could elena delle donne play in the nba?

[Ecmic]

over the last 4 years she shot a combined 41% from 3. she's played 7 seasons. her rookie year she shot 43% from 3. her second year she missed a lot of time with injury and had a sub par 3 point shooting year for her. her third year was a great year overall but an outlier from 3 as she shot 31% from 3. so if you take her last four years and her rookie year from 3 she's at 41.8% for her career from 3 which is a more accurate estimate of how she really shoots from 3 when healthy.

in terms of her percentages going down based on history, i'm not sure what you are referring to, but let's compare her to curry. curry shot 41% from 3 in college. he shoots 43% from 3 in the nba. now i suspect the defense in the nba would lower her percentages, but if she's starting with a 41.8% and it gets knocked down to 39.8% because of nba defense that still makes her a roughly 40% 3 point shooter

I was referencing the trend that developed when the NBA moved the three point line to, basically, the WNBA’s current distance for a few years in the 90s.

The five year trend of ~33% three-point shooting prior to the relocation (with little variance) shot up to 36% basically overnight. That’s the most cut-and-dry, variable-controlled data we have for how distance affects percentage.

Move a 41.5% shooter at 22’2” back to 23’9”, and historical data shows they’re going to lose 2-3% on their shot. Factor in a transition from shooting against a WNBA defense to shooting against an NBA defense, and it’s more than reasonable to assume that Delle Donne would shoot somewhere in the range of 36-38% in the NBA.

My personal view is that’s still too rosy, but even still, it’s no where close to elite enough to cover for every other weakness.

you make a reasonable point. however i'll point to jeff hornacek (6'4" 190 compared to delle donne 6'5" 187), one of the best pure shooters of all time in the nba. in the 3 years when the nba 3 point line was shortened he shot 41.6% on 637 attempts and 43.8% on 346 attempts in the 3 years after the line was pushed back further. considering delle donne is one of the best pure shooters of all time i think that's a reasonable comparison

I mean, for every Hornacek there’s a counter in guys like Steve Kerr or John Stockton or Reggie Miller.

I see it as self-evident that the further away the three point line moves from the basket, the lower the percentage will be. This has historically been true for great shooters, mediocre shooters, and bad shooters. I don’t agree that outliers, like Hornacek, should be used for predictive purposes. There are outliers for everything. They’re usually not as instructive as are general trends informed by a much larger sample size of data.

Let me ask you - What would Curry's three point percentage be if he played in the WNBA next year?

[LKN]

Why are we debating the potential 3 point percentage of someone who would be lucky to even get a shot off against NBA defenders?

FFS people - this is like debating of some college football team could be a pro team - except its like 100x more ridiculous.

[Cal And Jay]

Let's cool some of these takes...I'm sure the best WNBA player could play in D1/D2 college ball....

That being said, I don't think so. Males are naturally athletically superior to females. Picking the best athletes and putting a great female athlete against them would only make it worse.

I do think that if there was a WNBA player that had a chance it would've been a Delle Donne/Griner hybrid.

Having played college myself, honestly this is a little misguided. She's a power forward at 6'5" and 187 pounds. The smallest starting power forwards even at the junior college level are 6'8" 230, and all of them have 30+ inch verts plus at least 3x the strength of Delladon. I don't think people understand how physical the college game is. Having played college myself at 6'5" 230 benching 15x225, and it was a death match in the paint. I think it's disrespectful to male college athletes to say this.

[MrDollarBills]

Why are we debating the potential 3 point percentage of someone who would be lucky to even get a shot off against NBA defenders?

FFS people - this is like debating of some college football team could be a pro team - except its like 100x more ridiculous.

How this is even still a discussion is baffling. The facts are the facts: the physical disparity between male and female pro ballers is too great of a hurdle for her to overcome. No, she cannot play in the NBA. Why people are even debating this is moronic.

Mean while, yes, she is one of the best women's basketball players of all time. I wish this thread would veer away from this idiotic topic and actually talk about how elite she is at the sport, or how she was taking a dump all over one of the best teams in the WNBA last night with some awesome footwork and shooting.

Just for once would I love to discuss women's basketball on here in a positive manner without crap like this. it's a shame, because if people actually sat down and watched her and her peers play it's some really good basketball.

[post]

I was referencing the trend that developed when the NBA moved the three point line to, basically, the WNBA’s current distance for a few years in the 90s.

The five year trend of ~33% three-point shooting prior to the relocation (with little variance) shot up to 36% basically overnight. That’s the most cut-and-dry, variable-controlled data we have for how distance affects percentage.

Move a 41.5% shooter at 22’2” back to 23’9”, and historical data shows they’re going to lose 2-3% on their shot. Factor in a transition from shooting against a WNBA defense to shooting against an NBA defense, and it’s more than reasonable to assume that Delle Donne would shoot somewhere in the range of 36-38% in the NBA.

My personal view is that’s still too rosy, but even still, it’s no where close to elite enough to cover for every other weakness.

you make a reasonable point. however i'll point to jeff hornacek (6'4" 190 compared to delle donne 6'5" 187), one of the best pure shooters of all time in the nba. in the 3 years when the nba 3 point line was shortened he shot 41.6% on 637 attempts and 43.8% on 346 attempts in the 3 years after the line was pushed back further. considering delle donne is one of the best pure shooters of all time i think that's a reasonable comparison

I mean, for every Hornacek there’s a counter in guys like Steve Kerr or John Stockton or Reggie Miller.

I see it as self-evident that the further away the three point line moves from the basket, the lower the percentage will be. This has historically been true for great shooters, mediocre shooters, and bad shooters. I don’t agree that outliers, like Hornacek, should be used for predictive purposes. There are outliers for everything. They’re usually not as instructive as are general trends informed by a much larger sample size of data.

Let me ask you - What would Curry's three point percentage be if he played in the WNBA next year?

hubert davis, second all time in 3 point percentage, shot 43.8% from 3 in the 3 years with a shorter line and 45.8% from 3 the next 3 years with a longer line

bj armstrong, 12th all time in 3 point percentage, shot 42% from 3 in the 3 years with a shorter line and 43.7% from 3 the 3 years before the line was shortened ( i used before since he only took 79 attempts in the 3 years after the line was put back to the longer distance)

reggie miller only improved by .8% in the 3 years with the shorter 3 point line

i'm comparing elite 3 point shooters to delle donne for predictive purposes since she's an elite 3 point shooter and you'd think elite 3 point shooters wouldn't be effected by distance as much. michael jordan went from 32% from 3 the 3 years before (didn't use 3 years after since he retired) the line was shortened to 40% from 3 the 3 years the line was shortened

if jeff hornacek, hubert davis, and bj armstrong can shoot better from 3 with a longer line it's at least conceivable delle donne could too

i don't know what curry would shoot from 3 in the wnba. i do know malachi richardson shoots exactly 30% from 3 in his pathetic nba career

[post]

Why are we debating the potential 3 point percentage of someone who would be lucky to even get a shot off against NBA defenders?

FFS people - this is like debating of some college football team could be a pro team - except its like 100x more ridiculous.

i'm sure there were people who thought manon rheaume would be lucky to stop a shot against the st. louis blues. yet she stopped 7 and brendan shanahan, a hall of famer, said he had to shoot it as hard as he possibly could to get it past her

Why are we debating the potential 3 point percentage of someone who would be lucky to even get a shot off against NBA defenders?

FFS people - this is like debating of some college football team could be a pro team - except its like 100x more ridiculous.

How this is even still a discussion is baffling. The facts are the facts: the physical disparity between male and female pro ballers is too great of a hurdle for her to overcome. No, she cannot play in the NBA. Why people are even debating this is moronic.

Mean while, yes, she is one of the best women's basketball players of all time. I wish this thread would veer away from this idiotic topic and actually talk about how elite she is at the sport, or how she was taking a dump all over one of the best teams in the WNBA last night with some awesome footwork and shooting.

Just for once would I love to discuss women's basketball on here in a positive manner without crap like this. it's a shame, because if people actually sat down and watched her and her peers play it's some really good basketball.

i'm being positive. i've said delle donne's the wnba goat and i'm considering whether she could play in the best men's basketball league in the world. to even consider the possibility is to give her enormous respect

[Clyde Frazier]

Seriously, how is this thread still going?

[Other than the fact that FIBA is over and we're still over 2 weeks away from preseason]

[dhsilv2]

Why are we debating the potential 3 point percentage of someone who would be lucky to even get a shot off against NBA defenders?

FFS people - this is like debating of some college football team could be a pro team - except its like 100x more ridiculous.

i'm sure there were people who thought manon rheaume would be lucky to stop a shot against the st. louis blues. yet she stopped 7 and brendan shanahan, a hall of famer, said he had to shoot it as hard as he possibly could to get it past her

Why are we debating the potential 3 point percentage of someone who would be lucky to even get a shot off against NBA defenders?

FFS people - this is like debating of some college football team could be a pro team - except its like 100x more ridiculous.

How this is even still a discussion is baffling. The facts are the facts: the physical disparity between male and female pro ballers is too great of a hurdle for her to overcome. No, she cannot play in the NBA. Why people are even debating this is moronic.

Mean while, yes, she is one of the best women's basketball players of all time. I wish this thread would veer away from this idiotic topic and actually talk about how elite she is at the sport, or how she was taking a dump all over one of the best teams in the WNBA last night with some awesome footwork and shooting.

Just for once would I love to discuss women's basketball on here in a positive manner without crap like this. it's a shame, because if people actually sat down and watched her and her peers play it's some really good basketball.

i'm being positive. i've said delle donne's the wnba goat and i'm considering whether she could play in the best men's basketball league in the world. to even consider the possibility is to give her enormous respect

Which makes a lot of us think you're a bit insane man(girl?). You posted some really interesting stuff on the free throw shooting which doesn't make a lot of sense to me but I'll accept it and I'm wrong there. She still can't defend at the worst of all time nba level. I just can't stress enough how that is the end all be all here. Horrible defenders are still light years better than she could ever be. That is simply put the only discussion on a woman in 2019 that should be had. Doesn't matter how good she is elsewhere, can she not be a -20 defender per 100? She'd be so bad I'm not sure nba player would even notice the difference in her there and 4 on 5.

[Dominator83]

Why are we debating the potential 3 point percentage of someone who would be lucky to even get a shot off against NBA defenders?

FFS people - this is like debating of some college football team could be a pro team - except its like 100x more ridiculous.

How this is even still a discussion is baffling. The facts are the facts: the physical disparity between male and female pro ballers is too great of a hurdle for her to overcome. No, she cannot play in the NBA. Why people are even debating this is moronic.

Mean while, yes, she is one of the best women's basketball players of all time. I wish this thread would veer away from this idiotic topic and actually talk about how elite she is at the sport, or how she was taking a dump all over one of the best teams in the WNBA last night with some awesome footwork and shooting.

Just for once would I love to discuss women's basketball on here in a positive manner without crap like this. it's a shame, because if people actually sat down and watched her and her peers play it's some really good basketball.

And my team just gave her away

If the WNBA was actually talked about and included in the main sports, that trade would be talked about as being up there with the worst all time in the history of american sports

[post]

Why are we debating the potential 3 point percentage of someone who would be lucky to even get a shot off against NBA defenders?

FFS people - this is like debating of some college football team could be a pro team - except its like 100x more ridiculous.

i'm sure there were people who thought manon rheaume would be lucky to stop a shot against the st. louis blues. yet she stopped 7 and brendan shanahan, a hall of famer, said he had to shoot it as hard as he possibly could to get it past her

How this is even still a discussion is baffling. The facts are the facts: the physical disparity between male and female pro ballers is too great of a hurdle for her to overcome. No, she cannot play in the NBA. Why people are even debating this is moronic.

Mean while, yes, she is one of the best women's basketball players of all time. I wish this thread would veer away from this idiotic topic and actually talk about how elite she is at the sport, or how she was taking a dump all over one of the best teams in the WNBA last night with some awesome footwork and shooting.

Just for once would I love to discuss women's basketball on here in a positive manner without crap like this. it's a shame, because if people actually sat down and watched her and her peers play it's some really good basketball.

i'm being positive. i've said delle donne's the wnba goat and i'm considering whether she could play in the best men's basketball league in the world. to even consider the possibility is to give her enormous respect

Which makes a lot of us think you're a bit insane man(girl?). You posted some really interesting stuff on the free throw shooting which doesn't make a lot of sense to me but I'll accept it and I'm wrong there. She still can't defend at the worst of all time nba level. I just can't stress enough how that is the end all be all here. Horrible defenders are still light years better than she could ever be. That is simply put the only discussion on a woman in 2019 that should be had. Doesn't matter how good she is elsewhere, can she not be a -20 defender per 100? She'd be so bad I'm not sure nba player would even notice the difference in her there and 4 on 5.

can't say what her defensive stats would be. in the wnba she has a career 101 defensive rating and has been sub 100 3 times with a peak of 96. grayson allen has a 111 defensive rating and malachi richardson has a 113 defensive rating. trae young is 117, but at least he has nba scoring and passing. just read malachi richardson signed to play in israel. it took the nba 3 years to figure out he had nba nothing

[Simmons25]

Seriously, how is this thread still going?

[Other than the fact that FIBA is over and we're still over 2 weeks away from preseason]

The only thing I could think would be less ridiculous would be asking if the US Wheelchair basketball players could make the NBA... and even then I think they'd play better defense than the WNBA.

[post]

Seriously, how is this thread still going?

[Other than the fact that FIBA is over and we're still over 2 weeks away from preseason]

The only thing I could think would be less ridiculous would be asking if the US Wheelchair basketball players could make the NBA... and even then I think they'd play better defense than the WNBA.

delle donne in a wheelchair > a lot of nba players in a wheelchair

[Ecmic]

you make a reasonable point. however i'll point to jeff hornacek (6'4" 190 compared to delle donne 6'5" 187), one of the best pure shooters of all time in the nba. in the 3 years when the nba 3 point line was shortened he shot 41.6% on 637 attempts and 43.8% on 346 attempts in the 3 years after the line was pushed back further. considering delle donne is one of the best pure shooters of all time i think that's a reasonable comparison

I mean, for every Hornacek there’s a counter in guys like Steve Kerr or John Stockton or Reggie Miller.

I see it as self-evident that the further away the three point line moves from the basket, the lower the percentage will be. This has historically been true for great shooters, mediocre shooters, and bad shooters. I don’t agree that outliers, like Hornacek, should be used for predictive purposes. There are outliers for everything. They’re usually not as instructive as are general trends informed by a much larger sample size of data.

Let me ask you - What would Curry's three point percentage be if he played in the WNBA next year?

hubert davis, second all time in 3 point percentage, shot 43.8% from 3 in the 3 years with a shorter line and 45.8% from 3 the next 3 years with a longer line

bj armstrong, 12th all time in 3 point percentage, shot 42% from 3 in the 3 years with a shorter line and 43.7% from 3 the 3 years before the line was shortened ( i used before since he only took 79 attempts in the 3 years after the line was put back to the longer distance)

reggie miller only improved by .8% in the 3 years with the shorter 3 point line

i'm comparing elite 3 point shooters to delle donne for predictive purposes since she's an elite 3 point shooter and you'd think elite 3 point shooters wouldn't be effected by distance as much. michael jordan went from 32% from 3 the 3 years before (didn't use 3 years after since he retired) the line was shortened to 40% from 3 the 3 years the line was shortened

if jeff hornacek, hubert davis, and bj armstrong can shoot better from 3 with a longer line it's at least conceivable delle donne could too

i don't know what curry would shoot from 3 in the wnba. i do know malachi richardson shoots exactly 30% from 3 in his pathetic nba career

Elite three point shooters (cutoff top 100 all time) shot on average 1.9% worse when the line returned to its old distance in 1997.

In all statistical likelihood, Delle Donne, like most elite NBA shooters, would shoot worse at the farther distance, controlling for all other variables (as if that were even possible).

[dhsilv2]

Seriously, how is this thread still going?

[Other than the fact that FIBA is over and we're still over 2 weeks away from preseason]

The only thing I could think would be less ridiculous would be asking if the US Wheelchair basketball players could make the NBA... and even then I think they'd play better defense than the WNBA.

delle donne in a wheelchair > a lot of nba players in a wheelchair

You think without her LEGS she'd be able to compete with men? You realize that upper body strength is the biggest gap between men and women, RIGHT?

[dhsilv2]

i'm sure there were people who thought manon rheaume would be lucky to stop a shot against the st. louis blues. yet she stopped 7 and brendan shanahan, a hall of famer, said he had to shoot it as hard as he possibly could to get it past her



i'm being positive. i've said delle donne's the wnba goat and i'm considering whether she could play in the best men's basketball league in the world. to even consider the possibility is to give her enormous respect

Which makes a lot of us think you're a bit insane man(girl?). You posted some really interesting stuff on the free throw shooting which doesn't make a lot of sense to me but I'll accept it and I'm wrong there. She still can't defend at the worst of all time nba level. I just can't stress enough how that is the end all be all here. Horrible defenders are still light years better than she could ever be. That is simply put the only discussion on a woman in 2019 that should be had. Doesn't matter how good she is elsewhere, can she not be a -20 defender per 100? She'd be so bad I'm not sure nba player would even notice the difference in her there and 4 on 5.

can't say what her defensive stats would be. in the wnba she has a career 101 defensive rating and has been sub 100 3 times with a peak of 96. grayson allen has a 111 defensive rating and malachi richardson has a 113 defensive rating. trae young is 117, but at least he has nba scoring and passing. just read malachi richardson signed to play in israel. it took the nba 3 years to figure out he had nba nothing

What possible value would her defensive rating matter? Lets go with maybe she'd have a rating of 195 just due to men likely taking it easier on her.

[post]

I mean, for every Hornacek there’s a counter in guys like Steve Kerr or John Stockton or Reggie Miller.

I see it as self-evident that the further away the three point line moves from the basket, the lower the percentage will be. This has historically been true for great shooters, mediocre shooters, and bad shooters. I don’t agree that outliers, like Hornacek, should be used for predictive purposes. There are outliers for everything. They’re usually not as instructive as are general trends informed by a much larger sample size of data.

Let me ask you - What would Curry's three point percentage be if he played in the WNBA next year?

hubert davis, second all time in 3 point percentage, shot 43.8% from 3 in the 3 years with a shorter line and 45.8% from 3 the next 3 years with a longer line

bj armstrong, 12th all time in 3 point percentage, shot 42% from 3 in the 3 years with a shorter line and 43.7% from 3 the 3 years before the line was shortened ( i used before since he only took 79 attempts in the 3 years after the line was put back to the longer distance)

reggie miller only improved by .8% in the 3 years with the shorter 3 point line

i'm comparing elite 3 point shooters to delle donne for predictive purposes since she's an elite 3 point shooter and you'd think elite 3 point shooters wouldn't be effected by distance as much. michael jordan went from 32% from 3 the 3 years before (didn't use 3 years after since he retired) the line was shortened to 40% from 3 the 3 years the line was shortened

if jeff hornacek, hubert davis, and bj armstrong can shoot better from 3 with a longer line it's at least conceivable delle donne could too

i don't know what curry would shoot from 3 in the wnba. i do know malachi richardson shoots exactly 30% from 3 in his pathetic nba career

Elite three point shooters (cutoff top 100 all time) shot on average 1.9% worse when the line returned to its old distance in 1997.

In all statistical likelihood, Delle Donne, like most elite NBA shooters, would shoot worse at the farther distance, controlling for all other variables (as if that were even possible).

34 out of the top 100 in 3 point percentage played in both 96-97, the last year with the short 3 point line, and in 97-98, the first year they put the 3 point line back to the longer distance

in 96-97 those 34 players shot a combined 3435 out of 8631 which is 39.79%

in 97-98 those 34 players shot a combined 3070 out of 7180 which is 42.75 %

so those 34 players shot 2.96% higher at the longer distance nba 3 compared to the shorter distance nba 3 which was wnba distance

in all statistical likelihood delle donne's 3 point percentage would increase 2.96% if she played with a longer 3 point line

[post]

The only thing I could think would be less ridiculous would be asking if the US Wheelchair basketball players could make the NBA... and even then I think they'd play better defense than the WNBA.

delle donne in a wheelchair > a lot of nba players in a wheelchair

You think without her LEGS she'd be able to compete with men? You realize that upper body strength is the biggest gap between men and women, RIGHT?

1. it was a joke

2. to the extent i was trying to make a serious point, the wheelchair is a metaphor for eliminating any athletic and strength advantages men have and what you are left with is delle donne being the superior player

Which makes a lot of us think you're a bit insane man(girl?). You posted some really interesting stuff on the free throw shooting which doesn't make a lot of sense to me but I'll accept it and I'm wrong there. She still can't defend at the worst of all time nba level. I just can't stress enough how that is the end all be all here. Horrible defenders are still light years better than she could ever be. That is simply put the only discussion on a woman in 2019 that should be had. Doesn't matter how good she is elsewhere, can she not be a -20 defender per 100? She'd be so bad I'm not sure nba player would even notice the difference in her there and 4 on 5.

can't say what her defensive stats would be. in the wnba she has a career 101 defensive rating and has been sub 100 3 times with a peak of 96. grayson allen has a 111 defensive rating and malachi richardson has a 113 defensive rating. trae young is 117, but at least he has nba scoring and passing. just read malachi richardson signed to play in israel. it took the nba 3 years to figure out he had nba nothing

What possible value would her defensive rating matter? Lets go with maybe she'd have a rating of 195 just due to men likely taking it easier on her.

i don't expect her defensive rating to stay the same in the nba. neither would her 7 rebound per game and 1.6 blocks per game wnba average stay the same. i'm merely providing the data i know

brendan shanahan certainly didn't take it easy on manon rheaume

[mtron929]

I suspect that if a WNBA player can play/compete in the NBA without it being a gimmick, she would know. And everyone else would know. Players/coaches can tell after some practices/scrimmages roughly who can be in the NBA game without it being an embarrassment. And if a woman player can even be a 11-12th person on the team, she would do so as it would benefit her financially (she would probably make 10x what she makes from her current WNBA salary with just the endorsement), and she would also be a historical figure.

[Sulico]

Thats a legit question though. Scientists discovered that female core body temperature is slightly higher than male. So she would be warming bench to slightly higher degree than male bench warmers.
Also female pelvis is larger and broader, so the area of the bench she could warm is bigger.
Considering this I think some team should sign her.

[pilkoids]

If a woman someday plays in the NBA, that's the day the rules change to make it a completely contactless sport. Heck, calling it a "sport" at that point would even be a reach.