Single Hand Dunks

[oaktownwarriors87]

Check for other guys with legendary hands and dunking ability like Wilt, Connie Hawkins, Jordan, Shaq, and Giannis.

https://sport.bovada.lv/sports/basketball/nba/biggest-hand-sizes-in-nba-history/#:~:text=Boban%20Marjanovic&text=When%20he%27s%20not%20starring%20in,in%20all%20of%20NBA%20history.

I love this. The hand size of those guys is a huge reason why they were able to move, pass and finish like no other all time greats. That extra 1-2 inches of hand size is SO important and SO over looked. Hand size needs to be a more mainstream part of measuring a basketball players athletic ability.

Tallest player, longest player, fastest player, quickest player, strongest player... non of them are as important as hand size. If MJ had the same size hands as LeBron probably wouldn't have a single ring.

MJ's hands are only half an inch longer than LeBron's. It's actually KD who has really small hands relative to these other guys.

MJ's hands are supposedly over 2" wider

MJ: 9.75" by 11.375"
LBJ: 9.25" by 9.00"

[Cavsfansince84]

MJ's hands are supposedly over 2" wider

MJ: 9.75" by 11.375"
LBJ: 9.25" by 9.00"

I think length is likely the more important measure when doing things with a ball though. That's both hands together.

[SNPA]

Upon quick review I could see Hawkins doing this but I haven’t seen a comparable play off the bounce into a dunk.

Jordan seems possible but I’d think we’d likely all know about it, if it happened and was spectacular.

At this point there is no evidence presented of another player doing this. Very small club at its largest, could be one.

[Doctor MJ]

MJ's hands are supposedly over 2" wider

MJ: 9.75" by 11.375"
LBJ: 9.25" by 9.00"

I think length is likely the more important measure when doing things with a ball though. That's both hands together.

So, I think we need to be clear what we're discussing here - and honestly it's not like I've done a lot with these measurements.

Your thumb is absolutely critical to palming the ball:



So what you really want is a measure of from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinky when stretched out

I had been thinking that that's what's meant by "hand width", with "hand length" being a measure from wrist to finger tip, and so if that's correct than hand width is what matters for these purposes.

Are you or others under the impression that these terms refer to something else? If so, what term would you use for the thumb-to-pinky measure?

[PistolPeteJR]

Definitely helps with passing. Look at Rondo. 9.5/10 inches.

Meanwhile, Noah Vonleh's are larger than Dr J's at 9.75/11.75 inches and he was a big bust. Lol.

[Cavsfansince84]

So, I think we need to be clear what we're discussing here - and honestly it's not like I've done a lot with these measurements.

Your thumb is absolutely critical to palming the ball:



So what you really want is a measure of from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinky when stretched out

I had been thinking that that's what's meant by "hand width", with "hand length" being a measure from wrist to finger tip, and so if that's correct than hand width is what matters for these purposes.

Are you or others under the impression that these terms refer to something else? If so, what term would you use for the thumb-to-pinky measure?

What I'd say is you might be right about that but that the measurements as given are a bit of a misrepresentation for comparison purposes in terms of how much benefit they have on a bb court and that it goes beyond just palming a ball. It also has to do with length defensively and how much pressure can be exerted with a hand. So idk which exact measurement would be best but I think something like the corner of the hand at the wrist opposite the thumb to the tip of the pointer finger might be one good measure along with tip of the thumb to pinky finger. Then another thing which is sort of independent of hand/finger size is strength. Because that isn't going to be equal based on size either. So that's another part of it. How much pressure fingers can place on a ball or whatever.

[Doctor MJ]

So, I think we need to be clear what we're discussing here - and honestly it's not like I've done a lot with these measurements.

Your thumb is absolutely critical to palming the ball:



So what you really want is a measure of from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinky when stretched out

I had been thinking that that's what's meant by "hand width", with "hand length" being a measure from wrist to finger tip, and so if that's correct than hand width is what matters for these purposes.

Are you or others under the impression that these terms refer to something else? If so, what term would you use for the thumb-to-pinky measure?

What I'd say is you might be right about that but that the measurements as given are a bit of a misrepresentation for comparison purposes in terms of how much benefit they have on a bb court and that it goes beyond just palming a ball. It also has to do with length defensively and how much pressure can be exerted with a hand. So idk which exact measurement would be best but I think something like the corner of the hand at the wrist opposite the thumb to the tip of the pointer finger might be one good measure along with tip of the thumb to pinky finger. Then another thing which is sort of independent of hand/finger size is strength. Because that isn't going to be equal based on size either. So that's another part of it. How much pressure fingers can place on a ball or whatever.

Not sure I'm following here.

Hand length certainly helps with things like shotblocking...but it's already baked in to wingspan-type measures. Shotblocking-wise, how much of your arm length is in the hand compared to the fore arm and upper arm doesn't particularly matter there so much as the total length matters.

I agree with you that how much it helps a player varies a great deal. It's a matter of imagination, training, and in-moment improvisation ability. Simply having the physical characteristics won't necessarily help you that much, but much can be done with it with skill development if you have those raw measures.

Re: strength/pressure. This is of course true, and those with hands large enough for it to matter should do training to max out that strength...but I also think that when your hands are big compared to an object you're able to exert opposing forces much better. Think about having a baseball in your hand and holding it tightly. Is someone really going to be able to knock it out of your hand just by slapping it?

Now realistically, I think the basketball is too big to ever get to that point - I've seen guys slap the ball out of Wilt's hand when he uses this sort of move, for example - but what you really want is to have enough grip so that you can maneuver the ball however you want without losing control simply do to slippage.

[Doctor MJ]

So looking at this site, I'm seeing them use "span" as the quantity I was thinking of as "width", and they list out some of the biggest hands in NBA history. For all of them the span is bigger than the length. I'd say on average about 2 inches bigger. Not sure I really buy that they have accurate measures for all of the spans here - was Hawkins really only 0.5 bigger in span than length? - but it's a starting point.

For the heck of it, I measured my hands. About 8.25-8.5 inches in length, and about 9.75-10 inches in span. In my experience, I can palm the ball...but not well enough to do dramatic motion while keeping control, and certainly not well enough to grab it one handed off the dribble.

Edit: Strangely, my off hand (right) appears to be bigger than my primary hand (left). I feel like that's got to be an anomaly. Be weird if people in general hand their primary hand as smaller than their off hand.

[Cavsfansince84]

Not sure I'm following here.

Hand length certainly helps with things like shotblocking...but it's already baked in to wingspan-type measures. Shotblocking-wise, how much of your arm length is in the hand compared to the fore arm and upper arm doesn't particularly matter there so much as the total length matters.

I agree with you that how much it helps a player varies a great deal. It's a matter of imagination, training, and in-moment improvisation ability. Simply having the physical characteristics won't necessarily help you that much, but much can be done with it with skill development if you have those raw measures.

Re: strength/pressure. This is of course true, and those with hands large enough for it to matter should do training to max out that strength...but I also think that when your hands are big compared to an object you're able to exert opposing forces much better. Think about having a baseball in your hand and holding it tightly. Is someone really going to be able to knock it out of your hand just by slapping it?

Now realistically, I think the basketball is too big to ever get to that point - I've seen guys slap the ball out of Wilt's hand when he uses this sort of move, for example - but what you really want is to have enough grip so that you can maneuver the ball however you want without losing control simply do to slippage.

ok, I'm not fully sure I know what you aren't following in what I wrote but..

all I'm saying is that length comes into play more often in terms of fingers. More often I think its the fingers which are touching the ball or being used to do things like strip it or poke it out on defense. So finger length/strength would mean more on a court than hand width imo. Just as Karl Malone didn't have huge hands afaik but he was a guy known for having huge hand strength(which is to say it can translate in different ways). On offense I think we all agree it gives a guy more versatility and whatnot. So I just gave what I think are measurements which would be useful to have in that respect. I don't see us as actually arguing about anything here. Just expanding on how hand/finger size translates to usefulness on a bb court.

[Gregoire]

Hawkins, Leonard, MJ, Doctor J, Wilt, Shaq, Rondo ... are most notorious palmers ever...

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