HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — If you know Richard Jefferson, you probably remember him dunking on his opponents when he played in the NBA.
But what you probably don't know, is that yoga was the slam dunk that kept him playing for as long as he did.
"That was the key for me and I swear by it in my longevity in how I was able to play 17 years in the NBA," Jefferson said.
Jefferson's long-time friend Pete got him into practicing yoga during the NBA lockout in 2011.
During that time, Jefferson was suffering from back issues, and yoga became part of his workout regimen.
"You're literally stretching your body for an hour non-stop and I just found so much joy in how my body reacted to it that I became addicted to it like most people," said Jefferson.
With his body thriving, his love for the practice took a step further into entering the yoga biz.
Jefferson and Pete would take class at a studio in Santa Monica where they met instructor Natasha Needles.
But they noticed people from the South Bay were driving up just to go to this studio.
So they opened their own studio in Hermosa Beach nearly six years ago called Soho Yoga, a place that offers something for everyone.
"We wanted yoga to be inclusive for everyone and that was a big part of how we designed this studio," Jefferson.
The studio is non-heated upstairs with a heated yoga studio downstairs.
This yoga trio is like a little basketball team.
Jefferson calls himself the team's GM, Pete manages the studio like a head coach, and Needles is the studio's yoga director, who Jefferson calls the star player.
Jefferson's high-profile has encouraged other professional athletes to give yoga a try.
"To have an athlete that is sitting here campaigning for it and to have an amazing teacher like Natasha in this studio and the location, it was like, 'Alright I'll go check out Richard's studio,' and then they're just like, 'Oh this is what I've needed,'" said Jefferson.
And it's what he's needed too...using the physical release of yoga in order to calm his mind down.
"How it allows me to run more or allows me to lift more or allows me to play other sports because my body feels strong via yoga," Jefferson said.
Body strong and mind strong, in the yoga community he's built with his team in Hermosa Beach.