"How did none of them bring up Rock Lee": Hoops fans react to Meleek Thomas & other OTE players debating ankle weights vs. weighted vests for practice

Weighted clothing while training has become a common trope in anime. From Goku's power levels going up after taking off his weighted clothing in Dragon Ball to Rock Lee's famous moment in Naruto against Gaara, it's everywhere.

This topic was brought up by Overtime and they asked Overtime Elite players like Meleek Thomas if they would rather train with these sorts of weighted clothing.

Overtime asked the OTE athletes if they would prefer training with a 30-pound weighted vest or have 10-pound ankle weights wrapped around both legs. Meleek Thomas pointed out that the ankle weights might lead to injury, leading to a debate among the basketball stars. Fans also weighed in on the matter.

"How did none of them bring up Rock Lee smh," said one fan, noting Naruto charater Rock Lee who trained with ankle weights.

"Ankle weights so I can be rock Lee," another commenter added.

"i practiced with ankle weights they aint to bad," another commenter noted.

However, many agreed with Meleek Thomas, as ankle weights can lead to injuries, especially those running at full speed or landing after a high vertical jump, which is what most basketball players do.

"Vest because if you jump and land on your ankle wrong you'r cooked," one commenter pointed out.

"Ankle weights the quickest way to injure yourself. Ya body not accustomed to that extra weight added to your ankle joints," another person added.

"Vest. Hooping with ankles weights can easily cause sprain or dislocation. You won’t be jumping out the gym like you al are thinking. Trust me 😂," another commenter said.

Fans react to Meleek Thomas and other Overtime Elite stars talk about training with weights on (Source: Instagram/overtime)

Some NBA stars have been known for training with weights, as the video has shown. They discussed Ron Artest, also known as Meta World Peace, famously wearing a weighted vest during practice.

What are Meleek Thomas' 2024-2025 season stats at Overtime Elite?

As for Meleek Thomas, the five-star Arkansas commit is currently playing for the City Reapers in Overtime Elite. The team is now second in the standings and has an 8-4 record, with Thomas leading them in points.

After their big 90-75 win against Fear of God Athletics on Jan. 6, Thomas currently averages 28 points, 5.1 assists, 8.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. However, this came after his lowest-scoring performance of the season against Fear of God Athletics, where he only scored 14 points, but had a double-double instead with 10 assists and five rebounds.