Post#59 » by chefo » Fri Oct 4, 2019 5:57 pm
Over the years, I've met/run across several NBA players, and having played ball, I can probably guestimate what their true (shoeless) height is:
I'm 189.5cm (or a little less than 6'3 barefoot) and many guys listed as taller than me were often eye-to-eye with me or shorter.
JJ Reddick: 6'2
Tobias Harris: 6'6
Doug McDermott: 6'5-6'5.5
Elfrid Payton: 6'2 ... maybe he has grown because he was very young when I met him, but he was my height... including the hair
Chandler Parsons: a legit 6'7-6'8, and that was while he was in high-school, so he may have grown since
Some that lo longer play:
DeShawn Stevenson: 6'3 ... my height exactly, if I had to guess
Hedo: legit 6'10 or taller--dude is massive despite his posture and gut
Big Baby: 6'5... barely taller than me, but as wide as two of me, haha
Never met Dwight, but from up close, didn't look that tall--probably 6'8 or maybe 6'8.5; ridiculously wide and built though
Never met Vucevic either, but the opposite of Dwight--I think he's a legit 7' barefoot
From personal observations, many of the guys I've met or observed from fairly up-close are a good 2-3 inches shorter than listed. I remember being told that your spine compresses almost a centimeter or more over the day (or about half an inch)--you add some generous soles in the shoes, and it's not surprising that the playing heights are nowhere near barefoot heights.
I think the listed heights were more a marketing thing than anything, kind of like WWE light. I talked to Glenn Jacobs' (Kane from WWE) college coach and he told me that he was the most ridiculously gifted athlete he's ever seen, but he was 6'8 on a good day, and nowhere near 7' like his WWE height--but it sounds much more impressive. I think same thing is true for NBA players--you want giants playing ball not some 6'1 guys.
Anyhow, my 2c.