I will pull an ESPN and make this about Lebron. But, springy heavy guys rarely last. LBJ not only lasted, but being an athletic dunker/player for so many years is tough to believe. Crazy leapers like Zion and Timelord being hurt often is not that uncommon.
Super athletic power forwards do tend to age quickly and badly. In addition to Timelord and Zion, some easy examples from recent history are Shawn Kemp, Amare Stoudemire, Blake Griffin...these guys were all-NBA level players in their prime, started getting hurt and fell fast off that cliff by their early 30s. Lebron is basically the same size (and just as athletic) as they were, but is still a top 10 player at age 38. In every respect, he's 1 of 1.
Yea, we were recently discussing the longevity of leapers and small players that rely on quickness (Kemba/IT3). It can go South very quickly.@Sam Ray Not has noted that Ja Morant's highlight reel leaps of jamming on 7' giants won't age well. Zion's girth and leaping ability, while sexy, also probably won't age well. OTOH ground-based skilled stars like Luka/Joker will probably age well (even though their USG is high). Unless they decide to repave their mother's driveway
Larry Johnson was another who immediately comes to mind as his effectiveness and career was cut way short due to back injuries. He first injured it in his 2nd/3rd year in Charlotte which caused him to change his game from a high flyer to using his savvy on the ground until the back stuff finished him off around age 30/31. Grandmama was really really good in his early 20’s.
He's not small, but what do we think about Jaylen Brown's potential longevity? He is someone whose elite athleticism is a big part of his game.Yea, we were recently discussing the longevity of leapers and small players that rely on quickness (Kemba/IT3). It can go South very quickly.@Sam Ray Not has noted that Ja Morant's highlight reel leaps of jamming on 7' giants won't age well. Zion's girth and leaping ability, while sexy, also probably won't age well. OTOH ground-based skilled stars like Luka/Joker will probably age well (even though their USG is high). Unless they decide to repave their mother's driveway
Agreed, Bron is 1/1. But something doesn't smell right with the NBA. Feels like we've seen this before...
I was gonna say: I remember years ago, in an interview, LeBron was asked what he does to say in shape, and he had like an encyclopedic understanding of... well, everything. Of special note was pilates. And then there was a lot of talk then about how pilates would be great for, like, everyone. And then the talk sorta went away. But I think LeBron kept doing that stuff.
Kareem always said that the reason he was good for so long was flexibility and doing copious amounts of stretching, and did Yoga before most people even knew what yoga was.
Jaylen doesn’t rely on explosive movements, is somewhat methodical, and has great size for his position. He’ll be perfectly fine if he knee holds up.
I know we love Garnett, but his numbers kind of fell off a cliff around age 31/32, didn't they? He played 57 games in 08/09, and never averaged 9 rebounds a game after that, and only averaged 15ppg once (15.8) after that.
I think KG would have been fine if not for his knee. He also played a ton of minutes early in his career that likely led to his knee issues. He avg like 40mpg from age 20 to 30.
Indeed. He's not mentioned often among players with great longevity but he's 5th all time in minutes played, and in addition to nearly averaging 40 mpg for 11 straight years, he was very durable - he missed just 23 games over those 11 years.
Same with Larry Johnson though with his injuries. I guess that's kind of the point. If it's a knee or a back that dooms a guy like Morant early (or Zion), doesn't really matter. Just goes to show that Lebron is on another level wrt to what he's doing, and his ability to avoid injuries that derailed him.
Oh absolutely. It’s funny when you read these site and people are bashing LeBron for “sitting out with a hangnail” and “he’s only playing to pad his stats”…….it makes me wonder if people enjoy trolling or if they truly believe these things.
Yup, although Perk's knee probably doesn't even matter that much if we had 2008 KG instead of 2010 "dragging an anvil up the court" KG. Dude had 3 rebs in almost 40 minutes. Insane. Of course, PP/RA show like 8-29, which was the real ballgame.
I still have nightmares of Bynum, Gasol and Lamar reaching over a grounded Rasheed, KG and Big Baby for put back after put back.
Yup. Easily one of the most frustrating games I've watched. Our scorers ice cold. KG basically immobile. Kobe shooting like Antoine Walker and getting completely bailed out at the end. Ron f'ing Artest hitting the dagger 3. That 2010 team didn't have its Posey and it killed them.
IIRC he played remarkably better in the playoffs, but the Celtics having no back-up behind Perk/KG besides old as shit Rasheed Wallace and Big Baby was a real miss by Danny. They didn't have the PJ Brown-type guy to plug in if someone got injured.
Yep that was painful to watch.
If there wasn‘t an idiotic draft promise to the already old Giddens and Ainge picked Jordan, the Cs would be looking for title 20 this year.He would have had he drafted DeAndre Jordan over JR Giddens like I wanted
Jordan refused to workout for the Celtics or any other team outside of the lottery iirc. I think that would be a red flag for Ainge while saying “WTF does this kid think he is?” Jordan was pretty bad his one year in college too and again iirc was benched at the end of the year for lack of defense. He was a big time coaster back then.
It also means — in the tradition of Wilt and Shaq — that at his current .653 FT%, he’s leaving 2-3 points a game at the stripe relative to a good FT shooter.
Yes and no. If he was a league average FT shooter at 78%, he probably WOULDN'T be fouled quite as frequently.
The DeAndre Jordan who had a negative BPM and VORP his first two seasons, which included 2009-10?He would have had he drafted DeAndre Jordan over JR Giddens like I wanted
Well, all we are talking about is 1 game in 2010 so I think he could have helped secure that title after Perk went out. We just needed someone to grab a damn rebound. And I think he and Rondo would have meshed well on the pick-n-roll. Of course, he was quite green back in 2010, as you correctly noted, so maybe he picks up 5 fouls in 9 minutes or something guarding Gasol/Bynum.The DeAndre Jordan who had a negative BPM and VORP his first two seasons, which included 2009-10?
2012 might've turned out differently though, I'll grant.
Big Baby played 27 minutes in game 6 when Perk got hurt and grabbed 9 boards. Baby also grabbed 9 boards in game 7. Perk grabbed 11 boards in game 3, otherwise his rebounding numbers were fairly pedestrian (3, 6, 11, 7, 7)
Bolded because this doesn't seem like the sorts of folks who should be running the front office of an NBA franchise with dreams of contention.
Yeah, the bigger issue that game was KG’s knee. He had 3 rebounds in like 36-38 minutes played in a game with a million bricks.
TL was really good in college. If he didn’t have to share the middle with Tyler Davis, their 6-10 center, he’d have put up stupid numbers in college. Jordan was flat out awful his one year after being highly touted out of HS. First he was removed from the starting lineup in the 2H of the year then removed entirely from the rotation in the postseason.
TL was 2x SEC DPOY
The standard NBA front office: A collection of ex-Jocks + Sycophants + Ownership Friends and Family.
No star talent aside from Brunson but without looking back I can’t imagine there being a deeper 2nd round ever.
