NBA teams paying closer attention to players' wingspan. But when he was right man, was he right: At his peakthe 1976-77 season in which the Blazers won the title, and the 1977-78 campaign in which Portland was 50-10 when Walton broke his foot (he won MVP that year despite missing the final 22 games)Walton averaged 24.9 points, 18.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 3.8 blocks per 100 possessions. It was Burleson's tremendous wingspan clearing out underneath the basket that allowed Monte Towe and David Thompson to work their magic. Those who knew Walton the basketball player recognized him as a devastating force. The most accurate reports found that West had an 81 inch wingspan, which would translate to 6'9. But several NBA players pop off the chart because of their long arms. Happy Birthday Bill Walton: An Ode to the Tallest Deadhead. "I think it's something that makes a big difference, especially defensively," he said. A wingspan always helps people, whether its blocking shots or deflections on defense.. With the arrival of Ramsay from the Buffalo Braves, the Blazers built a precision offense around playmaker Lionel Hollins and the awesome frontcourt of Walton and intimidating Maurice Lucas. Its nothing that I heard about until I got to the league, or right before I got into the league, theyre like, Wed like to measure your wingspan. They dont really bring it up to us about that in college or high school.. People followed him on Twitter. I was born tall," he said. Warriors 7-foot center JaVale McGee went through only a handful of pre-draft workouts for NBA teams, hardly a prized prospect after a career at Nevada. But Walton can do it all.. I was born tall, he said. You make up a lot of ground. Most of us have the same wingspan as our height. In fact, some of them might have translated even better to todays leagueand might have been even more enjoyable to watch in the 2020 NBA than they were in their heyday. In the midst of those broadcasting days, Walton was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993. In the 1973 NCAA championship game against Memphis State, Walton made 21 of 22 shots and scored 44 points a performance considered by many to be the greatest ever in a Final Four game. Meg and Spanners also discuss Aston Martins positive press focusing on Fernando Alonso and touch on Ferraris consistent performance. In recent seasons, Warriors high-scoring All-Star Kevin Durant has become more determined to use his 7-5 wingspan to make more of an impact on defense. Its possible that version of Sabonis wouldnt be a generational sensation in the modern game. I was born tall, he said. Now, Im not saying that, if you plopped him into todays NBA, Memo would suddenly become the sort of 7-foot Steph you could build an offense around. Its not how big you are, its how big you play. It seems more likely that ONeal would still need to do the lions share of his damage within arms reach rather than suddenly developing a feathery touch from 23 feet. Offense 91. Its no coincidence that Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who stands 7-1 and led the NBA in blocks last season, has the longest wingspan in the league at 7 feet, 9 inches. The next day, the reporters ask me, You were at the Rockets game, what do you think? I told them, I think I could block four shots I saw.. The explosive Russell Westbrook is 6-3, with a wingspan of 6-8, which helps him be one of the best rebounding guards in history. The still bearded and ponytailed Walton put up 18.6 ppg. "Every asset that a player has might make up for something else. Id never had a player say anything like that to me before. But he had never coached Bill Walton. He wanted to be loved more than anything else, and yet he was convinced that nobody loves Goliath.. Im not as fast laterally, Im not as athletic, Im not as quick as guys up and down but I think I make up for it with my length, said Durant, a defensive player of the year candidate. It's no coincidence that Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who stands 7-1 and led the NBA in blocks last season, has the longest wingspan in the league at 7 feet, 9 inches. The Trail Blazers lost the series in six games and the services of Walton forever. The explosive Russell Westbrook is 6-3, with a wingspan of 6-8, which helps him be one of the best rebounding guards in history. They can control the basketball, they can do things with it. it maybe is Bill a little closer and gaining more height, there's other shots they look closer in team photos, or just general photos. Wingspan is one detail Warriors coach Steve Kerr takes seriously and might consider when deciding on lineups and rotations for the defending champions. OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Not until Nate McMillan began being fitted for custom-made suits a few years into his . Its legit. The NBA playoffs begin Saturday, and an extra inch of reach can lead to a blocked shot or steal that might alter a series or a season. 2x NCAA Tourney MOP. Theres a lot of guys, Draymond (Green) is the same way, small, undersized power forward but can guard plenty of guys because of his length. Then came the injuries. The former MVP has adapted and evolved to become an excellent conductor of Phillys offense. Bill Walton, Former ABC/ESPN/NBC Basketball Announcer, NBA All-Star Basketball Player, UCLA All-American, and one of the fifty greatest players in NBA history, provides a place to meet and greet fans. He has been going with a center by committee based on matchups. He is very tall with 6 feet and 11 inches height and his total body weight is 95 kg. Its much more important than your height, Kerr said. Its legit. Grammy Award-winning singer John Mayer talks about the influence Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton has had on him during guest appearance on 'Throw It Down . How much better could he have been before the injuries? Youre able to deflect the pass or block shots.. In an ESPN feature published earlier this year about the evolution of NBA big men, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said that if his notorious envelope-pushing team had ONeal on the roster, I would give him the ball 1,000 times, is my guess. Once he got it, keeping him from getting to the rimand from putting his man inside itwould be an awfully tall order, and would likely result in even more trips to the line for someone who averaged nearly 10 attempts per 36 minutes for his career. Yet each visit he made, among the first things measured was his wingspan, 7-6. My name is Giannis Antetokounmpo., Career (470 games, 1995-2003): 12.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.1 blocks per game, 50.0% FG, 32.8% 3FG, 78.6% FT. By the time Sabonis finally came to the NBA in 1995, he was already 31 years old with a pair of ruptured Achilles tendons and a litany of leg and groin injuries rendering him a pale imitation of what he once was. And the league rewarded him with the NBA Sixth Man Award, won by McHale the previous two seasons. Mehmet Okur (2002-12): At the risk of veering too close to the territory of scraping-the-barrel Twitter highlight videos about how this player in 2004 WAS A PROBLEM, there was absolutely a minute there where the Turkish shooter was somebody you didnt really want to see on the perimeter late in a tight game: The 6-foot-11, 250-pound Okur was a perfect pick-and-pop partner for Deron Williams in Utaha legitimate 3-point threat who could pull opposing centers away from the paint to create more room for D-Will drives, Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap post-ups, or whatever weird shit Andrei Kirilenko wanted to try. He played without pain for the first time in years, and he seemed happier than ever. A contemporary Walton would be free to act as the rising tide to lift all boats, to invert the offense and sling the ball around to the open man, and to hunt playmaking opportunities at least as often as he did his own shot. Once limited to descriptions of birds, wingspan has become one of the most important measurements for basketball prospects over the past decade. "You make up a lot of ground. Once limited to descriptions of birds, wingspan has become one of the most important measurements for basketball prospects over the past decade. Most of us have the same wingspan as our height. The wingspan sure helps a lot of people, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said . I'm a big believer in that.". When Bill Walton dominated at UCLA in the 1970s, no one ever measured his wingspan from fingertips to fingertips and arms outstretched. You look at size of hands, wingspans. Durant, the reigning NBA Finals MVP , is quick to point out that his length allows him to make up for other areas, including being far leaner than most NBA players. Warriors 7-foot center JaVale McGee went through only a handful of pre-draft workouts for NBA teams, hardly a prized prospect after a career at Nevada. That is not the case for young players. OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Not until Nate McMillan began being fitted for custom-made suits a few years into his NBA career three decades ago did he understand just how far his arms reached. "It's legit. Theres a lot of guys, Draymond (Green) is the same way, small, undersized power forward but can guard plenty of guys because of his length. How Tall Is Bill Walton? I would bring a little bit more physicality. Olajuwon had an excellent midrange game, with incredible touch on those turnarounds and fadeaways out of the block, and shot a crisp 50 percent between 16 feet and the arc during the 1998-99 season, his final healthy run before the wheels started to come off. In recent seasons, Warriors high-scoring All-Star Kevin Durant has become more determined to use his 7-5 wingspan to make more of an impact on defense. At 7-foot-1 with a reported 7-foot-8 wingspan and 9-foot-6 standing reach, having starred at both 250 pounds as a lithe rookie and a muscular 300-plus pounds during his latter years with the. The only thing Im supposed to know is how to put the ball through the hoop. There will be some statistical cherry-picking, because cherries are delicious, and there will be some decisions made purely on aesthetics, because we hold it as true that things that look dope should be prioritized. You look at size of hands, wingspans. Some of the best players Kerr faced had incredible reach. He was a perfectionist whose range of skills and dedication never ceased to impress those who saw him play. . During the season he was hampered only by a broken nose, the 13th of his 13-year career. In recent seasons, Warriors high-scoring All-Star Kevin Durant has become more determined to use his 7-5 wingspan to make more of an impact on defence. One of the benefits is his ability to corral and slam home lob passes that are high and might be off target. Combine that with what would assuredly be a significantly curtailed workload in the age of load managementWilt averaged an absurd 45.8 minutes per game for his careerand youll get fewer mythological stat lines. Defense 94. When Bill Walton dominated at UCLA in the 1970s, no one ever measured his wingspan from fingertips to fingertips and arms outstretched. At one time, they were long enough, and I can still put my own shoes and socks on, he quipped. Walton inducted himself About Us They can control the basketball, they can do things with it. It's no coincidence that Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who stands 7-1 and led the NBA in blocks last season, has the longest wingspan in the league at 7 feet, 9 inches. The average man has a wingspan about 2 inches more than his height. Once limited to descriptions of birds, wingspan has become one of the most important measurements for basketball prospects over the past decade. He would need to stay trim and explosive enough to cover a ton of ground, because you can bet that every modern offense would make it Job No. Raised in France, Gobert kept growing from ages 15-19. 6-11 , 210lb (211cm, 95kg) School: UCLA (Men) Draft: Portland Trail Blazers, 1st round (1st pick, 1st overall), 1974 NBA draft. Even if a contemporary Dream never stretched all the way out, though, we already know the best way to unleash him as a menace in a modern offense. maybe one of the few cases of someone being around that 7ft mark and just saying 6ft 11. "At one time, they were long enough, and I can still put my own shoes and socks on," he quipped. (Nearly.) Coaches marvel at players with long arms, figuring they will more easily grab rebounds, block shots, steal passes and shoot over defenders. But todays players arent the only ones with the right skills to tick those boxes; plenty of their predecessors could, too. Determined to get back into uniform, Walton ignored the skepticism of doctors who said he would never play again. Rewards Domination Rewards. Wingspan. Last, but certainly not least, for the Time Machine All-Stars: the men in the middle. He left the game with 6,215 points (13.3 ppg), 4,923 rebounds (10.5 rpg), and a .521 shooting percentage in 468 regular-season contests. Even if we set aside his infamous bedroom claimswhich, of course, we most certainly would notWilt still would be an object of unbridled fascination today. And they're able to get their hands on balls or shots or loose balls. Top NBA Duos, Bears No. A wingspan always helps people, whether its blocking shots or deflections on defense.. Wellat the risk of disrespecting a stand-up dude for the second time in the space of one columnlets ask David Robinson, against whom Sabonis held his own when the Soviet Union nearly knocked off Team USA in the gold-medal game of the 1986 FIBA World Championship, and when the USSR did defeat the Americans in the semifinals of the 1988 Summer Olympics (despite Sabonis playing shortly after recovering from his first Achilles rupture): Legendary big-man coach and talent evaluator Pete Newell told Sam Toperoff of The Atlantic Monthly in 1986 that he thought Sabonis could conceivably become the greatest player in the game and he would have taken the Lithuanian over Patrick Ewing in the 1985 draft if he had played for an American team. A half-century ago, Pink Floyd unleashed a classic that still lingers on the Billboard charts and in college dorms to this day. The wingspan sure helps a lot of people," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said . Durant, the reigning NBA Finals MVP , is quick to point out that his length allows him to make up for other areas, including being far leaner than most NBA players. Its like you went through MyCareer in NBA 2K and decided to never let any teammates rack up a single box score statisticonly it actually happened in real life, and it went on for about a decade and a half. 1 Pick, and QB Movement Updates With Jeff Darlington. Weve already covered point guard, shooting guard, small forward, and power forward. At one time, they were long enough, and I can still put my own shoes and socks on, he quipped. The cellar-dwelling Blazers had finished with the second-worst record in the league in 1973-74, and Portland fans were thrilled at the arrival of a potential franchise player. He didnt often hear the term wingspan, finally understanding how special his measurement is when he got to the NBA. 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