Professional basketball typically comes with significantly more responsibilities than amateur or collegiate basketball. Athletes are often in a new country and far from family. While lifestyle differences are most dependent on a player’s unique situation and best explored via the Agent-Link Community (coming soon!), here are a few general considerations.
Unless a player is also coaching or working with lower level teams in their club, they typically have a significant amount of free time. This is nice but can also get boring and lonely. Finding something to occupy your free time outside of basketball is very important.
If an athlete is far from home, there is likely a time difference between them and their friends and family. This can lead to a very strange sleep schedule and poor routine. It’s important for a player to attempt to maintain somewhat normal sleeping habits despite many of their friends and family being in a different time zone.
Additional responsibilities a player may have to handle can include more cooking, cleaning, and transportation planning. It is important that an athlete is prepared to assume more responsibilities and take care of their work both on and off of the court.