Charles Barkley says the NBA lies about player heights, so does DraftExpress:

[The_Yearning]

I think lebron is a legit 6'8 and small change. Ive seen him next to Carmelo and melo is a legit 6'7.

Everyone knows Wade is like 6'3 and change. he's shorter than Kobe who's like 6'5 and change.

Kobe is 6'4 and change. Wade is 6'4 in shoes though.

[dunksby]

And this thread has now been completely derailed by people who've gone into speculation mode

www.draftexpress.com/measurements

^---- they've been measured

LeBron looks 4.25" taller than Wade.

[CavaliersFTW]

Has any one of the folks speculating heights actually read the original post? How players listed heights are pretty much all inflated?, with only the rarest of exceptions? By rare we're talking maybe half a dozen guys in the entire league. There are measurements actually recorded on draftexpress.com/measurements and here we still have people assuming most all of the list heights of the NBA's modern stars under-listed their heights, and that we must compare them standing next to other players (who also inflated their height) in order to determine their real life heights?

[ILLsmak]

Once the ball is up in the air, your listed height doesn't matter. So why worry?

-Smak

[CavaliersFTW]

Once the ball is up in the air, your listed height doesn't matter. So why worry?

-Smak

Because (the actual) measurements of NBA players are another stat that can be interesting to analyze, at least IMO. Sure at the end of the day the play on the court is all that matters, but everybody likes to see some stats and numbers to add to discussion

[La Frescobaldi]

I may have to ask, with sincerity, what is the driving issue here? I'm honestly not asking to be a punk, I'm just legitimately wondering what it is about this clearly imperfect measurement process that draws an issue with you? Is it that teams often must draft players they think are one size but are not really? Or is it just the principle of the matter and general lack of uniformity?

If the issue is teams not being able to draw legitimate conclusions about players these days (though they are now listed twice - with shoes and without shoes), I'd have to agree with other posters who suggest wingspan and standing reach may be equally as important, if not more so. As such, teams must not only rely on height statistics.

Otherwise, as mentioned prior, I'm not sure it's a revelation to anyone that the NBA has historically provided official heights without using an uniform measuring stick, so to speak. Throughout culture, height always seems to be subject to variables. College and high school listings can be just as inconsistent. Most folks can see a listed height of 6'7'' and assume it's generally going to be in that range. In the long run, it's not too big of an issue. Charles Barkley was nasty. It doesn't make any difference to me whether he did it at 6'6'' or 6'4''.75. Awesome is awesome.

I'm only speculating but I would suspect that Cavs has a slight agenda with this thread. He reads voraciously on ISH and finds a common flaw among the younger guys that post on here; namely, the 60s and 70s were filled with short unathletic players.

So, like a good lawyer, he's building a case by providing overwhelming evidence;

* his detailed measurements threads:

Jerry West
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=254467

Russell, Wilt, Kareem........:
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=257270

* his hilarious thread showing how the modern athlete has evolved since Michael Jordan's day (all 10 years ago now):

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=259723



and now this thread.... where once again Sir Charles makes David Stern drink the truth without any benefit of this bottle:

[NumberSix]

Kobe is 6'4 and change. Wade is 6'4 in shoes though.

I'd say Kobe is a legit 6'5 barefoot. MJ is 6'4.75 and Kobe is slightly taller than Mike. Like a 1/4 inch. He's about 6'6.25-6'6.5 in sneakers.

Wade is a legit 6'5 in shoes. He's 6'3.75 barefoot, and these days almost ALL basketball sneakers are at least 1.25-to 1.5 inches thick in the heel.

I wear size 13, and all my LeBron's, Jordan's and Kobe's are at least that thick in the heel if not thicker. Kobe wears a size 14, so his would be slightly thicker than mine. LeBron wears size 16 in game, so his are AT LEAST an inch and a half. Dwyane Wade wears size 15, so he's adding close to an inch and a half as well.

Dwyane wade is actually built like a guy who is 6'7. He has long legs and arms. Big hands and feet. He just has a small torso in comparison to the rest of his body.

[Droid101]

They definitely lie. I played with the UCI players. The guy they listed as 6'9 (Stanislav Zuzak) I clearly could see the top of his head (I'm actually 6'9), and the guy they listed as 7' (Adam Parada) I was as tall as him. He was listed as 7' when he played Pre-season games for the Kings and the Lakers, and is still listed as 7' on his wiki.

[CavaliersFTW]

I'd say Kobe is a legit 6'5 barefoot. MJ is 6'4.75 and Kobe is slightly taller than Mike. Like a 1/4 inch. He's about 6'6.25-6'6.5 in sneakers.

Wade is a legit 6'5 in shoes. He's 6'3.75 barefoot, and these days almost ALL basketball sneakers are at least 1.25-to 1.5 inches thick in the heel.

I wear size 13, and all my LeBron's, Jordan's and Kobe's are at least that thick in the heel if not thicker. Kobe wears a size 14, so his would be slightly thicker than mine. LeBron wears size 16 in game, so his are AT LEAST an inch and a half. Dwyane Wade wears size 15, so he's adding close to an inch and a half as well.

Dwyane wade is actually built like a guy who is 6'7. He has long legs and arms. Big hands and feet. He just has a small torso in comparison to the rest of his body.

Kobe said in an extensive NY times story about some of his personal life that he wasn't actually sure what his height was for a long time until out of curiosity he had his wife measure him. (I believe the interviewer brought the subject up when jokingly inquiring if he shrunk since he was once listed 6-7, and later changed to 6-6). He said his wife measured him at exactly 6'4 and 3/4.

1992 Olympics - the Olympic committee knew of inflated NBA heights and so measured the players willing to be measured. Jordan was one of them who got measured, he was 6'4 and 7/8ths.

[La Frescobaldi]

Kobe said in an extensive NY times story about some of his personal life that he wasn't actually sure what his height was for a long time until out of curiosity he had his wife measure him. (I believe the interviewer asked why he was once listed 6-7, and later changed to 6-6). He said his wife measured him at exactly 6'4 and 3/4.

1992 Olympics - the Olympic committee knew of inflated NBA heights and so measured the players willing to be measured. Jordan was one of them who got measured, he was 6'4 and 7/8ths.

Interesting to note that 3 of the all-time greatest players are within just a smidgen of each other: Kobe Bryant, Charles Barkley, & Michael Jordan.

[Punpun]

That's why KD seems so much taller than his written heigth. Boy was measured without his shoes.

[arifgokcen]

That's why KD seems so much taller than his written heigth. Boy was measured without his shoes.

Yes this is true.He could be almost 6'11 with shoes.He is tallest player in OKC starting line-up.

As for wade,he is 6'3 and change but he plays like 6'7 or 6'8.He has ridiculously long arms and short neck.

Lebron is probably 6'7 3/4 or 6'8 without shoes.He grew a little bit since graduating from HS.

Howard is the most special case.I have seen him next to lebron,they sometimes look same height however because of howard's ridiculous wingspan very short neck and incredible athleticism.He plays like 7' footer

[madmax]

Creating awareness. Many oblivious fans insist the league is now stacked with giants who underrate their height when the opposite is true, there is constant chatter between some fans discussion these over inflated numbers and they don't realize actual measurements have been taken for many of these players. Speculative pictures, etc - they're silly when real world measurements are available from draftexpress and international competitions etc. Also, using modern inflated heights as a means to diminish prior era's players who's listed heights actually weren't inflated by the player. And also, even the fans that know the NBA's player heights are inflated are usually unaware that it isn't consistent, which is why these arguments over who is taller than who even arrises.


For example:

Kevin Durant: 6'9, 7'4.5 wingspan
6'9 list height

Dwight Howard: 6'9, 7'4.5 wingspan
6'11 list height

Kevin Love: 6'7.75
6'10 list height


Coincidence that people are convinced Durant is a "7 footer"? He isn't. It just looks that way next to the league's "bigs" that he is clearly equal too in height like Dwight, and even taller than guys like Kevin Love - despite those guys both being listed taller than he is.

bingo
And then we have deluded fools claiming Durant being a "legit" 7 footer, when he's standing next to some 6'8 guy, who is listed as 6'10 for some reason...

[Round Mound]

Barkley and MJ and Bryant are all 6`4 3/4 ft or 1.95 mt

Thunder Dan, Mark Aguirre etc are legit 6`6 ft or 1.98 mt

Dennis Rodman is 6`7 ft or 2.01 mt

Magic is 6`7 1/2 or 2.02 mt compare him to Bird who is a legit 6`9 ft or 2.06 mt

Garnett is over 7`0 ft (he desliked this but its true) around 2.12 mt

Karl Malone is 6`8 3/4 ft or 2.05 mt

[Whoah10115]

OK, this stuff sets to do two things:



1. Play down older guys by saying they were all small and unevolved, while Kevin Love and Al Jefferson are clearly not 6'10 and are also closer to the heights of a lot of guys who are listed as being shorter.





2. The big thing is that it makes an issue out of height. It's as if they are prerequisites to making it into the league...and they include bullshit. My Cousin didn't play soccer at Boston University, because he wasn't allowed to try out, because he didn't run his 40 fast enough. It's an American sports thing.




What the hell would Tyrone do if he was coming up today?