How much of basketball talent is based on genetics?

[GswSucks4Ever]

Back to the original poster's question, can an average joe with the work ethic of Kobe or Jordan make the league?

The answer is clearly NO. Enough talent to make the league is 99.99% genetics, .009% other and .001% work ethic. Lets say that out of the entire world population there are 10,000 people with enough height, athleticism, coordination, mental strength etc. that can make it to the NBA, if you divide that by an nba draft eligible population in the world of 20 million, that still leaves your chance at .0005%. And lets face it there are not nearly 10,000 people in the world if all they did but train in basketball can make it to the NBA, and way more than 20 million people that can get drafted.

There are NO "average joes" in the league. None. Earl Boykins was 5'5" but he also could bench over 300 lbs and dunk the basketball. Stephen Curry is probably the closest thing to an "average joe" in the NBA but he is probably the purest shooter the NBA has ever seen.

On the other hand, do I believe hard work can make you a great recreational player? Sure.
Enough to make it to the pros? Hell no.

[SichtingLives]

And yes, anyone can improve their athleticism with a proper program, nevermind the vast array of legal and illegal supplements available to augment the body. It's not the 1940's anymore, training options are endless. Only lazy people pin their lack of athleticism on genetics. Even if you come from the most unathletic, awkward line of genes, you can still improve your strength and athleticism immensely if you commit to it.......just not to the point where you'll ever be a pro athlete or anything close.

[BKAY]

Average players have great sons. great players have terrible sons. in terms of basketball playing.

[GswSucks4Ever]

Average players have great sons. great players have terrible sons. in terms of basketball playing.

I hate to stereotype, but gorgeous wives bring the genetic potential down

[spectacularmove]

Skls are not related to genetics directly. There are elements that build on genetics but there are skills which can be developed independent of birth factors.

Such as?

Free throw shooting. Almost any healthy adult can shoot FTs at an NBA acceptable level with enough training.

Shaq, one of the most gifted ever, disagrees with you.
Obviously you can improve your skills through hard work (including athletism), but all of them are part of the natural talent of the person.

[Gargantua]

Anyone mention JJ Barea yet?

My exact same thought. I think he is unique in that sense. I'll even say that he would look just like any other guy in the street if he didn't stay so many ours in the gym. The guy is all hard work and heart. Respect for that.
I think he is the exception, to respond the OP IMO basketball talent (like in any other pro sport) is mostly based on genetics: athleticism, height and also skills.
With some exceptions as mentioned, that come from incredible hard work both working out in the gym and studying the game.

[Johnlac1]

Anyone mention JJ Barea yet?

My exact same thought. I think he is unique in that sense. I'll even say that he would look just like any other guy in the street if he didn't stay so many ours in the gym. The guy is all hard work and heart. Respect for that.
I think he is the exception, to respond the OP IMO basketball talent (like in any other pro sport) is mostly based on genetics: athleticism, height and also skills.
With some exceptions as mentioned, that come from incredible hard work both working out in the gym and studying the game.

If I had the choice, I'd rather have Barea's height and speed then be taller and slow. You almost have to be in the 6' 9+ range to get away with lack of foot speed to make it in the NBA. Nash is the exception to the rule. The 3-point shot allows some players a little over 6 feet with average foot speed to get jobs, but they've got to be exceptional shooters from distance.

[kasino]

Well size is important
Stamina is also important
If you can have a skill level superior to most then I could see it working as it has with a lot of playmaker points

[Johnlac1]

Well size is important
Stamina is also important
If you can have a skill level superior to most then I could see it working as it has with a lot of playmaker points

I'm not saying it's not. But if you don't have a great 3-point shot, if you're slow, you've got to be around 6'9 or more to be valuable. There just aren't that many players the size of Nash who can get away with having average speed or not. So if you give me the choice of being around 6'0 and fast or 6'6 and have mediocre or slow speed, I'll take the 6'0 and fast please.

[acrossthecourt]

I don't know if anyone has brought this up before, but shooting skill is genetic. It's about hand-eye coordination and a couple other factors, but it boils down to a physical attribute like any other. You can practice as much as Nash, but you won't become as good a shooter.

[minnytola1960]

For sure genetic is a big part of the equation, but people seem to forget that a lot of freak athlete didn't make it to the NBA. It's not enough to have the best car if you don't know how to use it, don't take care of if and don't drive smartly. I'm not even only talking about the Jamario Moon and James White of this world, but also guys like Len Bias.

I'm not sure it's really 80-20.

You all think that a guy 80/80 on genetic and 10/20 on effort has more chance than a guy 70/80 and 20/20?

Take a guy like Nash, not great genetic, but worked his ass off to become a great shooter. He was always pretty good, but he became elite slowly but surely. Look at how is FG% kept going up through the years.

Nash is probably top 50 of all time and he was never destined for that. At 23 people thought he would be a bench player, at 26 people thought he would be a borderline all-star, at 32 people thought he could be a hall of famer, He just climbed the ladder.

Now, maybe Nash still has pretty good genetics compare to the average man, it's tough to say how much is genetic and how much is work, but I don't think you can compare athletes to average man. Every professional athlete is in the top 1%. But then between 99% (Nash) and 99.999% (Lebron) there is a huge difference.

There is no way in hell that Nash is only in the top 99%. You are grossing underestimating how large 1% is in terms of Average Joe basketball talent. Think about it, you probably could have found multiple guys in that top 1% on your high school's basketball team, and its highly likely that none of them had any sort of chance of making the NBA. Just because Nash doesn't LOOK like he was blessed with extraordinary, off-the-charts basketball talent, doesn't mean he wasn't, because he certainly was. You simply can't reach the level of greatness he did (or even make the league period) without it.

[Prince187]

Everything is based on genetics. Your will to want to work hard is largely based on your genetics.

[Canada_7]

One way to tell is look at comparisons between NBA fathers and sons. Far more of them are worse than their fathers than are better. In fact I can only think of 2 players that are better than their fathers were (Kobe and Steph Curry).

If you're thinking absolutely big names, then perhaps. But there's more players in the NBA than you think that have a father that played NBA ball or at least professionally elsewhere (or perhaps a mother who played professionally). Not necessarily all-star guys, but guys who are solid or at least in the league. Kevin Love's dad played in the NBA (took a quick look at his stats, nowhere near Kevin's level), so did Ed Davis. There's probably more but I can't think of others off the top of my head at the moment. I know JaVale McGee's mom was apparently a WNBA great, so I guess compared to McGee's success in the NBA, the mother was the better player.

A bit off topic but just wanted to touch on that.

[thamadkant]

Genetics is a factor for sure.
Some people are just born with certain traits that make them good at things....
But you have to develop very early, as in skills...

You can have the a pro-basketball family (grandparents, parents etc) but if you dont start playing real young you will not be able to "mix" basketball skills and the "genetic talent/traits" you've inherited from parents.... and it may very well stop you from reaching your full potential.

Tim Duncan was a swimmer.... played basketball late as in 15 years old I heard..... but his size, smarts and ability to memorize fundamentals and master them quickly made him the player he is... but 70% of it would be because he grew to be 7 feet.



Being 7 foot tall and somehow athletic and "sporty".... its like winning the lottery in America or other "basketball" obsessed nations..... there's a place for you at minimum as a "body" inside the paint...and most likely be playing pro-basketball, D1 at the minimum.. If you happen to be above average athlete and have some basketball IQ... you're likely to be NBA pro.... if you are considered a good athlete, have basketball IQ and have some basketball talent... you're a friggin millionaire guaranteed (in US anyways).