more padding at the big dance

At the college and professional level, now more than ever more basketball players are wearing padding during games. Many of us are watching the March Madness, and compression shorts and other types of padding are more prevalent than in previous years. In this article, some wonder whether any of this is really necessary? Even though it is obvious the sport is getting more and more physical, some say that your bodies natural padding, like cartilage around your ribs to protect from elbows, is enough. But "players believe". For the professionals I get that they make money for endorsements simply by flashing a brand, so that's got to be part of the reason they do it. But for the college players they don't have the luxury of knowing they get paid through their season if they get injured. I completely get that some of these college players are trying to go pro, or just want to get through their college career as athletes. Even if compression shorts and other padding don't really do much, anything to give the players peace of mind that they are less likely to get injured makes sense. At the college level the guys get bigger, and especially during March Madness they get even more aggressive and fired up. However, if this "fad" trickles down to lower levels I think that's going a little over the top.