Supreme athleticism...a poison chalice?

[slightly biased bias fan]

The more I think about the amount of supremely athletic players though the history of the NBA who were also superstars (or HOF's), the more I come to the conclusion that this trait may actually be a disadvantage to the development of a players career.

When the Celtics drafted Gerald Green in 05, I, among most was extremely excited by the prospect of having the next All-Star progress within our setup. But as time passed too often would he overly rely on his athleticism to get points or take a stupid shot because he didn't have the I.Q or the fundamentals to get himself out of a situation or breakdown the defence. I really see Green as the poster child for supreme athletes who don't work enough on their all around game because they believe that like High School they can just jump over any problem.

https://youtu.be/6gtYS6H8OTQ

A man who can do this and has been in the league for essential a decade should not be a journeyman (Gerald was also forced out of the league for several seasons). Cliff Alexander has the same disease, the scouts drooled all over his athletic potential in HS and believed in the hype rather than staying grounded and working on other aspects of his game he went from a top college recruit to undrafted. The players who do become stars with top level hops become injury prone from over dunking and when father time comes for their leap they have nothing left to stand on.

In the game today id say there are a handful of superstars with supreme athleticism e.g. Westbrook, Lebron, Griffin and players who have lost a step but were once elite, Howard, Wade, Kobe, Rose, Vince. These players are unique because they worked on the rest of their game (possibly not including Howard) without an over reliance on their leap thus the major of the top level NBA players rely on their honed I.Q's to slip between defenders aka Harden or PP.

I know that any NBA player needs to develop all parts of their game and anyone could say that there are players who all are over reliant on one part of their game but the basketball world are enamoured with supreme athletes since MJ and when a kids huge dunk goes viral, he suddenly is the next big thing, and if that was the case most of the Globetrotters team would be the top players in the NBA today.

Does anyone agree?

 

[slightly biased bias fan]

The more I think about the amount of supremely athletic players though the history of the NBA who were also superstars (or HOF's), the more I come to the conclusion that this trait may actually be a disadvantage to the development of a players career.

When the Celtics drafted Gerald Green in 05, I, among most was extremely excited by the prospect of having the next All-Star progress within our setup. But as time passed too often would he overly rely on his athleticism to get points or take a stupid shot because he didn't have the I.Q or the fundamentals to get himself out of a situation or breakdown the defence. I really see Green as the poster child for supreme athletes who don't work enough on their all around game because they believe that like High School they can just jump over any problem.

https://youtu.be/6gtYS6H8OTQ

A man who can do this and has been in the league for essential a decade should not be a journeyman (Gerald was also forced out of the league for several seasons). Cliff Alexander has the same disease, the scouts drooled all over his athletic potential in HS and believed in the hype rather than staying grounded and working on other aspects of his game he went from a top college recruit to undrafted. The players who do become stars with top level hops become injury prone from over dunking and when father time comes for their leap they have nothing left to stand on.

In the game today id say there are a handful of superstars with supreme athleticism e.g. Westbrook, Lebron, Griffin and players who have lost a step but were once elite, Howard, Wade, Kobe, Rose, Vince. These players are unique because they worked on the rest of their game (possibly not including Howard) without an over reliance on their leap thus the major of the top level NBA players rely on their honed I.Q's to slip between defenders aka Harden or PP.

I know that any NBA player needs to develop all parts of their game and anyone could say that there are players who all are over reliant on one part of their game but the basketball world are enamoured with supreme athletes since MJ and when a kids huge dunk goes viral, he suddenly is the next big thing, and if that was the case most of the Globetrotters team would be the top players in the NBA today.

Does anyone agree?

[D.o.s.]

Not really, no. I do think there are players that don't develop their game because of their athleticism, but I think the dichotomy of Athleticism vs. BBIQ is not so good.

[Celtics4ever]

Michael Jordan kind of blows your theory out of the water.  Dr. J, Dominique, McGrady, and Vince Carter were all hampered by their elite athletic ability?  I think not.  Lebron too but these guys all had some skills as you say but I think their athletic ability all helped them immensely.   

It is true, a player needs a skillset, and a mindset to be great.   Athleticism can help that but you have to have some skills and a the right attitude.   The majority of unathletic guys never make it to the league.  There are guys who do but they must possess height, or a skill.

Now we draft guys on potential.   Athletic ability is a lot of potential.  One would think athletic guys can develop skills but some of them coast on this ability.  A guy used to have to play in college and the athletic guys were more skilled.   Then we went straight from high school and now back to a year prior to coming the league.   A year in college helps sort out the leapers from the players because if a dude has no skills it might be detected.  Now the main trouble with players, is the hidden international  ones, that obfuscate the process, so they can't get evaluated.  They still get drafted a lot on potential and benefit more than the US kids from being able to hide their faults. 

Don't make a generality out of one knucklehead, Gerald Green.  His skill was initially jumping, and that alone is not enough.   Harold Miner was another good example of this type of guy.

[fairweatherfan]

On the one hand, a massive athletic advantage early in life can make some players complacent because they can overwhelm opponents by being faster/stronger/higher jumpers than everyone else at lower levels.

On the other, some players at all athleticism levels have the same tendency to coast or become complacent.  The difference is that the superior athletes that coast or don't put in the work are much more likely to make it to the NBA where we can notice it.  So there's something of a sampling bias issue.

[D.o.s.]

There's also the fact that while many people who are not NBA-caliber athletes want to buy into the idea that athleticism can be a disadvantage, the reality of the situation is that the person who is bigger, stronger, faster, etc. is almost always going to do better. This is as true in the pros (the .01% of the world's population when it comes to bigger/stronger/faster/more skilled) as it is in the rec league or the park.

[SHAQATTACK]

Sully is safe

Never drank from this chalice

[loco_91]

The more I think about the amount of supremely athletic players though the history of the NBA who were also superstars (or HOF's), the more I come to the conclusion that this trait may actually be a disadvantage to the development of a players career.

When the Celtics drafted Gerald Green in 05, I, among most was extremely excited by the prospect of having the next All-Star progress within our setup. But as time passed too often would he overly rely on his athleticism to get points or take a stupid shot because he didn't have the I.Q or the fundamentals to get himself out of a situation or breakdown the defence. I really see Green as the poster child for supreme athletes who don't work enough on their all around game because they believe that like High School they can just jump over any problem.

https://youtu.be/6gtYS6H8OTQ

A man who can do this and has been in the league for essential a decade should not be a journeyman (Gerald was also forced out of the league for several seasons). Cliff Alexander has the same disease, the scouts drooled all over his athletic potential in HS and believed in the hype rather than staying grounded and working on other aspects of his game he went from a top college recruit to undrafted. The players who do become stars with top level hops become injury prone from over dunking and when father time comes for their leap they have nothing left to stand on.

In the game today id say there are a handful of superstars with supreme athleticism e.g. Westbrook, Lebron, Griffin and players who have lost a step but were once elite, Howard, Wade, Kobe, Rose, Vince. These players are unique because they worked on the rest of their game (possibly not including Howard) without an over reliance on their leap thus the major of the top level NBA players rely on their honed I.Q's to slip between defenders aka Harden or PP.

I know that any NBA player needs to develop all parts of their game and anyone could say that there are players who all are over reliant on one part of their game but the basketball world are enamoured with supreme athletes since MJ and when a kids huge dunk goes viral, he suddenly is the next big thing, and if that was the case most of the Globetrotters team would be the top players in the NBA today.

Does anyone agree?

I don't agree but I know where you're coming from. Take any given player and make them more athletic, and they will be better. But among players who make the NBA, athleticism is negatively correlated with skill and smarts etc., just because all the guys who were both unathletic and unskilled never got drafted at all.

I actually think it's remarkable how athletic the truly top guys are. There's only a handful of legit superstars who don't have a top-tier size/athleticism combo. And look at happens to the athletic guys when they lose their athleticism-- Rondo and KG, to name examples close to home. It is realllly important. There are a few guys who get by without it, but they are the exception, not the rule.

[D.o.s.]

^ To add to that it's important to reiterate just how athletic even the dudes that ride the bench for their entire careers are.

Have any of you played pickup with a D-1 player who didn't make it to the NBA? Monsters. Definitely a different species than the mere mortals. There's a threshold that you have to cross to even be in the same practice space as the guys who are outliers (think Westbrook or Ibaka or Rose before his injury, prime AI, LeBron, etc.) that is just so far beyond the normal person it's often lost in the discussion.

[sahara]

Athleticism means alot more than just jumping. AI was a little dude with supreme athletics, quickness and coordination.

E. D.o.s. already said it, I´m late.

[fairweatherfan]

Have any of you played pickup with a D-1 player who didn't make it to the NBA?

Yes, and I'm proud to say I held my own...neither one of us could really defend the other effectively.


...but I should probably point out that said D-1 player was a woman, and I am not.  IT STILL COUNTS TO ME [dang it]

[BornReady]

I agree but only if the players rely on athleticism for everything
Cuz once your in the nba you're facing guys that have better athleticism and skill to neutralise your own

[Surferdad]

The better poster boy is Kedrick Brown. No skills whatsoever.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I've come to the conclusion that being tall is detrimental. How many 7 footers have sucked in the NBA throughout history?

[PhoSita]

I think you're looking at it a bit backward.

Guys like Gerald Green make it to the NBA because they are so athletic, despite their lack of skills.

If Gerald Green weren't so athletic, he'd never have been drafted in the first place.

I would agree that some guys probably don't work on their fundamentals as much, or get drafted before they have the chance to fully learn the game, because they are so athletically gifted that they can make it at the NBA level without skills.

Still, I also tend to think the guys who have the mentality to work hard enough to become really good in the NBA will do that anyway, even if they've already been drafted.