Widely regarded as one of the best defensive guards in NBA history, Jrue Holiday is in his 17th season as an NBA pro

Widely regarded as one of the best defensive guards in NBA history, Jrue Holiday is a living basketball legend. A two-time NBA All-Star and six-time NBA All-Defensive Team member, he also won gold medals with the 2020 and 2024 US Olympic Teams.

He currently plays with the Portland Trail Blazers, and has spent various amounts of time with the Philadelphia 76ers (having been the 17th overall pick of the 2009 NBA draft after just one year of college); the New Orleans Pelicans; the Milwaukee Bucks; and the Boston Celtics.

Men’s Fitness caught up with Jrue to talk about the start of the next NBA season, his seventeenth on the bounce; the importance of setting goals; and his longevity in a sport that demands high levels of physical fitness.

Men’s Fitness: Do you approach the start of each season in the same way?

Jrue Holiday: I think I approach the start of each season with goals in mind, whether that’s to become an All-Star, to win a championship, or to make the playoffs. Another key goal is obviously to stay healthy, as healthy as possible. Going into my 17th season, it’s pretty important to be available [to play]. So that’s why Thorne Supplements are so important to me – they’re great for any sport, but I think for me, they have supported me mentally and physically.

MF: Your longevity in the NBA is amazing. What do you put this down to?

JH: Taking care of my body, taking care of my mental health, spending time, sometimes away from basketball and with my family, and doing things that I love. One thing that I love to do that keeps me going every single day is actually training. If I don’t train or do some form of physical activity, I feel like I’m a terrible person, and I get pretty moody. So that definitely helps. On top of that, it’s just my daily routine, which is waking up, taking my Thorne supplements, and getting my creatine in.

MF: As you’ve gotten older, have you had to work harder or smarter or both on your fitness?

JH: I’ve had to do both. Saying fit is harder for sure, as you get older. I think I try not to get too far out of shape. During the off season, it might be boxing, sometimes it might be surfing. I’d also throw some yoga and Pilates into there too. But I’ve had to train smarter too. I can’t train three and four times a day anymore. I ‘ve definitely shortened my training time. But I work really hard in that time, and then for the rest of the day I have kids, so that’s where I get even more of my training in, which is super important to me. It’s important to be with my kids and show them that I’m a daddy.

MF: What does your fitness regime look like? How has this changed throughout your NBA career?

JH: It’s definitely changed, mostly in terms of the number of times that I work out a day. It’s now much more condensed but I work super hard. Typically, I usually try to workout first thing in the morning so that the rest of the day I have time to spend with the kids. I wake up, I eat my breakfast, and I would say, probably an hour before I work out, I actually take a protein shake. And then after my workout, I get another meal in. And then from there, I get the day to do what I please.

MF: What type of things in terms of strength and conditioning are specific to NBA players?

JH: I think that it varies on the type of player you are. I know a lot of basketball players don’t technically like to lift but I like to lift weights. I like to lift heavy weights, if it’s single leg squats, if it’s ISO holds, even if it’s isometrics. I like to challenge myself in that way. It’s a very different skill but, at the same time, I can see the results from lifting and how it correlates to basketball. So, I really enjoy getting into the weights room and being as strong as possible.

MF: What’s your favourite part of your fitness programme? And then your least favourite?

JH: Tere’s always a love/hate relationship with working out. Where workouts are super hard, and, while you’re in it, it feels like you’re in the fight, it’s terrible, and it sucks. But there’s something about feeling like you accomplished something, or that you that you beat it. I love to be a winner, and I feel like I won the day, whenever I completed a workout.

MF: What’s the best piece of fitness advice you’ve been given?

JH: This might sound cheesy, but it’s ‘be like water or be a river’ – don’t stop moving. I think this is super important sometimes when stagnation kicks in, and things start to get still. Your body starts to get stiff, and you start to kind of feel old. But when you continue to move, your body gets this energy and this flow to it to where there’s simply no stagnation. And I think that’s super important.

MF: How long do you see yourself playing for?

JH: I mean, I think I’ll play until I can’t anymore or until they kick me out. I love basketball, and I love competing against the best players in the world at the highest level. I think it’s every little kid’s dream is to play basketball and to do it as a job. I’ve never taken that for granted, and I feel like I’ve been doing it for a long time to where it’s become such a big part of my life. So I’ll continue to do it until I can’t!