Okay, I've been working on this for a while hunting for extremely specific types of photographs (taken from a distance from the subject, with lenses of the type that eliminates as much optical distortion as possible) tell me what you guys think of this so far, the image contains players with both known measurements, and players with unknown measurements:
(preview size)
(full size)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-J...0scaleWIP2.jpg
Dwight Howard measured at age 19, 6-9 w/o shoes. If the scaling is accurate indeed he does appear to have grown about a quarter inch after being drafted because I even subtracted 1.25" for his shoes - I will do more images of him, if this is a consistent result, I will admit that I'm wrong and stop correcting everyone left and right that he's "just" 6-9 w/o shoes
Wes Unseld was listed at 6-7 but is cited more specifically at 6-7.5 a few times in newspapers from that era - which appears to be his height minus the fro in the image
Bill Russell was listed at 6-9 in the NBA but was listed in the NCAA and Olympics at 6-10 and is most often cited at 6-10 in his era. A sports illustrated article from 1956 specifies his height (from Bill Russell's own words) at precisely 6-9 and 5/8ths. This roughly appears like it should be his height in the image if the odd angle of his head is taken into account.
Nate Thurmond was listed 6-11 in the NBA. The only article I could find specifying anything other than 6-11 was a college article from sports illustrated that cited his height at 6-10 as a sophomore in college, and stated that Nate had "grown a half inch over the summer" since that time (which would mean he was 6-10.5 at the time). He appears to be about 6-11 and 1/4" w/o shoes in the image.
Willis Reed was listed 6-10 in the NBA, though articles often cite him as being in reality "just under" 6-10. This definitely appears to be the case in the scaled image, although it is hard to tell exactly due to the tilt of his head - it actually almost seems like he's closest to 6-9, only just at or barely above 6-9, no more than 6-9.5 at the most.
Elvin Hayes was listed 6-9 in the NBA, but is precisely stated as being 6-9.5 w/o shoes on in an article that discusses his actual measurements (wingspan included) while a Junior in the NCAA. This, or perhaps even 6-10 appears to be his height w/o shoes in the image that is scaled.
Kevin Love is listed 6-10 in the NBA, but he wears huge 1 and 3/4" shoes. He measured 6-7.75" w/o shoes in the draft. This appears to still be his height when his shoe heal height is subtracted.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was listed 7-2 in the NBA and measured specifically 7-1 and 7/8ths w/o shoes his second year in the NBA, this appears to be his height in the scaled image
This one was interesting to me, [COLOR="Red"]Lebron[/COLOR] is listed 6-8 in the NBA though is often cited as "6-9". He measured 6-7.25" in the draft at age 18. In the scaled image he actually appears to be a legitimate 6-8 w/o shoes now, even with a 1" shoe thickness subtracted. [COLOR="Red"]He also looks absolutely massive in stature but I guess he should at ~260lbs ballpark
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Wilt I will discuss at a later time, when I put in an image of him standing/straightened out like the others.