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Posted on 04/26/2025 10:05:37 AM PDT by nickcarraway
‘Kids Don’t Need To Be Drinking These’ – Kawhi Leonard Takes a Dig at Popular Drink Brand April 25, 2025 | 7:51 PM EDT
The Los Angeles Clippers took care of business with a 117-84 win in Intuit Dome’s first-ever playoff game. Kawhi Leonard posted a double-double, notching 21 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists in the Clippers 34-point rout over the Denver Nuggets. During Kawhi’s postgame press conference, he seemed to take a subtle jab at an iconic sports drink.
Kawhi Leonard Takes a Shot at Gatorade, an NBA Sponsor Gatorade has made a name for itself in the sports industry as the drink that “fuels the athlete”. However, Leonard seems to think differently. Leonard stepped to the podium for his routine postgame press conference.
Normally, there will be Gatorade bottles strategically placed for sponsorship purposes. On his way up to the podium, Leonard removed the Gatorade bottles and said, “Kids don’t need to be drinking these.”
History of Gatorade PepsiCo acquired Gatorade in 2001 when it merged with the Quaker Oats Company. This acquisition added the famous sports drink to PepsiCo’s portfolio of brands.
As of April 2025, PepsiCo has a market cap of $182.64 billion, according to NASDAQ. This makes PepsiCo the world’s 75th most valuable company by market cap, according to their data. Market capitalization is the total market value of a publicly traded company’s outstanding shares and is used to quantify a company’s worth.
Surely, Gatorade is doing well financially, and Kawhi’s comments won’t hurt their bottom line, but is there a bigger trend of athletes not liking Gatorade?
Athletes’ Publicly Shunning Gatorade NBA star Klay Thompson has publicly shown his disapproval for Gatorade as well. During a press conference in 2017, Thompson, then with the Golden State Warriors, flipped over a bottle of Gatorade, causing it to fall off the podium.
This also isn’t Leonard’s first time disassociating himself with the sports drink. During the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago, Leonard again removed a bottle of Gatorade, mumbling under his breath, “not sponsored by Gatorade”.
The NBA’s biggest star, LeBron James, has also publicly shunned Gatorade. James used to be a partner with Gatorade but ended up switching to Powerade, one of Gatorade’s biggest competitors. Since Gatorade is the official drink for the NBA, James had to drink Gatorade during games. However, in order not to be associated with the brand, he would peel off the Gatorade tag before drinking it.
During the 2014 NBA Finals, King James cramped up, which caused the relationship between LeBron and Gatorade to be tarnished. Gatorade took to social media to poke fun at Powerade and LeBron, but later apologized. LeBron responded with a subtle dig, not mentioning Gatorade by name, “I don’t care about that sports group, the drink group that I’m not even going to say their name. I’m not going to give them a light in The Finals…”
Although there are instances of athletes showing their dislike for Gatorade, the famous sports drink has a plethora of notable athletes on its roster. Gatorade has sponsorships with global athletes like Luka Dončić, NBA champion Jayson Tatum, WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, and the arguable GOAT Michael Jordan, to name a few.
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Gatorade was developed for athletes who engage in prolonged, intense exercise and who need hydration, energy and electrolytes.
High school kids guzzle it like it’s water, they favor the neon colored ones - and drink it in place of water - Powerade too - because they see athletes. endorsing it. The sugar and salt hit alone are why they shouldn’t be drinking it.
“For individuals who are less active, the added sugar and sodium in Gatorade can increase the risk of weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.”
Our school nurse used to hammer this to the kids - went in one ear and out the other but at least the information was being put out there.
I also remember a game in the heat of Dallas with the Eagles, and the Eagles drank pickle juice before the game, and totally destroyed the Cowboys.
I don’t think anyone would recommend Gatorade for athletes today.
Same for Powerade.
Powerade Zero drops the sugar but doubles up on the sodium.
A friend's college B-ball team went to the Soviet Union in the 1980s on some kind of goodwill exchange. He said at half-time, the Russians gave them hot tea with lemon and ginger root.
They were angry - where's our Gatorade? Where's the sports-drink? What's this weird-tasting old-lady drink in teacups? Clearly, the Russians were trying to subtly sabotage them, so the home team would win.
Then they realized - oh, that's what the Soviet athletes drank also.
Sugar-laced crap
FSU tried to come up with their own version, but Seminade only sold well in San Francisco. ;)
Was it pickle Juice, or PickleBACKS?
It’s no better than soda, the extra potassium notwithstanding.
Damn straight!!
So these brilliant ball players know more than the nephrologist that invented Gatorade.
https://history.med.ufl.edu/profiles-in-history/dr-robert-cade/
How about toilet water?
Switchel used to be a popular hot weather drink with farmers and others working outside in the heat. It's made from apple cider vinegar and molasses, so pickle juice doesn't sound all that bizarre.
High school kids guzzle it like it’s water, they favor the neon colored ones - and drink it in place of water - Powerade too - because they see athletes. endorsing it. The sugar and salt hit alone are why they shouldn’t be drinking it.
I'm not that old. But the only times that we were drinking sports drinks were during athletic events.
Otherwise, we didn't drink it.
So obviously parents need to tell their children don't drink Gatorade unless they're playing basketball or something like that.
But for some reason this is not happening.
Pro tennis players drink pickle juice mixtures to avoid muscle cramps. If they start cramping they will use 100% in hopes of quick recovery. Have seen many tennis players go to their knees and have to be taken off the court in wheel chairs.
When at U of Florida for law school in the mid-1970s, I met Dr. Cade briefly. He was a conservative and a fine gentleman.
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