Kabookalu wrote:My Zion hot take is that he has young Jordan's athleticism, but is an inch taller and is in the body of a linebacker. It's not just the vertical, but the first step and body control. The hang time of Zion is magical. His first step, Jesus sometimes he looks like a glitch, it's surreal seeing a kid with his mass burst like that; it's at worst a top 3 quickest first step ever (Jordan and Iverson being the other contenders). Though it's the body control I draw the most parallels with Jordan. Zion never looks like he's ever going to trip over himself, and that's remarkable considering his body size and how explosive he is. Every time he does a spin move I always think he's going to succumb to his momentum and fall. Instead he's exploding off of the ground and finishing with ease. Vertical isn't that special in isolation if you can't keep your balance to make full use of it, and in basketball your balance is always going to be compromised. Zion can jump off the ground no matter how tangled his feet are and how much contact he took in the 5 seconds before.
My few posts in this topic have been fawning over Zion, but I really can't help it (and the Pelicans board is dead so there's nowhere else for me to go LOL). Zion is that special.
yup...people had no idea, just watch some highlight packages and pretend 'OH HE JUST A DUNKER' 'OH BUT CAN HE SHOOT'...we're talking about a top 3 gifted athlete to ever walk on the court, and I'm not talking about vertical, but speed, explosiveness, first step, balance, coordination, dude glides in the air...he's an anomaly, and add in the fact that he's a smart basketball player, team-first guy who does all the little things...and people had the audacity to compare him to Anthony Bennett earlier...just wild.
this guy is the real deal, as real as it gets people...he's headed for the top 15 all time barring god forbid injury.