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

[Professor Emeritus]

Someone really has to explain this to me.


Do you think Oregon has the same amount of top-level bball size and talent as California?

Do you think Maine has the same amount of top-level bball size and talent as New York?

Do you think Arkansas has the same amount of top-level bball size and talent as Texas?

Do you think West Virginia has the same amount of top-level bball size and talent as Florida?


Then why the hell would a few mostly White Americans in a fringe sport in the 1950s have the same amount of top-level bball size and talent as a globally popular sport with a massive fanbase in the 2010s?



Basketball went from a young sport to an established sport, went from a fringe sport to one of the most popular sports, went from a local American sport to a global sport, and went from a racist white-dominated sport to a sport open to any race. As a result of those four moves (plus the world population tripling), the talent pool increased MASSIVELY. You have 20x as many kids training to play bball now as you did back then. 20x as big a talent pool means you get much better top-end talent.

It's not hard to understand. Expecting the same size and talent in 1960 as we have now would be like expecting Sioux Falls, South Dakota to produce as much size and talent as Chicago.

 

[MurderToCassette]

Yes, tell me about the athletic prowess of todays NBA . You can literally make a all star roster with all the people you guys complain about.
Harden, Flying Buffalo Zion, Doncac, There was that classic thread of cats goin in on Jokic for how out of shape and he was

Chet Holmgren (since were just going off appaerances apparently) looks like fukkin slenderman, but he's supposed to be a top 5 pick this year.

I'm not into the era bashing shyt, but its easy to manipulate perception to prove whatever point you want

 

[Shadow King]

Yes, tell me about the athletic prowess of todays NBA . You can literally make a all star roster with all the people you guys complain about.
Harden, Flying Buffalo Zion, Doncac, There was that classic thread of cats goin in on Jokic for how out of shape and he was

Chet Holmgren looks like fukkin slenderman, but he's supposed to be a top 5 pick this year.

I'm not into the era bashing shyt, but its easy to manipulate perception to prove whatever point you want

He's clearly an outlier and despite where he's picked most people don't believe he will hold up as a pro player weighing 195 at a legit 7'0"/7'1".

 

[MurderToCassette]

He's clearly an outlier and despite where he's picked most people don't believe he will hold up as a pro player weighing 195 at a legit 7'0"/7'1".

All I'm saying is its really easy to construct an argument like the ones in here because there's not a lot of substance to them. FWIW I hope Holmgren pans out

 

[inndaskKy]

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.

Al Horford is a stiff also and he's playing (well) in the Finals right now so I don't think you proved anything. Bjelica is a stiff as well. He doesn't play as much but still.

Hell, Tim Duncan was a stiff and he's one of the best players of all time, arguably better than a highly athletic player like Kobe.

 

[daboywonder2002]

14 three's a game in 02? Wow. Had no clue it was that low. What's crazier is I was still entertained. What were the ratings during that time? Shaq, Kobe, Tmac, Iverson. It just shows that talent draws ratings, not the three point shot or all these stupid rule changes.

 

[mastermind]

This is such a stupid forum. Casually not understanding how data works And being proud, all to support “their” era like some baby boomer baseball loving cac who has to tell us why Al Kaline was better than Frank Thomas.

you all are too young and supposedly too hip hop to have these old man takes.

 

[ISO]

Al Horford is a stiff also and he's playing (well) in the Finals right now so I don't think you proved anything. Bjelica is a stiff as well. He doesn't play as much but still.

Hell, Tim Duncan was a stiff and he's one of the best players of all time, arguably better than a highly athletic player like Kobe.

Horford is not a stiff. He has always been known as a mobile big man. Even today in his mid-30’s able to play drop coverage, hedge high on P&R’s, and hip swivel against guards on switches.

He’s probably the best Giannis defender in the league. In his younger days could pump fake, blow by, and dunk and had good open floor speed to push the ball as a big man.

Duncan also isn’t a stiff he was an agile, mobile big man with footwork.

 

[mbewane]

Lol I've never ever heard that "myth" before. I mean two positions where players used to have to be built (center and PF) hardly exist anymore lmao

 

[GR13]

I'm prepared, don't think I haven't thought this through for years... Ja Morant vs

How about

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).

edit: and also the only position that might be more athletic today is the center position due to the post game being eliminated and them essentially playing like rebounding wings, which also goes against you saying especially not the PG position

you even had a player like Kevin Garnett a full 7'1 in early 2000's


















ballhandling shot creation

 

[Easy-E]

Yes, tell me about the athletic prowess of todays NBA . You can literally make a all star roster with all the people you guys complain about.
Harden, Flying Buffalo Zion, Doncac, There was that classic thread of cats goin in on Jokic for how out of shape and he was

Chet Holmgren (since were just going off appaerances apparently) looks like fukkin slenderman, but he's supposed to be a top 5 pick this year.

I'm not into the era bashing shyt, but its easy to manipulate perception to prove whatever point you want

The next gen will be shytting on guys like Harden crazy


"This fat nikka named James dribbled all over the place and got fouled and was one of the best scorers"

 

[HandyWithTheSteel]

The NBA changed the rule in 2019 and started measuring players barefoot. Those heights from the past are not accurate by todays standards. Those measurements were all in shoes.

Michael Jordan is 6’4.5” barefoot. Hakeem is 6’10”, Barkley is 6’4”, etc…

Players are obviously bigger today than they were in the past. That’s not even up for debate.

 

[HandyWithTheSteel]

Yes, tell me about the athletic prowess of todays NBA . You can literally make a all star roster with all the people you guys complain about.
Harden, Flying Buffalo Zion, Doncac, There was that classic thread of cats goin in on Jokic for how out of shape and he was

Chet Holmgren (since were just going off appaerances apparently) looks like fukkin slenderman, but he's supposed to be a top 5 pick this year.

I'm not into the era bashing shyt, but its easy to manipulate perception to prove whatever point you want

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Al Horford is a stiff also and he's playing (well) in the Finals right now so I don't think you proved anything. Bjelica is a stiff as well. He doesn't play as much but still.

Hell, Tim Duncan was a stiff and he's one of the best players of all time, arguably better than a highly athletic player like Kobe.

Breh, on what planet did you think Horford and Duncan were ever stiffs?

 

[inndaskKy]

Breh, on what planet did you think Horford and Duncan were ever stiffs?

Come on breh. I'm not hating on them, I love both players. But let's not act like their backs aren't straight at all times. These guys could do sit-ups and their backs wouldn't bend.

What's even the definition of a stiff if these guys don't qualify?