Anthony GharibApr 11, 2026, 09:00 AM ETMultiple Authors
With the Milwaukee Bucks clinging to a two-point lead against the Los Angeles Lakers, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo read the play. Defending James, he slipped past a screen and poked the ball loose from behind James, securing a 105-101 win on Jan. 9.
Later that night, in the bowels of Crypto.com Arena, Antetokounmpo explained his strategy on the move.
“I knew down the stretch that LeBron gets the ball. I knew that he wanted to get downhill and make the play. I knew that he’s going to call the pick-and-roll,” Antetokounmpo told ESPN. “I’ve played against him a lot of times, so I was just thinking ahead. Just to position myself to be more successful at the play.”
Anticipation has long been part of Antetokounmpo’s approach. It played a role in him making one of the more incredible plays in NBA Finals history, a clutch block on Deandre Ayton in Game 4 of the 2021 series.
As a 10-year-old, he learned chess at a church in Greece. On Sundays, he’d attend service. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, churchgoers could play activities such as table tennis and chess. Teachers taught Antetokounmpo the latter.
A fraternity has sparked with players around the league championing the benefits of chess. While skill levels range, one thing remains constant: the centuries-old game offers a different perspective to on-court play. Current and former players emphasize that the strategic elements — anticipating moves, recognizing patterns and staying one step ahead of an opponent — translate from the chessboard to the hardwood. Lessons from losing also apply to life.
Some NBA players have embraced chess publicly. Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brown and Jaime Jaquez Jr. have interactive bots on Chess.com that fans can challenge.
In December 2024, Victor Wembanyama invited fans to play him at Washington Square Park in New York City. Rain didn’t stop the San Antonio Spurs forward from moving pieces with anyone willing to stare him down across the board. Afterward, Wembanyama advocated for “an NBA players-only chess tournament.”
Wembanyama’s passion for the game carries over to his training. A frequent offseason workout for Wembanyama is to do conditioning and play chess at the same time.
“When you’re just sitting and you’re just playing chess, you don’t have to do anything else but focus on the board,” Gobert told ESPN. “But when you actually start to get some fatigue, mental fatigue, physical fatigue. I think it’s harder to make right decisions, so it kind of challenges you even more.”
“I figure it’s like hitting two birds with one stone. Sometimes you just need to get away,” he told ESPN. “You don’t have the focus needed to read or the focus needed to study something, so chess is good in that sense.”
Why has this classic board game, set on an 8-by-8 grid with 64 squares of alternating colors, begun spreading as a trending activity across the NBA? The answers lie in the stories of the NBA stars themselves and how they relate to games on and off the court.
Rajon Rondo, a two-time NBA champion, said he learned chess while in the 2020 COVID-19 bubble. Rondo, who retired in 2022, told ESPN he never knew of NBA peers playing throughout his 16-year career.
Rose — memorably spotted on Chess.com during a Drake concert — said he wishes he began playing earlier. He learned the game more than 10 years ago after reading how it might help prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Rose agreed with Rondo that he never heard of chess being played widely across the NBA, struggling to explain why.
For many in the league now, chess brings a mental challenge and an alternative to doomscrolling. Some athletes who spoke to ESPN learned the game earlier in their lives and picked it up again later on.
Jaquez often played with teammates after their UCLA practices. San Antonio Spurs forward Ingram joined a club while at North Carolina. Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams participated in chess clubs and tournaments growing up.
Given frequent travel time in the league, the chess app marked an easy entry point to the sport, making it so that anyone can be mere seconds from a match. Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu — who took a chess class while at USC — sees teammates playing on the plane.
“It’s just something to keep your brain active, right?” Golden State Warriors center Quinten Post told ESPN. “And us athletes, we’re always trying to get better and chess is something where you can clearly see whether you’re getting better or not by the [rating]. For me, just tracking my progress is something that’s really fun. Besides that, I just enjoy the nature of the game. There’s an infinite amount to learn, which makes it very interesting to delve into.”
Some locker rooms are filled with chess players — from multitime NBA champions like Draymond Green and Klay Thompson to younger players like the Timberwolves’ Jaylen Clark and Sacramento Kings’ Maxime Raynaud.
Rondo said he believes the game remains an untapped community in the league. But, he emphasized Rose’s tournament was “a brilliant idea to bring more awareness to people playing chess.”
Antetokounmpo doesn’t play often during the season, but he played with former Bucks teammate Sterling Brown “all the time” as well as with training staff members. On a January West Coast road trip, Rondo, currently an assistant on the Bucks’ staff, took a board in hopes of finally facing Antetokounmpo.
Jaquez — who has the goal of becoming a grandmaster — dedicates himself more during the season. Okongwu used to play more often, but not as much now.
Post truly locks in during the offseason. He’ll get in a three-month phase when he grinds and enjoys chess. Last summer, he visited the San Francisco Chess Club then received online tutoring from international master Ladia Jirasek.
On the other hand, Williams plays “every two minutes,” saying he could even be spotted on the bus playing moments after finishing our interview. However, he’s aware of his faults. Williams explained his rating isn’t as high as its potential because he doesn’t study.
“I play games drunk. I play games when I’m bored. I rush games,” he said. “I just gotta be better at that.”
While with the LA Clippers in his penultimate NBA season, Rondo’s game-day routine concluded with moving pieces.
For example, if a game started at 7 p.m., pregame rituals and warmups would run until around 6 p.m. Rondo would head to the locker room, bring out the chess board and get a game in with then-teammate Ivica Zubac right before tip. They would play “before every game,” Rondo said.
“And that kind of just allowed me to get my thinking cap on a little bit earlier. And obviously thinking in strategy to start the game,” Rondo said.
“It was more of, I’m a point guard. Seeing two or three plays down the line or being able to have that poise when you’re getting your ass kicked,” Rose said. “So being able to fight through that.”
A three-minute blitz match calms Williams. While eating his pregame meal or on the training table, Jaquez makes sure to play.
“I think it just locks me in. It just gets my mind sharp. Trying to assume and react to opponents’ moves,” said Jaquez, who’s averaging a career-high 15.1 points per game this season. “Seeing things on the chess board, I think it all helps me relate to basketball in a really cool way.”
It’s a similar setup for Gobert, who gets a “couple games in” usually while on the massage table. When his teammate Anthony Edwards took a seat next to Gobert during our conversation, he was asked whether he plays chess, telling ESPN: “Hell nah.”
The Bulls held a 3-0 lead in the first-round series of the 2014 playoffs, but Game 4 was tied with 1.3 seconds remaining. The Bucks inbounded the ball on their side of the court. Jerryd Bayless faked going toward the corner before cutting under the basket, beating Rose and receiving a pass from Jared Dudley for a game-winning layup.
Years later, sitting near the Chicago River on the other side of DuSable Bridge, Rose leans back in his chair and reflects on the play. He explains that then-Bucks head coach Jason Kidd targeted him. The possession haunted Rose throughout his career, showing the importance of being singled out and how “everything can lie within one action on the floor.” It’s no different from chess.
In the postseason, the resemblance between the two sports heightens due to the importance of every possession, Rose said. Every move, the weight of the game is hefty.
“That one move, you have to think before you move that next piece, that it may f— up the whole game. Even though it may seem so minute at that time, but it may mess up your guard,” he said. “With you having that one piece at a place, you’re leaving up or giving space for someone to prevent. So depending on that player, they’ll manipulate that.”
During his NBA career, Rondo became known for deciphering opposing plays and finding advantages. He built that reputation before he picked up chess; therefore, chess didn’t have a major on-court impact for him.
Instead, his studies in the film room allowed him to have an extra step during games. He compared it to improving in chess.
“Film and studying are always great habits to pick up and that’s just like in chess,” Rondo said. “Only way you get better is watching your games and try to watch those back and figure out the opponent’s moves.”
Bullet and blitz chess help Gobert read and make quick decisions. It has helped him understand that sometimes you won’t find the perfect option, but you have to make a decision.
He highlighted similarities between the strategic elements of chess and playing defense. When looking at games over the course of a season or playoff series, “it’s very strategic,” he explained.
“It’s always a mind game I think when it comes to basketball and especially me as a big that’s doing what I do defensively,” said Gobert who’s tied with Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace with an NBA-record four DPOY awards. “When guys try to bait me sometimes or try to read what I do. And so, there’s a big intimidation game and a big strategic game.”