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Pistons forward Saddiq Bey has needed to be physically pulled off of the hardwood at times. After his rookie season, which saw the former Villanova product earn All-Rookie honors, Bey spent a large part of his offseason playing with Team USA. From there, he participated in Detroit’s Summer League stint in Las Vegas. After that, Bey went on to play and start in all 82 games for the Pistons. In his free time, Bey brought his work home, or vice versa. He’d always end up at the team’s practice facility.

Basketball. Basketball. More basketball.

“It was recommended to me by the staff (to take time off),” Bey said with a smile at his end-of-season media availability.

So, for the last two months, Bey has been hiking in the mountains of Boulder, Colorado, where he rented a three-story Airbnb.

Yes, hiking.

“I like being off the grid,” Bey told The Athletic last week. “It’s quiet. It’s peaceful.”

Bey’s new pastime, though, is part of a bigger plan. He didn’t seek out hiking. That just comes with the environment he temporarily calls home. Bey also didn’t spin a globe, close his eyes and move to whichever state his finger landed on. It was all strategic and picked with basketball in mind. In that world, Colorado is known for its altitude. At higher elevations, breathing isn’t easy. Fatigues sets in quicker. If someone is in shape in Colorado, they’re in shape everywhere.

Technically, yeah, Bey did find a new hobby. It’s just one that he hopes will enhance the hobby he loves most.