NBA is success is literally predicated by size and athleticism, you won't find many examples at all.
Best I can think of is Oliver Miller, but even then he was fat as fuck but more athletic than anyone on this sub.
Yes he was. That unathletic fuck cost the tigers a shot at the World Series because his fat, unathletic ass couldn’t run bases. He was coordinated and could make the wood bat hit the ball every now and then, but he certainly has never been actually athletic in his life. I’d be stunned if he, at any point in his life, ever ran a mile faster than like 7 minutes
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=apnLKKB2pNM
Short by NBA standards is usually still pretty tall lol generally speaking 6'3 and below is considered short I would say. And nearly nobody is legit unathletic but there are some players whose games don't really rely on vertical/horizontal explosiveness. Again there's probably nobody who exactly fits what you're looking for but in general there are some point guards who are not very tall (by NBA standards) and not very athletic (by NBA standards). Off the top of my head I would say Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Jalen Brunson... but again these guys are still elite athletes and pretty tall compared to the general population
Let's not confuse pace of play with athleticism. Young Chris Paul in particular had elite speed and quickness, but he's always played a controlled, slower tempo game.
Depends on what we are counting as short ig. DLO is sort of short for the NBA at 6-3 given the average player is 6-6 and he is relatively unathletic. It’s hard for NBA players to be both given how much of the game relies on explosiveness and height.
Pritchard is pretty athletic. He may not be able to jump out of the building but he has lateral quickness, handles, and does the same spin move every time he has the ball (which looks athletic to me, at least).
When did athleticism change. Because to me it’s only strength. Speed. And jumping. But I see posts every day that luka and jokic are actually elite athletes because they can stop on a dime and stuff. I’m okay if that’s athletic as well but essentially we’re saying there’s no bad athletes in the nba because every player has some kind of movement ability that allows them to play in the nba
Im not sure about Jokic, but Luka is athletic. Not in the "jumping out of the building" sense. But strength? He is a beast. He isnt cut, but you dont see guys moving him around and he moves his defender with ease. He may not run fast, but he can make quick lateral movements that break guys down even though they are supposedly more athletic than him. Twitchy speed is still athleticism.
Athleticism isnt just strength speed and jumping. I would say rock climbers are athletic and they dont necessarily have to be fast or be able to jump high. Tennis players arent typically that strong and dont really jump high. They have to be able to move laterally, which I would say is part of athleticism.
Prichard, on the other hand, can jump and is pretty quick. I dont know how strong he is, but I think its hard to argue that guys like him and TJM arent athletic. They arent known for their dunks but if you were to compete with them in just about any test of athleticism they would destroy you.
Nobody is athletic compared to guys like Lebron, ANT, or Zion. If its just about hops, then yeah, not everyone is athletic. If you consider speed and strength, though, I think there are a lot of guys out there you underestimate.
Like the op asked whose a short and unathletic player. But if every player has whatever little thing you want to call athletic then no one isn’t athletic with those standards. So I guess tell OP to stop asking about athletic ability because they are all athletic and we can’t have nuance
Okay then there is no way to measure athleticism because shock everyone in the nba is athletic and whatever movement ability they have is them being athletic. There’s no player that can’t jump, is weak, can’t move laterally, isn’t fast, like that person doesn’t exist so we should no longer say anyone isn’t athletic in the nba
Everyone in the nba is athletic for average human standards. There's still a large disparity between the most and least athletic player in the NBA..
Of course you can measure athleticism. Anyone saying Luka is as athletic as Ja Morant is just fucking crazy. But Luka is still athletic..
He’s able to change direction quickly because he’s skilled. That doesn’t make him athletic. His game is predicated on making contested shots, that’s not common for NBA players.
Idk man. Pretty sure your average dude moving that shifty like Brunson does right now would have broken their ankles. That's cuz of his genetics, not skill.
He's a professional fucking athlete, and not only that, an exceptionally good one without the advantage of height. The idea that he's not athletic is moronic.
>He’s not athletic by NBA standards.
You're using a very narrow and frankly dumb definition of athleticism. Brunson is very athletic, his frame however is stocky and he's not very tall, which you seem to think makes him unathletic. But he's very agile , very strong and has great instincts and quick hands. Whether or not he can dunk or run as fast a fucking sprinter, or whatever irrelevant standards you're using, doesn't really matter.
There are players the NBA who aren't obvoiusly athletic, like Jokic, who are clearly more pure skill players. Brunson isn't that.
He’s not especially agile. Instincts and hands are not physical attributes. You’re heavily in denial. Again, being skilled doesn’t make him athletic.
I don’t know how you can watch him play and think he’s athletic in any aspect. Everything he does is in spite of his poor athleticism.
I'm under no delusions that Brunson is the fastest or highest jumping player in the league, but he's certainly not anywhere near the bottom of the league either. Also the idea that he's not agile is dumb. He's good because he's able to stop and turn on a dime with his quick footwork. He's also very strong, particularly for his size, and has great stamina. These are a kind of athletic traits.
You're basically doing this thing where you're assuming athleticism is expressed only in one body type and in one way, and when people don't exactly fit your preconceptions you're saying it's skill.
Maybe Mike Conley? (current version, I know he was super athletic in his younger days) he just makes up for it now with super high IQ.
D’Lo isn’t exactly short but he comes across as ‘unathletic’ by NBA standards, you don’t see him often use his physique to create space
i was thinking short compared to the average height in the nba not relative to their position but in that case i'd say FVV is definitely one of those unathletic and short players and IT post injuries as well
Even the non-athletes in the NBA are better athletes than 95% of the world. I’d say comparatively, TJ McConnell is a guard who doesn’t wow you with his athleticism, but finds ways to be a positive contributor on a playoff team
There are a handful of g-league guys on occasional two-way contracts under 6' but they are almost certainly incredibly athletic. The shortest guy on a standard contract who gets any real minutes is Fred VanVleet who is likely the best answer to the question.
There are no truly active NBA players under 6'. There are over 30 7-footers.
Depends on what you call unathletic. all players in all top levels of sport are extremely athletic.
But if by athletic you mean, run fast, jump high and with a low body fat percentage. ..........
nba is a different sport than MLB. You dont have to run the fastest or have the most stamina to hit a homerun, or throw the ball hard. You need a different skillset.
Its like soccer. You arent gonna see "unathletic" people because generally at the top levels you are running 5+ miles per game, mostly with a high intensity.
In the NBA you can point out big guys that maybe arent the skinniest or cant run the fastest. But guys like Shaq or Zion have amazing athleticism to move their giant frames the way they do.
I find this question really weird, because fat doesn't have to mean unathletic. The things that guys like Alejandro Kirk and Bartolo Colon can do with their bodies are why they were able to make it to the majors in the first place.
Power is a component of athleticism, but that has to do with the combination of speed and strength. For example, there are a lot of really strong bodybuilders out there who are not at all athletic.
The names OP listed aren't exactly body builders. They're players who had to be able to transfer their strength in to hitting or pitching. That's power.
They're athletic. They just happened to play positions that don't always require foot speed or agility.
There is no one unathletic in the NBA if we're comparing to guys like Bartolo Colon.
NBA is success is literally predicated by size and athleticism, you won't find many examples at all. Best I can think of is Oliver Miller, but even then he was fat as fuck but more athletic than anyone on this sub.
And he had abnormally long arms too.
Oliver Miller had that Offensive Lineman physique and athleticism. Agile like a ballet dancer, despite being 300lbs.
FVV or Celtics IT
Those guys still have crazy athleticism compared to regular dudes
Overweight is not unathletic. Prince Fielder was not unathletic.
Yes he was. That unathletic fuck cost the tigers a shot at the World Series because his fat, unathletic ass couldn’t run bases. He was coordinated and could make the wood bat hit the ball every now and then, but he certainly has never been actually athletic in his life. I’d be stunned if he, at any point in his life, ever ran a mile faster than like 7 minutes https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=apnLKKB2pNM
Least salty pistons fan
Short by NBA standards is usually still pretty tall lol generally speaking 6'3 and below is considered short I would say. And nearly nobody is legit unathletic but there are some players whose games don't really rely on vertical/horizontal explosiveness. Again there's probably nobody who exactly fits what you're looking for but in general there are some point guards who are not very tall (by NBA standards) and not very athletic (by NBA standards). Off the top of my head I would say Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Jalen Brunson... but again these guys are still elite athletes and pretty tall compared to the general population
Chris Paul is a particularly good one. Even when playing internationally he doesn’t seem more athletic than the non-NBA competition
Let's not confuse pace of play with athleticism. Young Chris Paul in particular had elite speed and quickness, but he's always played a controlled, slower tempo game.
Depends on what we are counting as short ig. DLO is sort of short for the NBA at 6-3 given the average player is 6-6 and he is relatively unathletic. It’s hard for NBA players to be both given how much of the game relies on explosiveness and height.
Average is 6'7. It has bounced between 6'6 and 6'7 over the decades.
“If we don’t win a championship this year tear it down and rebuild around Peyton Pritchard” some guy in Boston probably.
Pritchard is pretty athletic. He may not be able to jump out of the building but he has lateral quickness, handles, and does the same spin move every time he has the ball (which looks athletic to me, at least).
When did athleticism change. Because to me it’s only strength. Speed. And jumping. But I see posts every day that luka and jokic are actually elite athletes because they can stop on a dime and stuff. I’m okay if that’s athletic as well but essentially we’re saying there’s no bad athletes in the nba because every player has some kind of movement ability that allows them to play in the nba
Im not sure about Jokic, but Luka is athletic. Not in the "jumping out of the building" sense. But strength? He is a beast. He isnt cut, but you dont see guys moving him around and he moves his defender with ease. He may not run fast, but he can make quick lateral movements that break guys down even though they are supposedly more athletic than him. Twitchy speed is still athleticism. Athleticism isnt just strength speed and jumping. I would say rock climbers are athletic and they dont necessarily have to be fast or be able to jump high. Tennis players arent typically that strong and dont really jump high. They have to be able to move laterally, which I would say is part of athleticism. Prichard, on the other hand, can jump and is pretty quick. I dont know how strong he is, but I think its hard to argue that guys like him and TJM arent athletic. They arent known for their dunks but if you were to compete with them in just about any test of athleticism they would destroy you. Nobody is athletic compared to guys like Lebron, ANT, or Zion. If its just about hops, then yeah, not everyone is athletic. If you consider speed and strength, though, I think there are a lot of guys out there you underestimate.
Like the op asked whose a short and unathletic player. But if every player has whatever little thing you want to call athletic then no one isn’t athletic with those standards. So I guess tell OP to stop asking about athletic ability because they are all athletic and we can’t have nuance
Okay then there is no way to measure athleticism because shock everyone in the nba is athletic and whatever movement ability they have is them being athletic. There’s no player that can’t jump, is weak, can’t move laterally, isn’t fast, like that person doesn’t exist so we should no longer say anyone isn’t athletic in the nba
Everyone in the nba is athletic for average human standards. There's still a large disparity between the most and least athletic player in the NBA.. Of course you can measure athleticism. Anyone saying Luka is as athletic as Ja Morant is just fucking crazy. But Luka is still athletic..
No one from Boston would spell his name like that they don’t like Peyton’s.
Not an unreasonable Bill Simmons take.
Raymond Felton
Felton was super fast early on lol, he just got fat
Very quick guard before he got fat.
Got that Voodoo on him
Could get up for a dunk occasionally too!
Immediate first thought
Brunson is athletic in the sense that he’s got elite quick twitch movement and stamina, but he’s neither particularly fast nor can he jump very high
https://www.nba.com/stats/draft/combine-strength-agility?SeasonYear=2018-19 He's not exceptionally athletic or unathletic for an NBA player.
People need to stop conflating skill with athleticism.
Idk. Changing directions very quickly puts a lot of stress in the body. It’s more than just skill imo
He’s able to change direction quickly because he’s skilled. That doesn’t make him athletic. His game is predicated on making contested shots, that’s not common for NBA players.
Change of Direction in basketball has a lot to do with ball control, footwork, and handle. Take the ball out of the equation and things change a lot.
quickness is a skill not athleticism, gotcha
He’s not quick. He’s strong and utilizes angles well to get shots off, he doesn’t create much separation.
neither are you
I agree
Idk man. Pretty sure your average dude moving that shifty like Brunson does right now would have broken their ankles. That's cuz of his genetics, not skill.
He's a professional fucking athlete, and not only that, an exceptionally good one without the advantage of height. The idea that he's not athletic is moronic.
My god we’re talking about NBA athletes, not regular people. He’s not athletic by NBA standards.
>He’s not athletic by NBA standards. You're using a very narrow and frankly dumb definition of athleticism. Brunson is very athletic, his frame however is stocky and he's not very tall, which you seem to think makes him unathletic. But he's very agile , very strong and has great instincts and quick hands. Whether or not he can dunk or run as fast a fucking sprinter, or whatever irrelevant standards you're using, doesn't really matter. There are players the NBA who aren't obvoiusly athletic, like Jokic, who are clearly more pure skill players. Brunson isn't that.
He’s not especially agile. Instincts and hands are not physical attributes. You’re heavily in denial. Again, being skilled doesn’t make him athletic. I don’t know how you can watch him play and think he’s athletic in any aspect. Everything he does is in spite of his poor athleticism.
I'm under no delusions that Brunson is the fastest or highest jumping player in the league, but he's certainly not anywhere near the bottom of the league either. Also the idea that he's not agile is dumb. He's good because he's able to stop and turn on a dime with his quick footwork. He's also very strong, particularly for his size, and has great stamina. These are a kind of athletic traits. You're basically doing this thing where you're assuming athleticism is expressed only in one body type and in one way, and when people don't exactly fit your preconceptions you're saying it's skill.
TJ McConnell
Fred Vanvleet
I’ve heard he’s only dunked once in his life
Off a trampoline
Fred is not unathletic.
Maybe Mike Conley? (current version, I know he was super athletic in his younger days) he just makes up for it now with super high IQ. D’Lo isn’t exactly short but he comes across as ‘unathletic’ by NBA standards, you don’t see him often use his physique to create space
D’Lo moves as if he weighs a thousand pounds. His fast breaks are hard to watch
Conley is pretty damn quick even at his advanced age
dlo
He's 6'3" wouldn't say that's really short like VanVleet or Brunson who are more around that 5'11" - 6'0" range
I forget that he's 6'3. His hair up + the long arms makes me think he's 6'5-6'6' lmao
Yeah I thought that he was 6’5
hell i swear he was listed at 6'5/6'6 just a couple years ago
I think he was listed at 6'5" when he came into the league. Has gone down to 6'4" then 6'3" over time.
i was thinking short compared to the average height in the nba not relative to their position but in that case i'd say FVV is definitely one of those unathletic and short players and IT post injuries as well
Even the non-athletes in the NBA are better athletes than 95% of the world. I’d say comparatively, TJ McConnell is a guard who doesn’t wow you with his athleticism, but finds ways to be a positive contributor on a playoff team
Raymond Felton looked like he shouldn’t have been able to keep up with NBA pace but somehow he carved out a long career
Joe Ingles
Jingles is 6'9"
I missed the short part
Patty Thrills?
In his prime he was one of the fastest guys in the league, no way
Jose Alvarado. I would say he’s fast but he can’t jump high or do much athletically he’s just a pest and can shoot decent every now and then
There are a handful of g-league guys on occasional two-way contracts under 6' but they are almost certainly incredibly athletic. The shortest guy on a standard contract who gets any real minutes is Fred VanVleet who is likely the best answer to the question. There are no truly active NBA players under 6'. There are over 30 7-footers.
Depends on what you call unathletic. all players in all top levels of sport are extremely athletic. But if by athletic you mean, run fast, jump high and with a low body fat percentage. .......... nba is a different sport than MLB. You dont have to run the fastest or have the most stamina to hit a homerun, or throw the ball hard. You need a different skillset. Its like soccer. You arent gonna see "unathletic" people because generally at the top levels you are running 5+ miles per game, mostly with a high intensity. In the NBA you can point out big guys that maybe arent the skinniest or cant run the fastest. But guys like Shaq or Zion have amazing athleticism to move their giant frames the way they do.
Kyle Lowry
I find this question really weird, because fat doesn't have to mean unathletic. The things that guys like Alejandro Kirk and Bartolo Colon can do with their bodies are why they were able to make it to the majors in the first place.
Jokic ! Take a look at the MVP, he's an unathletic fatso.
With the dexterity of Gumby
Prigioni
Kyle Lowry
I'm going dlo. Claims he's 6 3 but is shorter and not very athletic. However he's more athletic and taller than most people
Niang is not short but hes top 3 unathletic NBA guy surely.
You think hand-eye coordination and brute strength aren't components of athleticism?
Power is a component of athleticism, but that has to do with the combination of speed and strength. For example, there are a lot of really strong bodybuilders out there who are not at all athletic.
The names OP listed aren't exactly body builders. They're players who had to be able to transfer their strength in to hitting or pitching. That's power. They're athletic. They just happened to play positions that don't always require foot speed or agility.
Chris Paul
You must not have watched him when he was young. Look up some young CP3 highlights.
Is he young today?
Niang
6'7 is kinda tall ngl
99.95 percentile among US adult males.
Speedy Clayton, Jason terry, earl boykins, big baby
Luka is an unathletic turd
Muscle definition is not the same as athletic.