[blackflash234Participant]

C: Dwight Howard – No Center in the league has a 38 inch vertical and his dunks are just unbelievable
PF: Tyrus Thomas – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmC2VRvKc9c .. Amare can’t do that
SF: LeBron James – No description needed
SG: Dwayne Wade – I go with Wade over Kobe because Wade’s dunks are more spectacular
PG: Derrick Rose – Can’t go wrong with either Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook

[McWinningParticipant]

id pick Westbrook hes more athletic i think

[gregoden08Participant]

Amare was equal to Thomas athletically. Now, it’s a different story. How can not have Nate Robinson as the most athletic PG? ITS NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!!!!!

[JNixonParticipant]

I refuse to consider lil Nate a PG….

[gregoden08Participant]

Matter cause he’s the most athletic player no matter what position you put him at…Also the quickest.

[youngmagParticipant]

C-Dwight
Pf-Amare(Too explosive for his size)
Sf-Lebron
Sg-Iggy
Pg-Derrick Rose

Nate is athletic but he is not as quick as Rose remember athleticism includes quickness also.

[gregoden08Participant]

What are you talking about? Even in the combine his numbers were way better than Rose in the speed department.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

PG – Rose
SG – Wade
SF – LeBron
PF – Josh Smith
C – Dwight

[llperez]

I like the frontcourt, but I would put Nate robinson at sg over wade and Westbrook at pg over rose.

[doubledribblerParticipant]

I will probably get crucified for this, but I don’t think Rose is all that athletic. He’s definitely above average, but nothing about his jumping, agility or speed is all that jaw dropping. I think he’s great with the ball though, which probably makes him look more athletic than he really is, but I could think of quite a few guys at the position that are more athletic, including the previously mentioned Westbrook, Robinson and Rondo.

[JNixonParticipant]

Yea, Derrick Rose is a freak athlete. Sorry, he has the speed and quickness of a much smaller man (his quickness and burst of speed is elite for even a small guy) and he jumps out of the gym. He is the most athletic PG in the game in my opinion, Rondo and Westbrook are close though.

[gregoden08Participant]

Nate has the highest vertical in the game man…Why do I get thumbs down for telling the truth? I never said Nate was a better player…I said he was a better athlete. Which he is.

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

IDK about now, but I hear these guys verts looked like this:

Vince Carter 43″
Kobe Bryant 38″
Steve Francis 43″
Antonio McDyess 42″
Allen Iverson 41″
Desmond Mason 38″
Carmelo Anthony 41″
Ricky Davis 42″
Tracy McGrady 42″
Nate Robinson 43″
Jason Richardson 46″
James White 46″
LeBron James 44″
Fred Jones 42″

Those are just a few. IDK about Howard but he is definatly number one for centers. Also, I think Ty Thomas is number one for PF. Duh for Lebron. After that, IDK.

[gregoden08Participant]

Carmelo had like a 34-36 inch vertical at the combine lol. I can go on and on the only ones that are somewhat accurate are Nates, Kobe and maybe Vince minus an inch or two.

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

Oh. Well here is my site. You are probably right. I just searched for some verticals.
http://vertcoach.com/highest-vertical-leap.html

[gregoden08Participant]

Cool. I think some of those are on…But a lot are off. I check draftexpress for recent combine information. Their pretty reliable. But, they don’t have older players information like Kobe, KG etc.

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

Cool I’ll have to look there.

[McWinningParticipant]

you guys forgot about Jordan Farmar. 42 inch vertical hes the most athletic point guard maybe dont know what the other points guards exact measurements are.

[JNixonParticipant]

Eddie House had a 39 inch vertical, Salim Stoudamire had something like that as well and neither one of them are good athletes…if you think Jordan Farmar is the most athletic PG in the NBA, your wrong (dont want to call anyone out of there name lol)…

[McWinningParticipant]

yeah i meant by pure jumping power. and i dont know if he is but i dont know any measurements except him. i agree hes not the most athletic but hes pretty athletic.

[unaznizedParticipant]

but Monta Ellis is pretty athletic as well. when healthy, he’s one of the best finishers in the NBA and really fast court to court. he has a great change of direction speed. in his 2005 combine, the reports said his vertical is only 31.5 inches, but seriously he’s much more athletic than eddie house and salim, who both have a higher vert. than ellis.

[unaznizedParticipant]

you can’t judge how athletic a player is just primarily by how high they can jump. some other factors that contribute to athleticism are change of direction speed, acceleration, body control, overall strength, hands and feet, etc. as iguodala pointed out with eddie house and salim stoudamire, although both have a pretty high vertical jump, you wouldn’t necessarily call them athletic because they lack other aspects of athleticism.

[Mr. BasketballParticipant]

blake griffin can do what tyrus thomas did in that video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuyOcVeAuuI&feature=related

[PureshooterParticipant]

PG – Russell Westbrook
SG – Dwayne Wade
SF – Lebron James
PF – Josh Smith
C – Dwight Howard

The crazy thing about Howard is that judging by combine results, one of the only centers close to his measurements is his backup (Gortat).

[llperez]

Dwight is the best center in athletic ability. But Ryan Hollins is close and he is a legit 7 footer. He was a top track athlete while at UCLA. He could probably beat Howard in most track events like sprinting and long jump.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I see there are quite a few people who think that Westbrook’s athleticism is equal to Rose’s. It’s close, but Rose is the better athlete by almost every conceivable measure. Westbrook is not Rose’s equal athletically.

When you’re talking about elite level athletes, the difference won’t be humongous. The difference between Drexler and Jordan was small, but as the pundits have said, “Jordan jumped just a little bit higher, and ran just a little bit faster”. And this little bit of difference is the difference that makes both a Hall of Famer, but only one a legend.

The difference between Jordan and Dominique Wilkins was small. The difference between Jordan and Dr. J was small. The difference between Jordan and Kobe is small. Drexler could dunk from the free throw line like Jordan… soar like Jordan. We could go on and on with how close these athletes are athletically. But would you say that these players “are the equal to Jordan athletically?” No, of course not. That’s my point. Westbrook is just not the same as Rose. Period.

Here’s a paragraph from SLAM Magazine about Rose’s “olympic” level type speed.

SLAM MAGAZINE:

“Lebron James ran a 4.2 40 yd dash in his book. Nobody on the list other than Iverson and Rose can do that. Unlike 40-yard dashes in football where athletes start from a three-point stance, basketball players start the 20-meter dash (65 feet, seven inches) from a natural, upright position. The fastest time in the field was recorded by junior-to-be Derrick Rose of Simeon High in Chicago. The 6-foot-2, 188-pound Rose covered 20 meters in a blazing 2.65 seconds, .18 seconds faster than the second best score turned in by 6-foot-6 Isaiah Dahlman (2.83 seconds). That’s olympic timed speed and the timer was electronic so it’s accurate.”

[llperez]

I have to disagree with Jordan being better athleticly then all those guy. He was a legend and seperated himself from everyone because he had the skills, mental toughness and work ethic over those guys. I’ve seen Kobe do everything athleticaly that Jordan did, but Jordan was the greatest because of his skills. So I think it is innacurate to say that of course nobody would ever say any of those guys were better athletes then Jordan just because of what he achieved and because he is a hall of famer. In fact, saying that Jordan seperated himself from guys like Drexler and Wilkins based on just being a better athlete is almost like dissing him for what he brought to the table that truly seperated him from those guys.

[Michael.S.Participant]

Tezo providing the facts, truth is we can go on all day with this conversation but there are a select handful players in the NBA today that are head and shoulders above the rest athletically, those guys are Rose, LeBron, Dwight, Nate, and Gay, missing a few more I know

[Michael.S.Participant]

Yeah I disagree on that Jordan part also, I think Wilkins was a better athlete, Wilkins was a beast, but Jordan was the better player

[Michael.S.Participant]

BTW Wilt was an incredible athlete, Yesterday I was watching him play on NBATV and that refreshed my memory, he is a physical specimen

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

You misunderstood my point. Obviously Jordan became a legend and seperated himself AS A PLAYER from those guys because of more than just his athleticism. We all know that Jordan had the total package. My point was that when you have elite level athletes, a SMALL difference can actually be major and be the difference between a Hall of Famer and a legend.

Now, to discuss about who’s more athletic… In my opinion, Jordan was more athletic than Erving, Wilkins, Drexler and Bryant. I’m not willing to say it’s a consensus opinion (like D Hamp did in the topic about Ron Harper yesterday), but I’m willing to bet my money that majority of knowledgable basketball fans would agree with me. Those guys were all elite level athletes during their prime and they were close to Jordan, BUT they weren’t his equal athletically… Jordan jumped a little higher, from a little further, ran a little faster, had slightly bigger hands (Have you ever seen Jordan’s hands compared to Kobe’s?), etc. Yes… They were close, but those small differences are what made Jordan superior athletically (I’m not saying made him superior as a player, just athletically).

That brings me to my whole point that Westbrook may be close to Rose, but he is NOT Rose’s equal. Like I said… When you have elite level athletes, the differences won’t be humungous however those small difference are huge. Rose has those small differences/advantages over Westbrook.

[Author]

Posts