2.1. Participants

Young basketball players were recruited meeting the following inclusion criteria: (i) having between 15 and 16 years old; (ii) more than five years of basketball training experience; (iii) no contraindications to BJ diet; and (iv) no physical limitations, health problems, or musculoskeletal injuries. Twelve competitive male basketball players from the same regional club, aged 15.6 ± 0.5 years, body weight 76.3 ± 9.0 kg, height 184.3 ± 7.5 cm, body mass index 22.5 ± 2.9, each with more than eight years of basketball training experience (2–3 sessions a week, 1–2 h per session), were screened and recruited as potential participants. After being fully informed of the experimental protocols, all players gave their informed and parental written consent to participate. Ten players (four guards, four forwards, and two centers) were selected as the study sample while the resting two were considered if someone drops out of the study to ensure a 5-on-5 basketball competition. All the participants were familiarized with the testing procedures as part of their pre-season assessment The Bioethics Commission of the University of Murcia (ID: 2421/2019) approved the study which complied with the recommendations of the Declaration of Helsinki.