up a little bit, instead of just rolling. I think the activation aspect when you’re warming up is very important to get your mind and body on the same page.”
Depending on his NBA schedule, JRE hits the gym 3 to 5 times per week. “I love being in the weight room,” he says. “I love working on my body, making sure I’m in the best shape that I can possibly can be in, because it’s the reason I can do what I love doing every single day. So, I have to make sure it’s a well-oiled machine, just having that consistency and the habits that I have every single day. It sometimes seems boring and sometimes seems repetitive, but I feel like that’s what makes the greats in their field that much better than
those around them, because they’re okay with doing the simple, repetitive, boring things over and over and over again. And, it leads them to being great athletes and humans. It works for all fields of life.”
How Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Utilizes the ‘Flow State’
The much hallowed flow state, for athletes, is the ability to execute their performance in a way that takes each task from being a conscious explicit move, to a subconscious implicit activity, and it is perhaps the peak state for any athlete to chase. JRE certainly understands how vital the flow state is to his game. “It definitely allows me to just rely on the work I’ve done instead of putting so much pressure on,” he says. “I’ve worked on this every single day consistently, and I live with the results. What if they’re good or bad? Because you’re not gonna be perfect every single day. You’re not gonna make every shot. You’re not gonna feel 100% every day. But, how can you put yourself in the best position to be the most successful you can be? Go back to work and keep doing the same stuff, keep improving and if things don’t improve, learn from it. Don’t get down on yourself about it, and just keep moving on.”
How Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Approaches Recovery
“Recovery is super important. I think this is the most important (aspect of performing at 100%),” says JRE. “It’s just the most natural, and is very overlooked at times by a lot of people where it’s like, ‘well, I did my recovery’ or ‘I don’t want to waste my day, I need to be up’. I feel, at least for myself, to function at the highest level. getting my 8 hours of sleep is very important.”
Away from the stresses of being an elite NBA athlete, JRE likes to make an escape from reality. “Video games are a big thing for me,” he shares. “It helps me just step away, and I can just get on the game, play whatever game I’m playing, talk to my friends, and kind of feel like I’m not in my basketball environment. Things like spending time with family, video games. I try to play the piano a little bit.” But, even in his downtime, his ever-competitive mind likes to use hobbies as an advantage. “I love chess as well,” he shares, understanding the board games’ ability to supercharge the brain. “This is mind games!,” explains JRE. “I feel like a lot of those things, they help in a very minor way, but it makes a difference.”
These days, the kid from Kansas IS paying it forward for the next generation by via his JRE Basketball Camps. “Going into the 3rd year of the camps, its really fun being able to do it,” he explains. “And, the interactions you can have with the kids in the community are so important. I think, being able to be in a position now to give back to this community is awesome. I’m definitely gonna keep doing the camp as long as I possibly can. I’m having so much fun.”
