How fast could the fastest nba player run a mile?

All these claims to fast mile times by basketball players sound kind of sketchy to me. It's basically people pulling times out of their behinds with nothing to back them up. Some of them might have been "miles" that involve running that loop around the school and round the outfield of the baseball field. Some of them might have been somebody running 5:32 and remembering it is 4:32, because for people who aren't diehard track freaks, it's all pretty much the same.

I have little doubt that almost all the speedy, fit guys in the NBA are capable of well under 5:00 for the mile if they chose to become competitive middle distance runners. These are fabulous athletes. There would probably be a few world-class runners in the league. Whether they could run a mile in 4:30 off just basketball training - I'm a little more dubious of that.

Guards had to run sub 12, forwards sub 13 and centers sub 14. Walton would stop a few feet from the finish line and wait until 13:59 to cross the line. I was there and witnessed it first hand.

I remember seeing that John Stockton ran around 4:32 mile in high school, but I cant find a link. I would guess he could have run a lot faster than that during his NBA career. People forget that he was pretty fast early in his career.

Does the shot put take anything out of your legs?

I can't imagine Bill Walton being that fast. OTOH, Wilt Chamberlain as a teenager ran 49.0 for 440y and 1:58.3 for 880y. I don't know if he ever ran a mile.

Kevin Willis ran a 4:32 mile in high school.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1140137/

I don't think Iverson really ran quite as fast as a 4:30, I think it was more 4:40s or 4:50s, I can't say for sure.

But in general NBA players would be better in events like the jumps, throws, sprints and hurdles than they would at middle or long distance. I bet even if every NBA athlete specifically trained for the mile instead of playing basketball, the majority of them would never run better than a 4:45 and only a handful of guys would break 4:20.

What percentage of the NBA do people think can break 5 minutes in the mile (off of their current training)? My guess would be that about 5 - 8% could do it.

Idontevenknow wrote:

fgjjjh wrote:

So you think Lebron could possibly run sub 5 and definitely run sub 50? Based on what exactly?

He's extremely fast, has very good endurance, and is probably one of the best overall athletes in the last century. Good athletes have a tendency to run well in the 400 without much training.

I think there are guys in the nba who are better track athletes than MJ (past) or Lebron. It's a different thing.

The guy who wrote that Isiah could run a 45 quarter had to be drunk.

Of all the guys I have seen, I would say Iverson had the most talent to run a fast mile. Of guys playing right now, I would say 4:50 -5:00 without a cycle of training.

almost all NBA players could break 4 minutes for the mile if they trained for it as they almost all have long legs and you know with longer legs you can cover more distance with each stride...

So Yeah NBA players have better running potential that most letsrun wannabe's

several of them have the TALENT to run sub5 but none could do it right now. Sub 5 is extremely hard when you're over 220 lbs.

Nutella1 wrote:

several of them have the TALENT to run sub5 but none could do it right now. Sub 5 is extremely hard when you're over 220 lbs.

Most point guards are well under 220 lbs.

Steve Nash 6'3' 180

Chris Paul 6'0" 175

Steph Curry 6'3" 185

Mario Chalmers 6'2" 190

Ricky Rubio 6'4" 180

My guess is all those guys could run a sub 5 minute right now and if they trained for it they could run under 4:30. I don't think most people understand what athletic freaks NBA players are.

The first men's college basketball team to initiate "midnight madness", the start of practice for the season on October 15 was the University of Maryland. Lefty Driesell had the players run a mile on the Byrd Stadium track and it was time. Buck Williams ran around 4:50 one year, and I doubt he was wearing track shoes. Greg Manning, a decent guard who was not quite NBA caliber, also ran under 5:00.

There are plenty of good HS players who also run spring track in the distance events and can run sub-4:30 miles. So it can be done. Figuring out exactly who can do it amongst more famous NBA players is a more difficult task.

NBAguy wrote:you know with longer legs you can cover more distance with each stride....

Ooops, someone should have told that to Gebrselassie when coming down the final straight with Tergat beside him during the 10,000m in Sydney. I guess he missed the memo.

seeing as mediocre HS JV milers run 5:00, im pretty sure more than a few elite professional athletes could pull it off too

a 6'4 point guard on my HS basketball team ran 52/1:59/4:3x,

Misdirected ploy wrote:

Does the shot put take anything out of your legs?

It totally ruins your leg speed velocity, I wouldnt do it

Some folks have referred to Iverson. He ran sub 5:00 various times through his career.

In one particular preseason day Larry Brown surprised everyone by saying "We're going outside to do a mile". AI in basketball shoes (and probably ganja in system) ran sub 4:40 that day on the St. Joe's track. Aaron McKie also ran sub 5. However, Aaron Mckie was a cross country runner in HS and all through his Sixers career still trained at Belmont Plateau doing hill repeats there.

Eric Snow was third that day on the track at St. Joe's and is the source of this information.

There was also a story about how one day after school (in HS) where AI was hanging out after school. He was chatting with some of the dudes he knew on the track team. He was dared to toss the javelin. He never touched one before and heaved it over 150 ft. This was told to Pat Croce who retold the story on the radio back in the day. AI was also a pretty solid HS QB.

NBA Mile Guy wrote:

What percentage of the NBA do people think can break 5 minutes in the mile (off of their current training)? My guess would be that about 5 - 8% could do it.

Way, way higher, even without training. There are a lot of unathletic 5:00 milers posting in this thread who don't really know what they are talking about. 5 minute miles is not fast. Even 4:30 is not that fast.

These are athletes we are talking about. Even if the idiots in this thread who had to run 50-60 miles a week to break 5 found it difficult, many NBA players would have no trouble at all.

NBA players are generally in good conditioning.

NBA players, while often BIG, are almost never FAT (unlike some football players).

NBA players are often FAST and EXPLOSIVE.

NBA players have good flexibility and good hops.

NBA players are often skinny, yet strong-ideal "running build".

5 minute mile is 2:11 marathon pace...you really think that if you put 100 elite bball players on a start line only 5-8 of them will be able to keep up for 5minutes?

The specific training is not as important as someone's BUILD (many are skinny, strong, lean, ideal running build), general conditioning (active lifestyles, good general shape) and willpower (these are elite, competitive athletes who are tough and can run through pain)

Give them some time/motivation to train (6 months and 10million dollars, say) and a huge portion would be able to break 5 minutes (over half), with a good portion under 4:30, and probably some under 4:20 and well on their way towards 4minutes.

There are likely some NBA players with 3:50-3:55 POTENTIAL-remember $$ is the biggest incentive and lets face it, track doesn't really compare to basketball-and when your potential is that fast improvement is rapid.

Good post. I agree. Basketball players are strong and muscular, and they are doing a lot of sprint repeats in their training + crossfit like exercises like box jumps. I would bet it is more difficult to find NBA players who could not break 5 than to find those who can break 5. The latter are a dime a dozen.

I would guess that Ray Allen, and similar players, would be best suited to run a fast mile. Those type of shooters need to run through multiple screens to get an open shot throughout the game (though not as much as he used to). While his top end speed likely isn't that of a PG or someone like LeBron, I think he's more likely to have the stamina.