Up at 4.45am, head home at 11pm: life as an NBA player trying to break through

Jason Preston could barely get a game in high school, and now he is a member of the LA Clippers. Staying there requires incredible amounts of hard work

It's the peak of the summer. But Jason Preston, the young point guard for the Los Angeles Clippers, wakes up at 4.45am. At a time when other 24-year-olds are sleeping in - or still out on the town - Preston is stretching. Then he has some breakfast - nothing decadent - a meal to carry him through his upcoming morning workout. It doesn't end there, though. Preston has a full day ahead, then it's early to bed all over again. Such is the life of a young player trying to make an impact in the NBA.

I don't even necessarily look at it like I have to get up so early," Preston tells the Guardian. It's a good feeling. As if I'm a step ahead of everybody. I like waking up and it still being dark outside."