NBA Myths Busted: Players Are Wayyyy Bigger Than They Used To Be

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Nikka name is AirTupac

With a Kobe avi.

Nxgga must've stumbled across a random generic character generator from the early 00s.

 

[livindajetlife]

I never understood the 80s and 90s being better but to me early 2000s are most definitely but I’m not gonna lie that’s when I started watching hard so of course my opinion is skewed

 

[Shadow King]

Just looked up Steve Francis, through his first six seasons, outside of his 01 season where he got hurt, he missed a total of six games out of 82

will look up BDavis in a sec I'm driving while responding

And then he was washed by 28, including the mentioned 2001-02 season

 

[horizon]

This has been debunked a million times over.. I've even said a million times, the league isn't even more athletic than it used to be, NBA athleticism peaked in the early 00s.. today's players, especially the stars are better pick n roll distributors and shooters but when it came to the full spectrum of athleticism, early 00s players take the cake over today's stars

They cloned @Swagnificent yall

 

[DoubleClutch]

This has been debunked a million times over.. I've even said a million times, the league isn't even more athletic than it used to be, NBA athleticism peaked in the early 00s.. today's players, especially the stars are better pick n roll distributors and shooters but when it came to the full spectrum of athleticism, early 00s players take the cake over today's stars

Just the fact that there’s no player MORE athletic than Jordan since Jordan proves that argument wrong

Jalen Green might be the closest thing in the NBA right now

But some of the athletes on social media definitely aren’t human

But imagine if spud Webb had a dunking page back in the day. Probably would’ve doing stuff like

 

[Shadow King]

The point of the argument wasn't about who had a longer career, because obviously players of today playing such favorable conditions that make it easy to even play until you're 45.. the point was when it came to these players at their primes players in the early 2000s were much more athletic, tougher, and more capable of playing an 82 game season while in their prime

But they apparently weren't

 

[firemanBk]

dem 3 pointer attempts per game is a lil ridiculous

shyt is
But also notice the dramatic reduction of personal fouls
Interesting since a lot of people act like there are more fouls called now, not less

 

[Koli_Kat]

You stat is nil.

Average league height != Average league height of guys that are actually playing and dominating

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Average height is a silly way to compare players over time.

Back in the 1960s there would be 15-20 white stiffs around 6'9" to 6'11 in the league for no reason other than that they were tall. Skinny or fat, no athleticism, no skill, but height alone got you in the door in that day. And since there were just 8 teams, those guys were 1/4 of the league by themselves so they distorted the average whether or not they actually got playing time.




6'8" Ed MacCulley and 6'11" Chuck Share, split time at center in the '58 Finals

6'9" Larry Foust, starting center in the '59 Finals

6'9" Clyde Lovette, starting center in the '60 and '61 Finals

6'8" Jim Krebs, starting center in the '62 and '63 Finals

I'm not talking random stiffs, I'm talking STARTERS in the FINALS. Outside of Russell and Wilt the talent and athleticism among tall players was weak as fukk. And lets not even talk about their backups.


6'9" Hub Reed

6'9" Jack Parr

6'9" Kenny Sears

6'9" Connie Dierking

6'9" Johnny "Red" Kerr

6'10" Phil Jordan

Sorry, but these guys are NOT getting anywhere near the NBA today. Just because they bumped up the average height doesn't mean they weren't generally skinny as fukk with no athleticism or talent. Over time players at every position have gotten bulkier, more athletic, and more talented for their size, and 6'9" stiffs who were there solely for height have been replaced by players with incredible athleticism and skill.

 

[ikbm]

Average height is a silly way to compare players over time.

Back in the 1960s there would be 15-20 white stiffs around 6'9" to 6'11 in the league for no reason other than that they were tall. Skinny or fat, no athleticism, no skill, but height alone got you in the door in that day. And since there were just 8 teams, those guys were 1/4 of the league by themselves so they distorted the average whether or not they actually got playing time.




6'8" Ed MacCulley and 6'11" Chuck Share, split time at center in the '58 Finals

6'9" Larry Foust, starting center in the '59 Finals

6'9" Clyde Lovette, starting center in the '60 and '61 Finals

6'8" Jim Krebs, starting center in the '62 and '63 Finals

I'm not talking random stiffs, I'm talking STARTERS in the FINALS. Outside of Russell and Wilt the talent and athleticism among tall players was weak as fukk. And lets not even talk about their backups.


6'9" Hub Reed

6'9" Jack Parr

6'9" Kenny Sears

6'9" Connie Dierking

6'9" Johnny "Red" Kerr

6'10" Phil Jordan

Sorry, but these guys are NOT getting anywhere near the NBA today. Just because they bumped up the average height doesn't mean they weren't generally skinny as fukk with no athleticism or talent. Over time players at every position have gotten bulkier, more athletic, and more talented for their size, and 6'9" stiffs who were there solely for height have been replaced by players with incredible athleticism and skill.

all this stupid shyt in the OP can easily be debunked here

The Average Height of NBA Players from 1952-2022

Check the average height of NBA players by position and year. Find out why NBA players are getting smaller in recent years!

www.thehoopsgeek.com

the league in general got taller since the 50s 60s with the apex in the average height jumping because of the game shifting to the great big man era........but its steadily tapered off by 1 inch since the late 80s...while the average player has bulked up
todays game puts more emphasis on 6'5-6'9 guys being able to guard an array of positions and unless you're really skilled or athletic the days of the stiff 7 footer are dying. if you cant space or guard out in space your place in the league will be minimized
the biggest indicator of the league not being the same is the jump in weight and height from guards in general from those eras.
these players are in way better shape and are stronger than any prior era. all these cats are in the gym lifting
pgs are legit 20 pounds heavier than the mid 00s and 10 pounds heavier than the early 00s

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Not only where these guys just as good vertically as little spindly 88lb Ja Morant, they were also much more built on top of it with body like grown ass men... Built Ford fukkin tough, more durable, thicker in the legs as well and generally just more explosive.

Players were built back then to fight through aggressive defenses and weren't just skinny little plyometrically based athletes trained in skill jumping which is essentially what Lavine, Ja, etc do, which is jump up in a straight line and do more tricks on the way up due to practice. Not built to sustain their frames, and extremely lean in order to also keep a frame built to shoot the basketball from 3. Steve Francis is a better athlete than Ja Morant (the most athletic PG in today's NBA).

This is a total lie, players are heavier and denser now than they were in 2000. Perimeter players have consistently gotten heavier over time and are far more built than before. BMI among 1-2-3 has peaked in the 2010s, BMI for 4-5 peaked around 2005-2015 and only went down since then due to the emphasis on shooters and guys who could guard everyone on switches.

Think of all the skinny-ass point guards who weighed nothing that were playing in the 1990s and early 2000s. Kenny Anderson, Sleepy Floyd, Kenny Smith, Chris Whitney, Bobby Hurley, Dee Brown, Chucky Atkins, Greg Grant, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Michael Adams, Dana Barros, Tyrus Edney, B.J. Armstrong, Steve Kerr, Rod Strickland, Rafer Alston, and so on. Not even counting the short sub-6' ones on top of that like Muggsy Bougues, Spud Webb, Earl Boykins, Greg Grant, Keith Jennings, Tyus Edney, Brevin Knight, Avery Johnson, Damon Stoudamire, Mike Wilks, Speedy Claxton, Scott Brooks, and Terrell Brandon.

Bobby Hurley was the #7 pick in 1997 looking like a 165lb cancer survivor with no jump shot and you want us to believe that everyone was packing muscle in that era?

 

[The Amerikkkan Idol]

Average height is a silly way to compare players over time.

Back in the 1960s there would be 15-20 white stiffs around 6'9" to 6'11 in the league for no reason other than that they were tall. Skinny or fat, no athleticism, no skill, but height alone got you in the door in that day. And since there were just 8 teams, those guys were 1/4 of the league by themselves so they distorted the average whether or not they actually got playing time.




6'8" Ed MacCulley and 6'11" Chuck Share, split time at center in the '58 Finals

6'9" Larry Foust, starting center in the '59 Finals

6'9" Clyde Lovette, starting center in the '60 and '61 Finals

6'8" Jim Krebs, starting center in the '62 and '63 Finals

I'm not talking random stiffs, I'm talking STARTERS in the FINALS. Outside of Russell and Wilt the talent and athleticism among tall players was weak as fukk. And lets not even talk about their backups.


6'9" Hub Reed

6'9" Jack Parr

6'9" Kenny Sears

6'9" Connie Dierking

6'9" Johnny "Red" Kerr

6'10" Phil Jordan

Sorry, but these guys are NOT getting anywhere near the NBA today. Just because they bumped up the average height doesn't mean they weren't generally skinny as fukk with no athleticism or talent. Over time players at every position have gotten bulkier, more athletic, and more talented for their size, and 6'9" stiffs who were there solely for height have been replaced by players with incredible athleticism and skill.

Now, y'all are changing the debate.

It was "Everybody Wilt Chamberlain played against was 6'4"", now it's "well, yeah, they were just as tall as today's players, but just not as athletic."





And I resent you just posting random White people as I couldn't just post pictures of Jokic, Porzingis, Boban, and random European players playing today as an example of White people playing in the NBA who don't look athletic.

If I put Jokic in one of those old school uniforms, he wouldn't look like a basketball player either.

Fact is, human beings are not that much bigger or athletic than we were 50 years ago, facts.

The NBA is no different.

Humans don't evolve that much in decades, that happens in centuries.

Now, does that mean that the average player due to advanced training techniques isn't a little bit more advanced skillwise than players from decades ago? Sure

But it's not as huge as y'all make it out to be.

It's like this TED Talk by David Epstein that shows how athletes really have not evolved that much over the past 100 years, they just have better equipment and working conditions

That's why even though Usain Bolt has run way faster times than Jesse Owens, if you adjust for equipment and track conditions, they're pretty much about neck & neck.



Also, rule changes have made the game a lot less physical and changed the type of players who are utilized.

That doesn't mean players are any better or worse, just different.

If the NBA changed it's rules tomorrow and went back to the world before the flagrant foul came around in the early '90s, then you'd have to stock your team with Rick Mahorns and Michael Cages again to protect your stars, while all these "stretch 4s" might be unable to bang.

 

[Lord Beasley]

you niccas really in here

over the size of middle-aged crehs

 

[Swagnificent]

Average height is a silly way to compare players over time.

Back in the 1960s there would be 15-20 white stiffs around 6'9" to 6'11 in the league for no reason other than that they were tall. Skinny or fat, no athleticism, no skill, but height alone got you in the door in that day. And since there were just 8 teams, those guys were 1/4 of the league by themselves so they distorted the average whether or not they actually got playing time.




6'8" Ed MacCulley and 6'11" Chuck Share, split time at center in the '58 Finals

6'9" Larry Foust, starting center in the '59 Finals

6'9" Clyde Lovette, starting center in the '60 and '61 Finals

6'8" Jim Krebs, starting center in the '62 and '63 Finals

I'm not talking random stiffs, I'm talking STARTERS in the FINALS. Outside of Russell and Wilt the talent and athleticism among tall players was weak as fukk. And lets not even talk about their backups.


6'9" Hub Reed

6'9" Jack Parr

6'9" Kenny Sears

6'9" Connie Dierking

6'9" Johnny "Red" Kerr

6'10" Phil Jordan

Sorry, but these guys are NOT getting anywhere near the NBA today. Just because they bumped up the average height doesn't mean they weren't generally skinny as fukk with no athleticism or talent. Over time players at every position have gotten bulkier, more athletic, and more talented for their size, and 6'9" stiffs who were there solely for height have been replaced by players with incredible athleticism and skill.

Why is it always the white posters who like to disrespect players from the past who were white? If you believe in racial supremacy and inferiority based on athleticism, then I guess you also believe in racial supremacy and inferiority based on intelligence. So tell me, do you agree with the NFL that since black people score lower on aptitude tests like IQ that we are less intelligent than whites?

You can't have it both ways. You can't go around believing in racial supremacy and inferiority based on athleticism but then say it doesn't apply to intelligence. Either racial supremacy exists across the board or it doesn't exist. So which is it?

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Now, y'all are changing the debate.

It was "Everybody Wilt Chamberlain played against was 6'4"", now it's "well, yeah, they were just as tall as today's players, but just not as athletic."

No one has ever said the centers guarding Wilt were 6'4".

However, there were plenty of lineups where there'd only be one unathletic white stiff at 6'8" or 6'9" guarding wilt and the rest of the team on the court was 6'6" or shorter. Do you disagree with that or nah?

And I resent you just posting random White people as I couldn't just post pictures of Jokic, Porzingis, Boban, and random European players playing today as an example of White people playing in the NBA who don't look athletic.

They're not "random white people", I posted the a starting center in the NBA Finals in every year from 1958 to 1963 and nearly all of the other 6'9" or taller players. You do realize the league was 75% white back then and is 75% non-white now, right? You do realize that today's centers are MILES more skilled and athletic than those guys, right?

You also probably don't realize there were only 8 teams back then. So I was listing 2/3 of the centers in the league, not just a few "random white guys".

I mean how fukking stupid would you be to put Porzingis and Jokic in the same sentence as those stiffs.

If I put Jokic in one of those old school uniforms, he wouldn't look like a basketball player either.

Breh Jokic is 6'11" 285lbs and one of the most skilled motherfukkers in the league.

The guys I posted were 6'9" 195lbs and had no fukking skill whatsoever.

Fact is, human beings are not that much bigger or athletic than we were 50 years ago, facts. The NBA is no different.

Humans don't evolve that much in decades, that happens in centuries.

It's nothing to do with evolution, it's the size of the talent pool. Fact is, in 1960 the NBA was a fringe sport with a tiny talent pool of mostly white americans.

Now the NBA is a massive global sport which a huge talent pool of all races. There are over 20x as many boys playing basketball worldwide now as there was in 1960. That's why white americans got completely marginalized - they went from being the only game in town to being a fringe minority in the sport.

Claiming the tallest players will be the same is like saying, "People are the same height in Vermont and New York, so there should be the same centers in both states!" And then being surprised that New York is full of 6'10" athletic boys with skill while a 6'5" white stiff can be starting at the 5 on an elite Vermont team.