[JMIKE is a Grizz fanParticipant]

What is elite athleticism to you? I know there are great athletes out there Lebron, Derrick rose, John wall, Westbrook , BlakeEtc. But some times on this  website i get puzzled. For one Andre drummond athleticism is rated a 10 but i saw on another thread that he is no where near the athleticism of blake howard etc. And Shabazz’s athleticism is rated ten but on another post i saw that some people said he doesn ‘t have elite athleticism. Sorry i can’t cite these sources. also to me the best athlete in the world is a toss up between Lebron And trent Richardson. Trent is benching 475 power cleans 375 and squats 675!! If he’s weights 224 that means he applys 451 pounds of force to the ground. I know he probably has a high vert! And he runs a 4.4-4.5!

[db24kb24Participant]

You can’t compare NBA athleticism to NCAA athletes. It’s a whole different ball game in the League, you have some of the best athletes in the world in the NBA. In College you have some players that are on a NBA skill level in certain aspects, but by no means can compete against superior athletes. This is a reason why Jimmer and JJ are NCAA HOF’ers and they are role players at best in the league. 

It’s even harder to guage bigs because they are endangered, and only so many colleges can find guys with proper NBA size to play PF & C. Drummond seems to be of NBA size but he often plays against boys, or players who dont have a shot at the League which is why it’s hard to imagine him posterizeing NBA bodies as he does in college.

[ChewyParticipant]

Abviously there are different types. Derrick Rose is flat out fast. CP3 is incredibly quick. Lebron and D12 are incredibly strong for their position. Blake Griffin is pretty strong but is know for his sick hops.

What bugs me is when they say a hs prospect is an elite athlete what does that mean? Is he elite by NBA standards (which is a league full of athletic freaks) or is he elite by hs standards. Because I feel like atleast 90% of the top 50 players in any class would be elite athletes by HS standards…

[FastAndFuriousParticipant]

I just think an ELITE athlete regardless of what level, is a person that can run very fast, have crazy agility, good-great strength,and a running vertical of no less than "39" inches and of course have explosiveness, if you can do that whether your a HS player, a local YMCA player or in the NBA I think that makes you elite, because your able to do all these things at a high level.

 

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

I think yall are kind of right.. To me you have to have a great vert and nice speed with the ability to stop and go but above all, you have to have great body control… Who cares if you can jump like crazy and are stupid fast if you cant control yourself.

[FastAndFuriousParticipant]

 Yea that to I forgot about body control, but that’s kind of where strength comes into play, but you right you need good body control as well.

Cause I think some people believe only ELITE or VERY ELITE athletes only exist in proffesional sports, but man it’s so many dudes in the streets that can do the same as the elitest of the elite athletes that just aint never make it.

[WizardofOzParticipant]

 I don’t think Shabazz is an elite athlete. Someone like a prep DeRozan was more athletic than him, and his athleticism is even overrated IMO.

[FastAndFuriousParticipant]

 Trent Richardson vertical jump has been listed at 36 inches, which is pretty darn good for someone that’s 5’11 225 pounds lol

[Pro-21Participant]

 NFL players are some of the most elite athletes you’ll ever find…that 36 inch vert. is from a stand still and so with a running start it would easily top 40 inches

[raybeasParticipant]

The most athletic big people play volleyball. They train for super high verticals and quick side to side and front to back motion. May not have the 40 times of NBAers. Their strength is probably comparable to NBA 3s. Check some pro clips (Russian league is prolly best) before you judge.

[JoeWolf1]

 I disagre with the poster who said guys like Jimmer, JJ and other players with average athletic ability cannot compete at a high level against players with superior athletic ability.  Tim Duncan, Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, John Stockton, Steve Nash, Kevin Love, and plenty of other players with average athletic ability have made very big impacts in the league while Gerald Green, Harold Minor, Kenny Gregory, Marcus Haislip, Julian Wright, and plenty of others have made very little impact.

NFL players, I think are the strongest as a whole, Dhani Jones’ show on the travel channel I watched him, a very average NFL player in his 30’s, get 3rd in a Strong Man competition after training for a week.  Brian Urlacher and LaVar Arrington out of college were two of the freakiest athletes I’ve ever seen. 

I’d say the most explosive athletes in sports are elite NFL position players or Olympic level sprinters.  In the NBA you have the, in my opinion, an example of the most agile big men.  No other sport are there examples of 6’10” guys with 35” verticals running at the speeds athletic NBA power forwards and centers do. Raybeas, you make a good point about volleyball, but I still think NBA athletes are better.

 

[db24kb24Participant]

 I really dont care, but sadly i have nothing else to do right now…Yeah so I was saying that the majority of the players drummond plays against dont have and aren’t near the athletic abilities players in the League have. Also what separates and holds JJ and Jimmer from being standouts in the NBA has something to do with the increased level of athleticism. I’m not saying you must be super athletic to be great, but it certainly plays a factor in your NBA success. 

Klove, Nash, Bird, Stockton, not overly athletic at all if your talking explosive speed, or jumping ability. But if you factor in vision, balance, timing, body awareness, spatial awareness and coordination they are supreme athletes. 

[joecheck88Participant]

On a scale of 1 – 10, I think there are very few 10 out of 10 guys in the NBA. There is John Wall, Dwight Howard, Nate Robinson, and Blake Griffin. There are a few more but after that there are alot of 8 and 9 out of 10 guys. Drummond & Muhammed are guys I think are a notch below 10. They are very good athletes but not elite.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 Going back to the original question, what do we mean by elite athlete. First, when people talk about "athlete" they almost always mean explosive speed. They almost never mean "able to play sports". So coordination is generally ignored. So guys like Steve Nash, who has the the kind of muscle memory and coordination to make shots and do things at high speeds that most of the NBA could never hope to consistently accomplish is not considered an elite athlete. Generally, the coordination ability to do something like hit free throws is at 95% is not attributed to some sort of athletic ability but instead to things like character and training to play the game the right way. Don’t get me started on that issue and where that comes from, but lets just accept that being athletic doesn’t really mean having coordination. It just means speed and jumping ability when people talk about it. Body control and coordination probably should be considered, but that isn’t what announcers and analysts mean when they talk about this stuff.

I think most of the time when you read about someone and they say he is an elite athlete, they mean that he will be solidly above average in speed and jumping ability at the NBA level for the position that they play. That doesn’t mean they have to be at D. Rose level or D. Howard level. That would be more like "super elite athletes" or a "once in a generation" type athlete. So a guy like Kenneth Faired could be considered an elite athlete, as he will be fast and a good jumper for the power forward position that he plays. Anyway, I think that is what people mean when they talk about an elite athlete.  

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

I dont think J-Wall is a 10.. The other 3 guys you said are a 10… Guys I think you left out:

Derrick Rose – 10
Iman Shumpert – 10
Russel Westbrook – 10

Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant used to be 10s.. There arent many but I dont think Wall is quite on the level of Rose.

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

 It looks like ima have to make my own scale of athleticism….. again for this forum lol…. and these are examples below… IM NOT GOING TO INCLUDE EVERY PLAYER IN THE NBA… i got minsed b4 cuz dumbasses really thought i would put down every player for each category… not gnna happen… i have included solid becuz solid to me is the in between with average and good… there above average, but i wouldnt exactly label them "good" athletes by nba standards… remember, this is all nba standards…

You have your

-Below average athletes… guys like… Scalabrine, robin lopez, jaron and jason collins, etc…

-Average athletes… guys like dirk, steve nash, john stockton, steve blake, eric maynor, etc… 

-Solid athletes…. guys like… greg monroe, gallanari, rashad lewis, darius morris, marquis daniels, cj watson, etc…

-Good athletes… guys like… brandon knight, joakim noah, dorrel wright, david lee, jordan crawford, etc…

-Very good athletes… guys like… Maggette, nick young, hakim warrick, gerald henderson, derrick williams, etc…

-Great athletes…. guys like… Derozen, josh smith, kevin durant, rajon rondo, ty lawson, etc…

-Elite athletes… guys like… Lebron, wade, rose, wall, blake, dwight, nate robinson, deandre jordan, mcgee, westbrook……. i prob missed a few guys for elite, but hopefully u get the gist….

this is list isnt perfect, you may not like it, but it works for me

[JoeWolf1]

 I love weight training, and athletic training in general.  I’m not a trainer, but I’ve been lifting and doing various routines since I was 14.  Plyometrics, sprinting, long distance, olympic lifting, jump training, what have you.  I’ve been around a lot of great athletes, average athletes, and many many different kind of athletes.  So, when I think of an elite athlete, I think of a guy who can do it all and raise your eyebrows doing it.

elite vert, explosiveness, quickness, upper and lower body strength, speed, cooridnation, the total package. 

Things I don’t consider attributes in athleticism is length, wingspan, height, weight, those are just physical attributes.  Have those things make you better at certain sports, but they are not always indicative of athletic ability.  Hence, I don’t consider Javale McGee an elite athlete, he is a very good athlete, and especially for his height, but he’s not strong, he has a 9’7” standing reach so his dunks and blocks are impressive, but not because he is an ELITE ( he’s very good ) leaper.

Pretty much, if myself or a guy playing pickup ball at my gym can do something better than you as far as pure athleticism ( not basketball wise, I know NO ONE who could play in the NBA ) you’re probably not elite. And Javale’s 32” max vert is not elite, but his 9’7” standing reach ( a physical attribute is as elite as hit comes )

 

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