Players with Odd Body structure
Kevin Willis - there are 6'3" guards who had longer wingspan then him and he is 7'
Tashawn Prince - this dude looks like he belongs in the line at the soup kitchen, I am amazed at how strong and durable he has been despite his Somalian like frame.
John Henson/Quincy Miller - see Tashawn Prince
Greg Oden - TMac has nothing on Oden. There is no doubt in my mind that Odens injuries are a direct result of being dis-proportioned at the top/bottom. These guys work so much on their uppers and neglect working on their lowers a lot of time....this is not good for a 7 footer.
The NBA body type in general is not the norm. A person's arm span is supposed to be the same or within a couple inches to their height. A 6'9'' guy with a 7'6'' wingpsan makes for a good basketball player's body, but that is an odd body structure.
Guys in the NBA are said to have "t-rex arms" if their wingspan is the same as their height, but in reality, that is normal.
I've been lyrically inclined since I thought about a rhyme, plus I knew the only thing I couldn't kill was time.........
I agree with Joe Wolf as well. The average NBA player has a wing span at least 2-3 inches above their height. That is not what the average human being possesses. If you want to know another player with an abnormal body structure, Allen Iverson fit the bill. He had insane long arms as well.
Pat Ewing had small feet. Size 13 as a true seven-footer. A guy I knew who hung out with him said his friends used to kid him on that a lot.
I remember some guy from Indiana had a really long neck. Coach Knight said that people really shouldn't view him as a 7-footer and expect him to play like that because he would really have been 6' 10" without that extra-long neck. Needless to say, extra neck doesn't help you as a player unless it is coming with extra long arms.
I've always thought that skinny and light feet and calves were best for basketball because they helped you have faster feet (just because you had less weight down there to slow down your feet). But I've never heard any study supporting that.
I think quick feet has more to do with coordination than leg mass. Just my opinion, though. Players that are carrying a lot of extra weight (like 20-30lbs) are quicker when they lose that, but since the calf is not a huge muscle the difference would probably only by 1 lb or so on each leg, and most professional athletes have strong enough legs for 1 or 2 lbs not to matter.
To me, it seems like the really thin guys tend to be very fluid and glide up and down the court and in the air, not really the guys with the quickest feet (Unless they are short). I think the guys with really quick feet tend to be shorter really, since a low center of gravity allows quicker direction change.
I have nothing to back that up either, just my thoughts.
Warning: They used information on the site that shall not be named, but I have to say, this is on the level. Jay Bilas always says:
"He is 7 feet tall, but he has the wingspan of someone 7'4"
(Heard him say this particular in reference to Greg Oden, but also in reference to countless others)
Well, that may be true, but more than likely that 7'4 gentleman would not be in the NBA. I like the formula they used for how much your length is greater than your body. With that, the following were in the "freakishly long" category according to provided data, by most to still freakish but lesser so (granted they used height with shoes, which can at times be misleading):
1. Jason Maxiell
2. Bismack Biyombo
3. Kawhi Leonard
4. Saer Sene
5. Roddy Buckets
6. Marshon Brooks
7. Elton Brand
8. Shelden Williams
9. DeJuan Blair
10. Josh Howard
11. Ike Diogu
12. Zabian Dowdell
The "Freakish" category, which I have a feeling would also contain Rajon Rondo, Tayshaun Prince and Lamar Odom, would include the only 5% of players who had statistics present (the 95% percentile). So, it is fairly rare for an NBA player to have an 8.4% difference between their height and wingspan.
After that, you have "Elite" (6.4-8.39% longer than your body), which would be the 80-95%. Included are:
Elite: Rudy Gay (8.05%), Gilbert Arenas(7.67%), Kevin Durant (7.32%) , Derrick Rose (6.88%), Dwight Howard (7.06%)
"Above Average" (4.9-6.39%) would be the 60-80% of length. Including:
Above Average: LaMarcus Aldridge(6.20%), Danny Granger (5.85%), Carmelo Anthony (5.36%), Russell Westbrook (5.33%), LeBron James (5.04%)
"Average" would be a length 3.6-4.89% longer than ones body, or those in the 40-60%. Among some Average:
Average: Darko Milicic (4.78%), Chris Bosh (4.57%), Michael Beasley (4.75%), Deron Williams (4.47%), Richard Jefferson (4.17%)
"Modest" would be a length 2.11-3.59% longer than ones body. Such as:
Modest: David Lee (3.57%), Al Horford (3.54%), Jrue Holiday (3.48%), Andrew Bogut (3.16%), DeMar DeRozan (3.09%)
"Subpar" meanwhile would be anything below 2.1%, which was anything below the 20th percentile of the study. This includes:
Subpar: Kevin Love (2.10%), Kwame Brown (1.76%), Joakim Noah (1.47%), Monta Ellis (-0.67%), JJ Reddick (-1.99%)
Found this kind of interesting. Definitely not the end all be all, as you can see that the longest player are by no means always the most successful, but I liked how they measured it in terms of wingspan over height to see how long you are as compared to how much your height indeed helps as a player. I knew JJ Reddick was a T-Rex, but had no idea about Monta Ellis. Plus, was surprised to see LaMarcus Aldridge below "Elite" level length. You still have to take into account standing reach, which definitely varies from wingspan, but thought this just gave a good example of how an "Average" length player in the NBA still has a wingspan about 3-4 inches longer than their body. That is definitely not "normal" as far as most people not in professional sports.
@seniokas: You would be 5.33%, so "Above Average". Solid.
Can you name some notable players with an odd body structure that keeps them from competing at a high level? I can name two:
Tracy McGrady - Has what I like to call the "Cow-Chicken Syndrome". Built in the upper-body section, but has frail, tainted legs. If not only the knee issues from the past, all this weight up top is no good for his lower body, keeping him from being the great player he was.
Kwame Brown - Remember that Burger King commercial a few years back with th guy couldn't grip the burger because he had small hands? Well, Brown is the recipiant of this. His small hands makes it hard for him to grip the ball and finish around the rim.