The fats matter also. In terms of amino acid mixture, fish is actually better than whey and casein for muscle growth. Saturated fats and cholesterol are promoters of growth, testosterone, and growth hormone; polyunsaturated fats suppress them. Also polyunsaturated fats generate lipid peroxidation in mitochondria which limits athleticism and mitochondrial health.
Excess of calories is essential, but a proper balance of calories provides the best stimulus. You don't want a diet that is too high in protein. The article said Nolan was advised to eat a plate that was "50% protein" by volume (I assume they meant meat), 25% green leafy vegetables (no calories), and 25% whatever he wanted -- that's going to be higher in protein than is optimal.
This is also oversimple. All foods are inflammatory in some fashion or another, because the immune and metabolic systems co-evolved (in single celled organisms eating is the immune defense) and overlap. A postprandial inflammatory marker is a terrible way to evaluate the value of a nutrient.
Similarly, nothing is bad or good except in relation to the quantity we get or have of it. More LDL is good for us when levels are too low, bad for us when levels are too high; same with HDL; same with dietary fatty acids or other nutrients.
I didn't say fats don't matter. Please re-read what I said. I said it doesn't matter whether you get them from milk or other foods. Clearly a balance of fats is optimal. I understand that biochemistry is extremely complicated and varies from person to person. You have to look at the overall effect of a substance and how it interacts with other things you are consuming and not just look at one thing that it does in order to figure out how much to take of it.
Whey is better for stimulating muscle growth because 2.5-3 grams of leucine absorbed quickly will significantly increase muscle protein synthesis. Fish is a good complement to whey as a slow digesting protein, but there are others that are very comparable like grass fed beef and can be consumed to compliment whey. Slow digesting protein sources like fish do not provide a quick uptick in leucine and therefore do not give a significant increase to protein synthesis, but are important for a constant stream of amino acids. If you want further explanation than read about/ listen to Scott Connely, Layne Norton or others who have done or closely analyzed the research.
In terms of the percentages of macronutrients you must realize a couple of things.
1. they consider protein to be something like steak. Clearly there is more than just protein in steak, but the dietitian is trying to keep it simple. so much less than 50% of calories come from protein.
2. you are assuming that these people have normal caloric intakes. if a 6 foot 180 lb man with 15% bodyfat eats a 2500 calorie diet and 50% is protein, than he may not be getting adequate amounts of essential fatty acids. However, Nolan and the other basketball players are most likely eating 3500-5000+ calories per day depending upon their exercise schedule. So the calories in addition to protein are much more than is needed to get adequate amounts of fat.
to address my explanation of fat and cholesterol I specifically said that this is a simplification and that even writing 10 times as much would only scratch the surface. I wasn't trying to give a lecture on biochemistry to PHD students, but simply trying to explain in a simple and easy to understand way the basics of it so he could eat healthier.
Inflammation is important because it is one of the factors that can contribute to problems like heart disease and cancer. Some would argue that it is extremely important. In fact it may be one of the most important factors in deciding how we eat.
I never took a steroid even a supplement. 5 out of 7 days I ate chicken breast for breakfast lunch and dinner and I became very powerful and my body looked very good. 20 years later not so much