Least athletic players in the league

[celticspierce34]

Why do you guys say people of East African descent would have horrible athleticism?

Speed and explosiveness.

Let me give you an example. There are roughly 70 men that have ran the 100m in under 10 seconds. All but one of them are of West African Descent. It is statistically improbably that a man will ever hold the world record in explosive/speed races like the 100m dash who is not of West African descent.

Humans of certain regional descent have very specific functional advantages/disadvantages. There are very major differences in muscle allocation (area as well as fast-twitch/slow-twitch ratio and nominal fibers) depending on your geological heritage.

East Africans and those of East African-descent are an extreme foil to their West African neighbors. They just aren't very athletic[/u].

i don't think that calling them unathletic is really accurate, east africans are to endurance running what west africans are to sprinting. many great athletes are of east african decent, just not sprinters or basketball players.

[celticspierce34]

http://www.jonentine.com/reviews/express.htm

just did a bit of a search and found this article discussing different ethnicities and why (a theory at least) they each have specific athletic talents. it's a little old (2001) but don't think that makes it any less interesting. have a read it's really good.

for those who do read it i was fascinated by the tarahumara from mexico. i had never heard of them, wish they would start competing again.

[astrallite]

Why do you guys say people of East African descent would have horrible athleticism?

Speed and explosiveness.

Let me give you an example. There are roughly 70 men that have ran the 100m in under 10 seconds. All but one of them are of West African Descent. It is statistically improbably that a man will ever hold the world record in explosive/speed races like the 100m dash who is not of West African descent.

Humans of certain regional descent have very specific functional advantages/disadvantages. There are very major differences in muscle allocation (area as well as fast-twitch/slow-twitch ratio and nominal fibers) depending on your geological heritage.

East Africans and those of East African-descent are an extreme foil to their West African neighbors. They just aren't very athletic[/u].

i don't think that calling them unathletic is really accurate, east africans are to endurance running what west africans are to sprinting. many great athletes are of east african decent, just not sprinters or basketball players.

I know about Kenya. But they are the exception to the rule. Just like there are Rules (i.e., properties) in the Periodic Table governing atomic mass but there is always one exception to the rule.

The VAST majority of East Africans are not like Kenyans. Whereas the VAST majority of West Africans share the trait of great explosiveness.

[SSUBluesman]

Why do you guys say people of East African descent would have horrible athleticism?

That's a good question.

Thinking about it though I do think countries like Nigeria and Ghana and others from that area produce more succesfull athletes than East African countries, except for long distance runners, who are arguably differently talented than for example basketball players.

Historically it may have to do something with the slavery history. Most slaves (if not all) were exported from West Africa. There are theories about slavery being a major historical factor in the evolution of great athletes. For example, I've heard Usain Bolt talk about this. That he credits some of his natural gifts to it, and the fact that Jamaica produces a lot of great athletes, especially on track and field.
Not an expert on the subject but I think it had to do with slaves being selected on physical qualities, plus the natural selection on the barbaric shippings across the ocean, as well as arranged marriages I think in order to produce the next generation of even better/stronger slaves.

This idea actually originated with race theorists and slave owners in a rationalized defense of slavery in the 19th century. The argument was that they were stronger and more athletic meaning they were "bred" for such activity. This (supposedly) limited the physical toll slavery exerted on their bodies. There was also such pronouncements that they were naturally healthier and more resistant to diseases, as well as the infamous "extra bone" nonsense.

I find it fascinating that everyone jumps to racial/genetic reasons for such disparities when there are more obvious reasons to be explored, particularly cultural/social influences and development.

[Soul Patch]

Jarron Collins.

[DanielBoone]

Why do you guys say people of East African descent would have horrible athleticism?

That's a good question.

Thinking about it though I do think countries like Nigeria and Ghana and others from that area produce more succesfull athletes than East African countries, except for long distance runners, who are arguably differently talented than for example basketball players.

Historically it may have to do something with the slavery history. Most slaves (if not all) were exported from West Africa. There are theories about slavery being a major historical factor in the evolution of great athletes. For example, I've heard Usain Bolt talk about this. That he credits some of his natural gifts to it, and the fact that Jamaica produces a lot of great athletes, especially on track and field.
Not an expert on the subject but I think it had to do with slaves being selected on physical qualities, plus the natural selection on the barbaric shippings across the ocean, as well as arranged marriages I think in order to produce the next generation of even better/stronger slaves.

This idea actually originated with race theorists and slave owners in a rationalized defense of slavery in the 19th century. The argument was that they were stronger and more athletic meaning they were "bred" for such activity. This (supposedly) limited the physical toll slavery exerted on their bodies. There was also such pronouncements that they were naturally healthier and more resistant to diseases, as well as the infamous "extra bone" nonsense.

I find it fascinating that everyone jumps to racial/genetic reasons for such disparities when there are more obvious reasons to be explored, particularly cultural/social influences and development.

cultural and social influences are not the reason there are no white guys that can sprint. its not like they haven't tried.

[OscarusPrime32]

Big Z is the least athletic.

[Rinaldi]

Ball.
/topic.

[xxRoyalexx]

BTW with the exception of certain guys like Zydrunas Illgauskas and Brad Miller, Centers are all considered freak athletes. You try being 7 foot 250+ pounds and navigating up and down a basketball court with such coordination.

Or, to put things into better perspective:

The average 3/4 court sprint time for a point guard is 3.21 seconds.

The average for a center? 3.43. Considering that these guys are MASSIVE, it's pretty outrageous that their times aren't that far off from guards.

[pass first]

+ Z and Miller are old and crippled by injuries.

[pass first]

Why do you guys say people of East African descent would have horrible athleticism?

That's a good question.

Thinking about it though I do think countries like Nigeria and Ghana and others from that area produce more succesfull athletes than East African countries, except for long distance runners, who are arguably differently talented than for example basketball players.

Historically it may have to do something with the slavery history. Most slaves (if not all) were exported from West Africa. There are theories about slavery being a major historical factor in the evolution of great athletes. For example, I've heard Usain Bolt talk about this. That he credits some of his natural gifts to it, and the fact that Jamaica produces a lot of great athletes, especially on track and field.
Not an expert on the subject but I think it had to do with slaves being selected on physical qualities, plus the natural selection on the barbaric shippings across the ocean, as well as arranged marriages I think in order to produce the next generation of even better/stronger slaves.

This idea actually originated with race theorists and slave owners in a rationalized defense of slavery in the 19th century. The argument was that they were stronger and more athletic meaning they were "bred" for such activity. This (supposedly) limited the physical toll slavery exerted on their bodies. There was also such pronouncements that they were naturally healthier and more resistant to diseases, as well as the infamous "extra bone" nonsense.

I find it fascinating that everyone jumps to racial/genetic reasons for such disparities when there are more obvious reasons to be explored, particularly cultural/social influences and development.

I'm not defending slavery, just saying.

As far as jumping on racial/genetic reasons as opposed to social/cultural reasons, I'm curious what social or cultural reasons you think there are that West Africans are more competitive in short distance running and East Africans in long distance running. I can imagine succes breeds popularity and that's why many Ethiopians and Kenyans like marathons, for example, but there has to be more to it. I can also imagine that evolutionary circumstances made these different people develop different bodytypes/muscles, but then over time that causes genetic differences so that's still genetic as well as historic/social.

[bballmaniac27]

So according to some people here long distance running doesn't require athleticism? Seems like a lot of basketball fans have a very warped sense of what athleticism is.

[RocPHX]

lol people are forgettin what athleticism is.."HE CAN'T DUNK, HE NOT ATHLETIC!"

[pass first]

So according to some people here long distance running doesn't require athleticism? Seems like a lot of basketball fans have a very warped sense of what athleticism is.

No. But on the other hand, players in the NBA with great endurance but who aren't quick or strong or leapers wouldn't be called a "great athlete".

[xkirruax]

Wow 8 Pages and not 1 person said Fisher how can anyone be more unathetlic then him?

[xxRoyalexx]

So according to some people here long distance running doesn't require athleticism? Seems like a lot of basketball fans have a very warped sense of what athleticism is.

Because endurance doesn't mean anything if it's not combined with explosiveness, at least in a sport like Basketball anyways.

I mean it's great that you can run up and down a basketball court non stop for hours upon hours, but how's that going to help you if you don't have enough burst speed to keep up with everyone else?

Hence why everyone considers West Africans the best athletes in the world. They hold every single sprinting record on the planet, are scientifically proven to be the fastest, most explosive/natural leapers, etc. Oh, and if you didn't realize all slave descendant African Americans (so LeBron, Wade, pretty much a majority of the NBA) can trace their roots back to West Africa, because that's where all slaves were taken from.

East Africa has the Kenyans and whatnot and they're all great long term sprinters, but in a race they're not particularly explosive. And very few of them can naturally jump out the gym.

[KevinMcreynolds]

Greg Monroe

[princeofpalace]

Big Z
Roy Hibbert
Jason & Jarron Collins

[bballmaniac27]

Because endurance doesn't mean anything if it's not combined with explosiveness, at least in a sport like Basketball anyways. I mean it's great that you can run up and down a basketball court non stop for hours upon hours, but how's that going to help you if you don't have enough burst speed to keep up with everyone else?

And explosiveness alone won't get you anywhere either if you get winded after 5 or 6 times down the court. Conditioning is often times a critical factor in the fourth quarter where games are won and lost. Anyone who plays basketball knows that you can be the best shooter, ball handler etc in practice, but those skills become pretty useless if you have bad stamina/endurance. Also, I wasn't specifically talking about basketball. I noticed a lot of people here claiming that West Africans are athletic while East Africans are nonathletic (even when they clearly excel at endurance type events.) Is endurance not an attribute in athleticism?

Hence why everyone considers West Africans the best athletes in the world. They hold every single sprinting record on the planet, are scientifically proven to be the fastest, most explosive/natural leapers, etc. Oh, and if you didn't realize all slave descendant African Americans (so LeBron, Wade, pretty much a majority of the NBA) can trace their roots back to West Africa, because that's where all slaves were taken from.

Again, this is the typical view that most basketball fans seem to take. While I do agree that the factors you pointed out are definitely very important traits in basketball what about other factors like balance, flexibility, hand eye coordination, ability to change direction, fast reflexes, ambidexterity etc.

A great example would be Nash. I frequently hear people on realgm calling him unathletic because he's not a great leaper/explosive. Frankly, I think it's ridiculous to call someone like Nash a bad athlete.

[Mamba Venom]

Size negates athleticism in basketball

If you have both you are a monster