Kobe's hand size vs Jordan's hand size

[Volcano]

Do small hands really make THAT much of a difference?

Nash's hands shouldn't be that much larger than Kobe's right? But Nash is a better shooter (just not at contested shots), passer, ball handler and he's a pretty decent finisher as well for someone who can't get up. Come to think of it..it seems like Nash has more offensive talent than Kobe..just not as much size and athleticism.

[NO-KG-AI]

Nash has as much offensive skill as anyone, his shooting is phenomenal, he can make ridiculous passes with either hand, he never loses his dribble, he hits the weirdest angles of shots... if you put him in a 6'6 athletic frame, he'd be the GOAT offensively

[Cigamodnalro]

It's not the size of your hands that counts. It's how you use them. Michael Jordan uses his hands better than Kobe does.

[MasterRyu]

I don't think the smaller hands will effect jumpshots. Look at the smaller guys in the NBA, they tend to be the best shooters. However, I do think having bigger hands give you better control of the ball while driving in and finishing (including dunks). Jordan could palm the ball with ease. He could do the famous under the basket sideway reversal, which Kobe can never do. I think it all has to do with Kobe's hands. Yes Jordan was more athletic than Kobe (not by much) and having larger hands contribute to that athleticism.

Still you gott give it up to Kobe for being to pull amazing shots around the basket even with small hands. He has to use both hands for a lot of them, but that's what the offhand is for.

[DaRkJaWs42]

Hand size was indeed important, as it could determine what you could or couldn't do with a basketball. MJ is a good example, and an even better example was Wilt Chamberlain, who could grip 2 bowling balls easily without having any of his fingers in any of the holes. I think it's no accident that MJ and Wilt are(not only due to their respective athleticisms but their hand size) frequently listed as GOAT by most people.

[DEEP3CL]

Do small hands really make THAT much of a difference?

Nash's hands shouldn't be that much larger than Kobe's right? But Nash is a better shooter (just not at contested shots), passer, ball handler and he's a pretty decent finisher as well for someone who can't get up. Come to think of it..it seems like Nash has more offensive talent than Kobe..just not as much size and athleticism.

You can't be serious right ? Nash a better offensive player than Kobe ? Wow this summer is going to be full of sigs.

[markjay]

I didn't follow basketball closely enough during MJ's career to compare the two, but it wasn't until this thread that I realized how impressive Kobe's prime scoring was, compared, for example, to MJ's. Following some points raised in this thread, I looked up team scoring averages during the two eras. They were considerably higher when MJ played. Just to take the two players highest scoring years as an example, MJ scored 37.1 ppg in 1986-1987, when teams were averaging 109.9 ppg. In contrast, Kobe scored 35.4 ppg in 2005-2006, when teams were averaging 97.1 ppg.

Or, to put it another way:
MJ: 37.1/109.9 = 0.337579618
Kobe: 35.4/97.1 = 0.364572606

Kobe's "ratio," based on 109.9 points per game, would have equaled 40.1 ppg.

Again, this is slightly off topic from the perspective of hand size, and I realize this is just one stat out of many that can be compared, but it was a new realization to me so I couldn't resist sharing it.

[Rerisen]

MJ's team scored under league average in 87, Kobe's team over league average in 06. Kobe also played more minutes per game. So that makes all the above numbers misleading.

The general trend is also that when pace slows down, volume scorers take more shots as a percentage of their team's total. So its a bad assumption to think individual scoring would scale up in direct proportion with team possessions.

(Just noticed this was a 2 year bump... to go off topic?)

[Cpt Lebyadkin]

I couldn't resist...





Phil's index finger is larger than Kobe's entire hand.

[Shot Clock]

This hands thing is just a way for the Kobe acolytes to explain away his inferiority and base it on god given physical abilities. He just wasn't as good, bigger hands would not have enabled him to play smarter vs Detroit for instance.

Shaq has huge hands. Didn't help him with his shooting.

[8 Mile Ilic]

Jordan was more athletic than Kobe and had bigger hands. He had better physical attributes in general.

If you look at the talent to game ratio Kobe is obviously more impressive since he had significantly less natural talent but still managed to play a big game, but obviously Jordan > Kobe.

To argue otherwise would being the same as saying Jordan could have got it done by himself (which he couldn't because he never won a playoff series without Pippen).

[USA]

Jordan did have bigger hands than Kobe and it did make a difference. Kobe could only dream of doing stuff like this. Jordan did this stuff quite often.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzqkGvr-3F8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEKbNLVLTFc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG0NoJDJHHc

Jordan was also more athletic and naturally gifted than Kobe but I think the biggest difference between the two was decision making. I do believe with better on court decision making, Kobe could of rivaled Jordan in just about everything.

[Kobe 24 Revis]

After reading this thread ill never look at Kobe's hands the same way again

[Vincent 666]

Jordans had size is a pretty big advantage he had on Bryant.

It allowed him to fully extend his arm/elbow when he finished at the rim in a way that Bryant cant. When Bryant takes the ball to the rim and tires to finish, his elbow is bent because hes cant palm the ball off the dribble the way Jordan could. When Jordan took the ball to the rim, at the point of his elevation, his elbow was fully straight meaning he could hold the ball higher over his head than Bryant because of his hand size/palming ability.

Tremendous advantage when finishing around the rim.

Jordans hand size essentially allowed Jordan to be taller than Bryant around the rim.

[Shot Clock]

Jordans had size is a pretty big advantage he had on Bryant.

It allowed him to fully extend his arm/elbow when he finished at the rim in a way that Bryant cant. When Bryant takes the ball to the rim and tires to finish, his elbow is bent because hes cant palm the ball off the dribble the way Jordan could.

Tremendous advantage when finishing around the rim.

Jordans hand size essentially allowed Jordan to be taller than Bryant around the rim.

Just go google Kobe dunk and see how many straight arm dunks you get.

[Vincent 666]

I dont need to use google.

Ive seen Bryant play almost every single game of his career.

Bryant not being able to palm the ball is a big disadvantage compared to someone who can when finishing around the rim.

I dont see how or why someone would argue against that.

[Vincent 666]

Jordans had size is a pretty big advantage he had on Bryant.

It allowed him to fully extend his arm/elbow when he finished at the rim in a way that Bryant cant. When Bryant takes the ball to the rim and tires to finish, his elbow is bent because hes cant palm the ball off the dribble the way Jordan could.

Tremendous advantage when finishing around the rim.

Jordans hand size essentially allowed Jordan to be taller than Bryant around the rim.

Just go google Kobe dunk and see how many straight arm dunks you get.

Look at Bryant wrist on the pic. Its not a full extention because he isnt palming the ball the way Jordan could.

And open court dunks are different than dunks/finishing at the rim in the half court in traffic.

[USA]

It is clear as day to anyone who was old enough to watch Jordan and Kobe that Jordan could palm the ball easier and control it better than Kobe. There is no argument for Kobe in that department. It is just a fact of life, not a knock on Kobe.

[pancakes3]

i think it's even plainer to anyone old enough to watch both guys play that hand size takes a pretty far back seat to other advantages such as quickness (that first step is killer), quickness (5'6 agility for a 6'6 body), post game (a spin move that gives the black tornado a run for its money - ask Ewing), etc.

[JordansBulls]

Someone bumped a thread from 2 years ago?