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NBA players wearing padded underwear?

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Perhaps it's not surprising that NBA players, tired of reaching for painkillers and a bag of ice, have been flocking to don the latest craze in equipment technology: Padded underwear, according to the TORONTO STAR.

Originally designed for British rugby players and popularized in North America by football brutes, the newfangled gear features a protective foam known by the trade name HexPad that is actually built into the form-fitting shorts and tank tops worn beneath uniforms.

It absorbs impact, not sweat. It conforms to the body in ways that previous generations of pads never have.

And so basketball players — who have traditionally played pad-free save for the occasional reliance on volleyball-style knee protection or a sleeve to cushion a wonky elbow — are now taking the court in undershorts buttressed with protection for the thighs, hips and tailbone, not to mention tank tops that dissipate blows to the ribs and spine.

Kevin DiPietro, the Raptors equipment manager who was introduced to the product at the annual meeting of his league-wide counterparts last summer, said more Raptors wear the padding than don't. Chris Bosh is among the converted.

Dwayne Wade, the Miami Heat guard who is second in the league in free-throw attempts with 11 per game — trailing Allen Iverson, who shoots 11.9 a night — is the lead spokesperson for the HexPad, which is manufactured by McDavid Sports Medical, a Chicago-area maker of everything from knee braces to jock straps.