Biggest freaks of nature in NBA history

[AznBBoyX]

Jordan more explosive than Green? Get outta here!

Green is taller, longer, faster, a better leaper and more explosive than Jordan. I'm afraid Jordan doesn't even come close to this kind of explosive athleticism. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Th0ASIr1Q



Yep, White is quicker than Jordan. Though admittedly he is alot thinner.





James White can get his chin over the rim. Jordan couldn't even get the top his skull there. That's a pretty freakin' huge difference kid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Th0ASIr1Q



Yeah, except James White is an olympic level athlete, while Jordan never was.





White has stated himself that he can touch the top of the backboard on a good day. You can fantasize all you like about Jordan coming close to that kind of leaping ability, but it isn't reality.



Josh Smith, Gerald Green, Rudy Gay > Jordan OVERALL.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/...ping-Myth.html

Nice article on there is no documented evidence that anyone can touch the top of the backboard. Of course there are always stories of people producing the feat but until it's documented, James White can't do it. I also heard Vince Carter left a hand print on the top of the backboard during draft workouts at Toronto. Paul Pierce went in later and asked who's handprint that was and they told him it was Vince's. Pierce couldn't believe it.

Oh yea, Gerald Green is taller than Jordan. Even if he could jump higher than Jordan, Jordan beats him in speed, strength, quickness, body control, hand eye coordination, and everything else. So don't even start with this Green is more athletic than Jordan crap. Kids nowadays think hops is the only testament to athleticism.

Also lots of people saying how there are plenty of short players as fast as Iverson. Hell no. They might be fast, but not Iverson fast. The press had to get cameras with faster shutter speeds when he came into the league.

In my opinion, Shaq is the biggest freak in NBA history. Strength is a part of athleticism. With his quickness, length, strength...he's definitely the biggest anomaly in my book.

[VCMVP1551]

In my opinion, Shaq is the biggest freak in NBA history. Strength is a part of athleticism. With his quickness, length, strength...he's definitely the biggest anomaly in my book.

Yeah look at this description of Shaq from a 1992 draft article.

Shaq already has a reach of 9-5 and an armspan of 7-7. He's a good leaper, too, and can touch a point on the backboard almost two-and-a-half feet above the rim.

The guy is a legit 7'1" without shoes and he has been well over 300 pounds yet he had a vertical leap of atleast 35 inches.

[Kblaze8855]

He most certainly cannot.

Vince is one of those guys its hard to judge there. Hes done few dunks on a big scale to show his one foot leaping but ive seen gifs of him in practice doing dunks from behind the FT line(a little) and bending his elbow fully behind his head and dunking with plenty of room to spare. No stretching.

Jordan strictly as a leaper is nothing that unusual. A whole lot of people can get up in the 40s and while some cant go off one or two like him some beat him in one or the other. Can probably find a few hundred people who can rise like him. At least. Jordans quickness is probably more unusual than his jumping. For his size I mean. I think Jordan peaked overall as an athlete around 91 or 92. By then he didnt jump like he used to but he was stronger than he used to be by a wider margin than his hops and speed had declined.

I really think its hard to say Jordan blows the guys mentioned away though. We are talking about guys who are probaly in the top .05% of humanity and maybe Jordan is top .04 or something.

Gerald Green might not have the quickness MJ does but that kid can rise. One foot or two. Ive seen him headlevel off two, bang on people after a hop step, and take off from great distance. He was measured with like a 39 inch standing vertical and on the run is no doubt up in the 40s. If MJ beat him in a race(as I suspect he would) its not gonna be by miles. Maybe Green is a bad example there though. Ive not seen much of his straight line speed.

Overall if MJ is ahead of guys like Green, Josh Smith, and so on its in the way a gold medal winning sprinter is ahead of 5th place. It might be a significant difference to those who know the sport but to the naked eye without cameras its near impossible to see.

Jordans advantage in strength came mostly when hed lost any edge in hops over these guys. I know even young MJ was probably stronger than plenty of swingmen with his hops but really...he was like 6'6'' 190 or a little more at his leaping and quickness peak. Kinda frail.

By the time he was built up and at the strength I suspect Lebron is I doubt he had that same vertical he had in the 80s or the speed. He was probably still quicker though.

Hes my favorite player of all time but I think its a skills and will thing more than his physical ability. Hes ahead of the comp in those by more than he is physically. There are hundreds if not thousands of tall guys with bounce and speed but they dont have the talent or workethic to be what he was. Him being so great an overall player sometimes gets the aspects that made him up a little overrated.

He might be the best total package as a player but he doesnt have to be the best at every little thing does he?

[VeeCee15]

why was Carter labelled ONLY a dunker in his earlier years?

That was the gripe against him; and I do not see Shaq getting those criticisms.

Carter was LABELLED as only a dunker because he could get to the hoop and flush it down.

And how did he get to the hoop? His handles? Yes sometimes but it was mostly on his first STEP blow by of people. It is almost skilless and that's why he was criticized for only being a dunker.

VC has done more impressive FT line dunks than MJ. I do not give a *** about how MJs FT line dunk looks in SLOW MOTION. The actual execution of his dunk is not that hard..he did a .00001 second micro pump that only looked good in slow mo.

VC has done a much harder (technically) FT dunk in highschool where he brought the ball way back..and he did an amazing FT line dunk in a Toronto Practice where he brought the ball back 90 degrees and flushed it with ease. JORDAN cannot do that.

You can talk all day about Jordan's FT line dunk looking graceful and ***** (in slow motion) but VC's FT line dunks (the one's u guys probably haven't seen) requires MORE hops and body control to pull off.

[VeeCee15]

Dwight can out jump Lebron.

It is no MYSTERY why Lebron has yet to join a slam dunk contest

It is also no MYSTERY why Dwight got the biggest cheers in the olympic practices on his dunks and not lebron.

Lebron is a lesser leaper than Gerald Green. He is definately stronger by far and has much more skill.

It is ridiculous how many people fail to separate ATHLETICISM and SKILL and more often than not, tie the two together while making an argument for athleticism.

[stax]

i read an interview with spud webb once and he said he was dunking when he was 4'11". all with natural leaping ability (ie no specific plyometric training)

[KWALI]

AI is a freak becuz of his endurance not his speed......he is relentless..he's been tested and has been off the charts in terms of endurance.

[UMDWizKid]

Can't believe that this thread has gone on for 10 pages with no mention of this guy:

[VCMVP1551]

Can't believe that this thread has gone on for 10 pages with no mention of this guy:

Magic is a top 5 player of all time but as far as being a physical freak of nature. He is not one. Lebron is bigger and handles the ball like a point guard too.

[OutOfPlace]

Magic? Please. He wasn't much more athletic than Larry Bird.

[Valliant13]

AI is a freak becuz of his endurance not his speed......he is relentless..he's been tested and has been off the charts in terms of endurance.

Yep. His is V02 max is off the charts...and this is a guy that doesn't work that much on conditioning. He's more of Lance Armstrong freak, than elite leaper type.

[XxNeXuSxX]

Hakeem was every bit as athletic and quick as Drob...he was actually faster than Robinson.....

I'd appreciate it if you would put down the crack before you posted.

[OutOfPlace]

^Hakeem wasn't as fast as Robinson end to end, but he was a helluva lot quicker. Robinson always looked mechanical when moving side to side and changing directions. Hakeem didn't.

[Knine]

I definitely think that Jordan has to be in this discussion. His hang time and aerial acrobatics popularized the NBA. Vince should be in this. Dwight Howard and Lebron I mos def agree with.

[XxNeXuSxX]

^Hakeem wasn't as fast as Robinson end to end, but he was a helluva lot quicker. Robinson always looked mechanical when moving side to side and changing directions. Hakeem didn't.

Hakeem was a much better one on one post player, that's a given. But Robinson was MUCH stronger, MUCH more athletic, and a LOT faster. That's really not debatable. Hakeem might have had "quicker" post moves and been more effective, but that's not the question.