Norman Powell is a basketball player who can be counted on both on and off the court. So far this 2024-2025 season, he’s averaged almost 24 points per game for the L.A. Clippers, and in this exclusive interview with M&F, explains why being regarded as a leader is something to be taken seriously. Here’s how this athlete makes sure to take care of his body before, during, and after games.
Powell played for the UCLA Bruins before joining the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA. The 6’4” shooting guard was subsequently traded to the Toronto Raptors, where he made a huge impact by helping the team to win an NBA Championship in 2019. After a year with the Portland Trail Blazers, Powell joined the Los Angeles Clippers in 2022, and at 31 is proving to be a continued threat to the competition.
As we chat, Powell is tired but extremely positive following an awesome 29-point performance against the Dallas Mavericks. In terms of which body parts hurt him the most post-game, Powell says it’s his shoulders. “Just running through and getting hit by these 7-footers and stuff,” explains the passionate player of the obstructions in his path. “Trying to get their guys open and being vertical against guys running and driving.”
Basketball is undoubtedly a contact sport, and is a game of attrition that requires these elite athletes to be firing on all cylinders.
Norman Powell is a Leader On and Off the Basketball Court
Powell explains that hydration is key, and the player works with the Clippers nutritionist to make sure he’s well fueled. The baller from San Diego drinks water throughout the day, and also consumes electrolytes to fight off cramping. He also drinks milk pre-game, during halftime, and post-game too. Perhaps owed to his due diligence, Powell says that cramping has not been a major issue for him.
“I’ve seen it really bad, especially with some of my teammates,” he says. “Especially when I was in college.” His evolution as a player is not just about the game itself, but also in the way that he conducts himself with coaches and peers during practice. “It’s very important,” he says of his ethos. “You know, for me it was just figuring out the best way to be a leader, and it’s changed throughout the course of my career. Before, I wasn’t the guy that was like (vocalizing) in the huddles.”
Instead, Powell first became a leader by example, and coaches would point him out to other players, telling them to be more like him, especially when it came to working and training harder. Now, however, the elite athlete takes a more hands-on approach. It was in his senior year at UCLA that Powell says he really found his voice.
“I [became] more vocal, pulling guys to the side individually, talking to them and making that connection,” he explains. “I’m finding something that we have common ground with, and building a relationship and friendship that way, and then speaking up.”
Despite his individual prowess, Powell understands that victory in basketball requires full-team engagement. “Getting guys to focus and locking-in what we need to do, because you know, we need everybody. I want to win,” he enthuses. “This year we have a small margin of error, especially with Kawhi (Leonard) being out, and we don’t know when he’s going to return, so we have to be a team that’s more focused, more attention to detail oriented, making less mistakes.”
Powell says that the Clippers have one of the oldest average player ages this season (they are the third-oldest team with an average age of 27.38 years), but with age comes the advantage of wisdom. To that end, his coaches have been clever in putting a great emphasis on recovery instead of overtraining.
But Powell leaves no stone unturned in order to keep his body finely tuned. He has a hyperbaric chamber for breathing pure oxygen and also likes to take both hot and cold plunges. “I have a red-light bed and then I go to the cryotherapy chamber probably 2 to 3 times a week,” he shares.
Powell also has a love-hate relationship with the foam roller. “I hate the foam roller,” he jokes. “But it’s really good, especially just to keep my muscles loose. I had a soft tissue injury this year with my hamstring, so it’s really making an emphasis on sitting on a foam roller or tennis ball. I’m getting those knots out just so that the muscles have more elasticity.” While Powell has suffered from injuries in the past, he says he’s in great shape right now. “Recovery is huge,” he shares, explaining that he is determined to cover all bases and that includes focusing on good quality sleep.
Norman Powell has Both Style and Substance
With his aptly named fashion brand UTG—Understand the Grind—growing in popularity, Powell has become one of the NBA’s style icons. But while his threads have changed, he is still very much in touch with his roots. Powell is keen to raise awareness of the plight of Boys and Girls clubs.
“I wouldn’t know where I’d be without the Boys and Girls club,” shares Powell. “Because my mom, she was a single parent, and that was a place you could drop us off, and we could be there all day. For me the Boys and Girls club had such an impact on my life because my first basketball coach on that team ended up being my big brother, pretty much, and took me to play AAU basketball for the San Diego program. Without those programs, I don’t know where I would be either.”
From boy to man, Norman Powell has gone from being mentored to finding his place as a leader in his sport.
Follow Norman Powell on Instagram.
