The Mystery of Jerry West's Gorilla Wingspan

[CavaliersFTW]

6'3 Jerry West - 81" wingspan (6'9)


Same wingspan as 6'7 Joe Johnson

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Joe-Johnson-3013/

And 6'7 Matt Barnes

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Matt-Barnes-1592/

And 6'9 Mike Dunleavy

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Mike-Dunleavy-2294/

[bwink23]

[CavaliersFTW]

I found Kareem's and Bill Russell's too

[jlauber]

Too bad West had poor form with his jump shot, and couldn't dribble with his left hand (or go left), or maybe he could have had seasons of 30 ppg, and post-seasons in the high 30's (and even a series of 46 ppg.)

[Collie]

Jerry West is one of the guys who you could take and drop in the NBA today and still be successful. He really had a "modern" game.

[CavaliersFTW]

Jerry West is one of the guys who you could take and drop in the NBA today and still be successful. He really had a "modern" game.

True. West, Bird, and Ray Allen have the fastest - purest shot release I can think of in NBA history. That's def gotta be good for something haha - and West had many other facets to his game that fans today probably don't even realize. Like excellent rebounding and chase-down blocks... LBJ actually copies that page out of little Jerry West's game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvMq-eX_pNw&t=2m42s

Those chase-downs... and he actually keeps the plays in bounds!

[jlauber]

I found Kareem's and Bill Russell's too

I believe Russell's was 7-4.

[dbk123]

derrick rose is 6'2.5 and has a 6'8 wingspan

[CavaliersFTW]

I believe Russell's was 7-4.

I've heard that too but that's been word of mouth - That isn't the # from the 1961 source I found though - I won't reveal Kareem's and Russell's wingspan measurement yet - because I'm saving them for another topic. If you actually have a source for the 7'4 # I would really like to see it because it is different and I always like to cross reference conflicting information and get to the bottom.

[CavaliersFTW]

derrick rose is 6'2.5 and has a 6'8 wingspan

Good for Derrick Rose, really. . However, I wasn't attempting to start a competition on who's got a more impressive wingspan, this post is just shedding light on a topic that vintage NBA fans have speculated but never had a concrete number for.

[Scoooter]

Does anyone know the numbers for Phil Jackson? He and Kevin McHale had the longest arms I think I've ever seen.

[CavaliersFTW]

Does anyone know the numbers for Phil Jackson? He and Kevin McHale had the longest arms I think I've ever seen.

I can try to search for them for you later tonight - They may have never been measured though. I keep looking for Nate Thurmond's too, who was allegedly as long as if not longer than Wilt. At 7'8", Wilt has the widest confirmed wingspan measurement of any NBA player at this moment - based on www.draftexpress.com/measurements and other independent measurements for various current and historical NBA players.

Keep in mind wingspan is shoulder breadth + arm length + hand length. So just because somebody has long arms doesn't necessarily translate to epic wingspan. But I'm pretty sure those two guys did have good wingspan. I think the "8 foot wingspan" claims on McHale are a myth personally, but I still think he had a reaaaally wide reach. Some guys on www.basketballforum.com claimed 90" which is the most grounded, solid looking number I've seen for McHale so far but they didn't cite it and I haven't found jack that supports it yet.

[jlauber]

I can try to search for them for you later tonight - They may have never been measured though. I keep looking for Nate Thurmond's too, who was allegedly as long as if not longer than Wilt. At 7'8", Wilt has the widest confirmed wingspan measurement of any NBA player at this moment - based on www.draftexpress.com and other independent measurements for various current and historical NBA players.

Keep in mind wingspan is shoulder breadth + arm length + hand length. So just because somebody has long arms doesn't necessarily translate to epic wingspan. But I'm pretty sure those two guys did have good wingspan. I think the "8 foot wingspan" claims on McHale are a myth personally, but I still think he had a reaaaally wide reach

I can't recall where I came across Russell's wingspan, but I do recall it being 7-4 where ever I found it. I also recall reading somewhere, that in their college matchup, that Russell actually placed his hand over the ball in the outstretched reach of 7-3 Swede Halbrook.

As for the Thurmond wingspan, again, I came across it somewhere, and I would like to think it was in a YouTube interview or documentary. Supposedly he had an inch reach advantage on Chamberlain. Of course, Wilt was a high-jump champ, so it didn't make much of a difference to Chamberlain.

I still maintain that no other legitimate NBA player ever reached the absolute heights that Wilt did.

[CavaliersFTW]

I can't recall where I came across Russell's wingspan, but I do recall it being 7-4 where ever I found it. I also recall reading somewhere, that in their college matchup, that Russell actually placed his hand over the ball in the outstretched reach of 7-3 Swede Halbrook.

As for the Thurmond wingspan, again, I came across it somewhere, and I would like to think it was in a YouTube interview or documentary. Supposedly he had an inch reach advantage on Chamberlain. Of course, Wilt was a high-jump champ, so it didn't make much of a difference to Chamberlain.

I still maintain that no other legitimate NBA player ever reached the absolute heights that Wilt did.

I've seen all that too, I have the article about Russell and Swede - but 7'4 just seems to be something speculated in the past decade that spread by word of mouth and became fact by virtue of "common knowledge" - just like how daddy long legs are the most poisonous spiders in the world despite not being spiders and despite not having potent venom at all... If something is repeated enough times people just assume it to be true. I could be wrong but so far the 7'4 claim boiled down to zero citations from anyone. I actually found a source from 1961 - from his active playing years. It differs from 7'4 but I'm thinking it's likelier to be a real measurement.

[jlauber]

I've seen all that too, I have the article about Russell and Swede - but 7'4 just seems to be something speculated in the past decade that spread by word of mouth and became fact by virtue of "common knowledge" - just like how daddy long legs are the most poisonous spiders in the world despite not being spiders and despite not having potent venom at all... If something is repeated enough times people just assume it to be true. I could be wrong but so far the 7'4 claim boiled down to zero citations from anyone. I actually found a source from 1961 - from his active playing years. It differs from 7'4 but I'm thinking it's likelier to be a real measurement.

What do you have?