The hunger and the thirst for the game have never waned for Omer Yurtseven, even as the playing time dwindled after a breakout month in the Miami Heat’s absence of Bam Adebayo.
But now, as the Heat complete preparations for their Sunday 1 p.m. NBA playoff opener at FTX Arena, another hunger and thirst has entered the equation, one the rookie center embraces.
As part of his monthlong observance of Ramadan, Yurtseven has been fasting from dawn to sunset since the evening of April 1 and will continue through the evening of May 1, going those hours without food or drink, one of the five Pillars Of Islam.
Because the timing of the observance is based on the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, Ramadan shifts in a 33-year cycle through the months of Gregorian/solar calendar utilized in the United States and elsewhere.
This year, it ran through the end of the NBA regular season and now though the first round of the playoffs.
“I think it becomes the most challenging when the practices are like 11 a.m., and then your rest of the day where you’re like extremely dehydrated, you can’t really replenish anything,” Yurtseven said after completing a Heat practice session in that timeframe. “But since the games are late, 7:30, 8 is usually not too bad, ‘cause then you get a little bit of sugar, water in you right away, more than anything.
“Because hunger fades after a certain amount of time. No water, that’s the hardest part. The hunger fades after a certain amount of time, but the thirst never goes away.”
That makes Sunday’s 1 p.m. tipoff of particular challenge should Yurtseven be called upon, with sunset at 7:42 p.m. in Miami.
For the 23-year-old, a member of Turkey’s national team and a native of Istanbul, it is an observance that transcends NBA basketball.
“If you’re committed to it,” he said, “you don’t get out of it unless it’s extreme emergency and health reasons.”
In that commitment, he does not stand alone in the NBA. Among others who over recent years have spoken of their observance of Ramadan have been Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Jusuf Nurkic, Enes Kanter and Tacko Fall, among others.
Irving addressed his fasting after scoring 34 points in the Wednesday night victory that pushed his Brooklyn Nets past the Cleveland Cavaliers in a play-in game and into the playoffs.
“I am not alone in this,” Irving said during his courtside postgame interview. “I have brothers and sisters all around the world that are fasting with me. We hold our prayers and our meditations very sacred and when you come out here, I mean, God’s inside me, God’s inside you, God’s inside all of us. So, I am walking with faith and that’s all that matters. When I get a chance to do this, in this type of arena and showcase my talents that have been granted to me strictly from God, I am humble.”
Such opportunities have been limited for Yurtseven over the second half of this season, after Adebayo’s return from thumb surgery.
But he eagerly awaits the opportunity for his first career playoff minutes.
That left Yurtseven with a difficult choice last week while he dealt with a stomach illness.
“When I was sick,” he said. “I had to take pills and make sure my body wasn’t starved at the same time, dehydrated at the same time I was fighting a disease. Those were like small exceptions where I couldn’t fast.”
As with the potential playoff opportunity, this ongoing observance stands as a first.
“The college seasons don’t run through the summer, and because every year it moves back about two weeks, it was all through the summer within the past seven years, and it never came into a college season, where I had to play games,” he said of Ramadan. “This is like a first.
“So that’s been different. This has been an adjustment.”
One embraced spiritually and professionally.
So before sunrise, “longer-digesting carbs and protein, and that’s it.”
And during games after sundown, “a small [nutrition] bar. But it’s mainly hydration and liquids and Pedialyte. Those are the big things.”
All embraced with a spirituality.
“It’s a challenge to your faith,” he said. “So the bigger the challenge you can take on, the best.”
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