I've heard stories about Iverson running the mile in the 4:40s during training. People definitely underestimate how athletic basketball players are. I'm sure the guards and small forwards on nearly all NBA teams could run at or under 5:15 for the mile.
dffa wrote:
I've heard stories about Iverson running the mile in the 4:40s during training. People definitely underestimate how athletic basketball players are. I'm sure the guards and small forwards on nearly all NBA teams could run at or under 5:15 for the mile.
So AI could win a somewhat competitive varsity HS track meet and the rest could all finish in the top 3 in a JV Highschool meet? Bravo gentelmen you have reached the endurance level of many a skrawny thirteen year old, bravo!
So the article is a Track meet comprised of only NBA players - who cares, that's like asking "now that Brett Favre is a Jet could the Jets beat the Patriots in nine innings of baseball?" I don't care I want to know which team can play better football.
If the NBA players did take on tracksters our countries top HS kids could finish them of with relative ease.
How defensive... Can you imagine an NBA board going apeshit over an article of what runner had the best cross over or fade-away J? WHAT THE HELL CARMELO WOULD SCHOOL TIM BROE!
Real athleticism displayed here: Mike Conley Sr (WR TJer) dunking. Keep in mind that he is only 5'11.
I don't really see Lebron as being exceptional in any one event but he could be a good decathlete.
One of the funniest plays last year occurred in an early regular season game. Lebron got a steal and took off for the other end of the court. He took off from at least 20 feet from the basket and the crowd started to rise in anticipation of one of the greatest dunks in the history of basketball. Unfortunately Lebrons eyes were bigger than his flying ability and he soon realized he wasn't going to make it. At the last instance, he tried to fingerroll the ball in and missed the layup. I am a huge Lebron fan but this was just hilarious and I would love to see it on youtube.
Here is one he made.
Exjogger wrote:
Ballers who would medal at the Olympics in track: none of them.
Example: Lance Armstrong running the marathon, prior to his NYC debut some experts said with his VO2 max he could run 2:01! He didn't even compete near the top tier.
Example: Jordan playing baseball again experts saying Jordan had all the tools to be great. He proved he had all the tools to be mediocre.
Credible exercise physiologists were wrong in those cases, the editor of 'Ball don't lie' seems more likely to be wrong.
Now if it were a Track Meet where only pro-ballers could compete, he may be exactly right.
Laser Hawk! wrote:
No NBA players would medal in any track or field event at the Olympics. But that's not for lack of athleticism. I certainly believe that there would be a few NBA players who could medal in the HJ or LJ if they trained for a year or two.
Just like I believe that there are a few NFL guys who could potentially medal in the 100 or 200 if they trained specifically.
At his prime, Shaq would have probably medalled in the hammer. I know he is retired.
Shaq in the 5k/10k would beat Mo ... bigger stride length from long legs; all he has to do is increase is cadence and he wins WR BIGLY.
Laser Hawk! wrote:
No NBA players would medal in any track or field event at the Olympics. But that's not for lack of athleticism. I certainly believe that there would be a few NBA players who could medal in the HJ or LJ if they trained for a year or two.
Just like I believe that there are a few NFL guys who could potentially medal in the 100 or 200 if they trained specifically.
I agree with you that some NBA players could be Olympians in T&F. However it would take much longer than a year or two. I think that since the HJ and even the TJ are technical events and NBA stars would probably never be able to convert their abilities to those. However I could see one be a top 400 or 800 guy.
dffa wrote:
I've heard stories about Iverson running the mile in the 4:40s during training. People definitely underestimate how athletic basketball players are. I'm sure the guards and small forwards on nearly all NBA teams could run at or under 5:15 for the mile.
Perhaps Iverson ran a mile in 4:40 on a short track and by an excited NBA coach who does not know how to time somebody. Even if he did run it that fast, that is not Olympic quality.
It's much more likely that you could convert someone to the 400 or 800 if they happened to be highly motivated. Actually I think the conditioning of NBA players is OVERRATED. They do a lot of walking.
dffa wrote:
I've heard stories about Iverson running the mile in the 4:40s during training. People definitely underestimate how athletic basketball players are. I'm sure the guards and small forwards on nearly all NBA teams could run at or under 5:15 for the mile.
In addition it would take a highly motivated NBA player 4 to 5 years to be a Olympic quality 400 and 800 guy.
Wilt Chamberlain was an outstanding runner. I think he ran 1:54 or something like that and had a top 440 time as well. But that was in his college days.
coach wrote:
some NBA players would make great decathletes. And with their frames and explosiveness some of the power forwards could become great throwers after doing the requisite strength training
No. Decathlon is a running (really sprinting) event for strong individuals. With the average height of the NBA player at 6' 7" they would be even worse than Bolt at getting up to top speed. Top sprinters are usually much shorter than Bolt and of course, most NBA players. Justin Gatlin is 6' 1" and 183 pounds, almost identical to Ashton Eaton who is 6' 1" 185 pounds. There are very few NBA players that short and none who can run a 10.21 100m like Ashton. Blake Griffin could be a great thrower but he'd be terrible at all the running events. Even the high jump which you would normally think would be the easiest event for an NBA player might be difficult because NBA players only raise their center of gravity by the amount they jump. In the high jump the jumper has to raise their center of gravity OVER A BAR, which is very different than simply having hops.
When I was in high school, we had this one guy I'll call "Joe" who was really dedicated to the jumps. Since around 6th grade, he'd been high jumping, long jumping, and triple jumping--I don't think he ever ran an open race--and he was pretty good. Not "woah future D1 stud" good, but by junior year he was high jumping around 6', long jumping 21', and triple jumping around 44'. Perfect form in every event.
Joe quit at the end of his junior year after a guy from the basketball team showed up to one of our meets (supposedly he'd signed up for track, but he showed up to maybe one practice) and proceeded to jump around 6'3 and 22', wearing nike high tops, and with absolutely godawful form in both.
The best NBA players are some of the greatest athletic talents in the world. Soccer (and maybe a couple of other sports) come close in terms of skill, but the freakish athletic talent we see in guys like LeBron, Westbrook, and Durant is unparalleled.
Sure these guys are too big to be good distance runners, but I expect many of them could've been excellent jumpers and quarter-milers.