Most physically gifted players in NBA History

[Mikaiel]

Who is in your mind the most physically gifted player in NBA History ?

Things to consider : Size, weight, jumping ability, lateral movement, speed, quickness, body control.

My picks :


3. LeBron

6'9, something like 260 pounds, probably more, and he's still one of the fastest guys in the league. It's just not fair when a guy outweighs your center and can still outrun your point guard. He can catch alley-oops he has no business catching. He can make an opposing team look like a bunch of teenagers. He can overpower his defender and absorb contact easily once he's at the rim (which sometimes works against him btw). For his frame he also has excellent lateral mobility. He's one of the few guys who can actually guard all 5 positions.

2. Shaq

If LeBron can make the opposition look like teenagers, with Shaq, they look like a bunch of children. That guy was just huge. I'm sure if I met guys like Mutombo or Mourning I would be impressed by how huge they are, but put them next to Shaq and they're nothing. But what's insane about him wasn't how huge he was, it was all the things he could do at that weight. Big guys like that aren't supposed to be this quick or jump this high. Guys that big usually struggle to even get off the floor. And yet Shaq could catch insane alley-oops and even do 360 dunks. That's just crazy. His quickness was also unbelievable. Just watch his black tornado move. That's just not fair. He could overpower you like crazy and then before you knew it he was dunking the ball.

1. Wilt

I don't even know where to start. He was a track star despite being 7'1. He was an elite runner and high-jumper. He was amazingly strong. Just an amazing athlete. He was so amazing people come up with that "weak era" nonsense to justify his achievements. He was so amazing some NBA teams actually wanted him to make a comeback when he was over 50 years old ...

Of all his memories of Wilt Chamberlain, the one that stood out for Larry Brown happened long after Chamberlain's professional career had ended. On a summer day in the early 1980s, when Brown was coaching at UCLA, Chamberlain showed up at Pauley Pavilion to take part in one of the high-octane pickup games that the arena constantly attracted. "Magic Johnson used to run the games," Brown recalled Tuesday after hearing that Chamberlain, his friend, had died at 63, "and he called a couple of chintzy fouls and a goaltending on Wilt. "So Wilt said: 'There will be no more layups in this gym,' and he blocked every shot after that. That's the truth, I saw it. He didn't let one [of Johnson's] shots get to the rim." Chamberlain would have been in his mid-40s at the time.

Former Celtics guard K.C. Jones remembered his casual run-in with Wilt. "He stopped me dead in my tracks with his arm, hugged me and lifted me off the floor with my feet dangling," Jones said. "It scared the hell out of me. When I went to the free-throw line, my legs were still shaking. Wilt was the strongest guy and best athlete ever to play the game.

Several years after Wilt stopped playing, he toyed with the idea of a comeback. On the day he visited the Knicks' offices in Madison Square Garden, he talked to Red Holzman, then strode out to the elevator. When it opened, two deliverymen were struggling with a dolly piled high with boxes of office supplies, mostly letterheads and envelopes. The load was so heavy, the elevator had stopped maybe four inches below the floor level and now the deliverymen were huffing and puffing, but they couldn't raise the dolly high enough to get it on the floor level. After maybe two minutes of the deliverymen's huffing and puffing, Wilt, his biceps bulging in a tank top, peered down at them and intoned, "Gentlemen, maybe I can help." They stepped back, he stepped into the elevator, grabbed each end of the rope slung under the dolly and without much exertion, quickly lifted the dolly onto the floor level. Looking up in awe, the deliverymen said, "Thank you." Wilt said, "You're welcome." Wilt stepped into the elevator and rode down to the street level as another witness followed the two deliverymen toward the Knick offices and asked, "How much does all this weigh?" They quickly surveyed the stack of big boxes of office supplies. "Close to 600 pounds," one said.

[JEFFERSON MONEY]

Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter (band geek), Artis Gilmore are like secondary.

Still think Shaq is ten times more gifted than Wilt is outta the womb, but those are the top 3 choices. Good work Mikhaiel.

It's actually quite impressive how many "mesomorphs" thrive in the NBA.

[Dresta]

Shaq, no question.

[The Magic Man]

Who is in your mind the most physically gifted player in NBA History ?

Things to consider : Size, weight, jumping ability, lateral movement, speed, quickness, body control.

My picks :


3. LeBron

6'9, something like 260 pounds, probably more, and he's still one of the fastest guys in the league. It's just not fair when a guy outweighs your center and can still outrun your point guard. He can catch alley-oops he has no business catching. He can make an opposing team look like a bunch of teenagers. He can overpower his defender and absorb contact easily once he's at the rim (which sometimes works against him btw). For his frame he also has excellent lateral mobility. He's one of the few guys who can actually guard all 5 positions.

2. Shaq

If LeBron can make the opposition look like teenagers, with Shaq, they look like a bunch of children. That guy was just huge. I'm sure if I met guys like Mutombo or Mourning I would be impressed by how huge they are, but put them next to Shaq and they're nothing. But what's insane about him wasn't how huge he was, it was all the things he could do at that weight. Big guys like that aren't supposed to be this quick or jump this high. Guys that big usually struggle to even get off the floor. And yet Shaq could catch insane alley-oops and even do 360 dunks. That's just crazy. His quickness was also unbelievable. Just watch his black tornado move. That's just not fair. He could overpower you like crazy and then before you knew it he was dunking the ball.

1. Wilt

I don't even know where to start. He was a track star despite being 7'1. He was an elite runner and high-jumper. He was amazingly strong. Just an amazing athlete. He was so amazing people come up with that "weak era" nonsense to justify his achievements. He was so amazing some NBA teams actually wanted him to make a comeback when he was over 50 years old ...

3. Agreed
2. Agreed
1. Disagreed - Weak Era for human beings, .

I'd sub Iverson in there.

[L.Kizzle]

Elgin Baylor
Spencer Haywood
George McGinnis
Gus Johnson
Amar'e Stoudamire
Shawn Kemp
Juluis Erving

[OneMoreSucka]

Lebron, /thread

[jrong]

LeBron without question.

[White Chocolate]

The ones the OP mentioned definitely fit the criteria. Here are some more in no particular order:


1)Michael Jordan- 6'5" 200 ish, 42 inch vertical, amazing agility, could make a shot even after being bumped in mid air. Could also change hands and twist and turn in mid air.


2)Nate Robinson- 5'8" 190 or so, built like a tank, could have gone pro in football as well, an even higher vertical than Jordan, extremely quick and agile, and could probably f*ck up many bigger NBA players in a fight.


3)James White- 6'7" or so, can dunk with two hands from the foul line, and touch 13'0" I believe.


4)Dwight Howard- 6'10" 270ish, extremely explosive, and built like a tank.

[Scott Pippen]

LeBron, Shaq, Wilt, Jordan, Barkley, Vince, Doc, Rodman, etc..

[Human Error]

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

And it's not even close.

[White Chocolate]

LeBron, Shaq, Wilt, Jordan, Barkley, Vince, Doc, Rodman, etc..

Barkley isn't so much physically gifted, but he simply had the most heart of anyone on the court. He wasn't exactly a physical specimen.

[JEFFERSON MONEY]

Good choices but OP said "gifted" didn't he? So that would mean whatchya got from your 'rents prior to hard work on the court or in the gym room.

Howard most definitely belongs on the count of I've seen his girly man workout, and his delts grew from baseballs to spiked cannonballs in a matter of months.

Not so sure about White though. I heard he was a devout track athlete.

I don't see how Iverson belongs in this sentence at all. He straight up BUSTED his a$$ and proved mind over matter. Sewage clouding his Hampton town, h enever backed down giving it all all day errday. And that sh!t paid off you best believe.

[Mateo]

I'd say Kevin Garnett is the most physically gifted in NBA history, although I can see the argument for Shaquille and Chamberlain as well. Shaq would be included for his pure power and Garnett and Chamberlain for the incredible height/agility ratio they possess.

LeBron doesn't belong, in my opinion. He's tall, but not abnormally (in comparison to other NBA players). He's fast, but again not abnormally, even for players his size. What makes LeBron amazing is that he has the physique of a power forward but can play like a guard. This is because of his incredible ball handling skills (for his size), and to me ball handling is a skill, not a physical gift.

[dajadeed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoEWO5ypOPM

[Scott Pippen]

Barkley isn't so much physically gifted, but he simply had the most heart of anyone on the court. He wasn't exactly a physical specimen.

Depends. In Philly he did some unbelievable things and in my honest opinion was more physically imposing than LeBron. He could bully guys like Horace Grant down low, get off his feet faster than anyone under the glass (similar to Rodman), and of course one of the strongest players in the NBA. Very explosive for his size (of course not as explosive as LeBron).