[Nick Wright] “It’s not an exaggeration to say for the Thompson twins… if they locked themselves in a gym and come back with a capable corner 3 point shot… that could cumulatively for the two of them be worth 1 billion dollars”
“If, if, if … doesn’t exist”
Rafa Nadal, 2019
One of the greatest athletes of all time
“One of the best in the history, no?”
Ombeliable
Rafa on clay has an argument to be the greatest for sure. Unparalleled greatness in an unbelievably competitive era.
Nadal, Federer, and Djokivic being in their primes at essentially the same time is something the sport won’t see again.
Absolutely unreal era.
So much toxic discourse around that era because of social media but we are so blessed to be able to witness it.
I was a teenager and genuinely hated Nadal since Federer was my favorite. Then Djokovic became my new enemy. Now I realize just how great they were and 100% feel blessed that I grew up watching them. Their matches were legit better than any scripted blockbuster movie.
Yeah, that’s the thing. At the time you just kind of expected new guys to take their place, but that hasn’t been the case. Alcaraz/Sinner are getting there, but we never had anyone in between.
90s kids flopped pretty bad so the Big 3 got to extend their tenure for much longer than they should have.
I think everyone hated Djoker at first but he just. Kept. Winning. And damn do I respect him for it. Leaned into being the heel in such a prim and proper sport. Turned out to be the best of the three on paper. And each were so different in their play styles too.
Tennis just left a golden era. I thought Carlos was the heir but Sinner appears to be the one.
Tennis fan here. The discourse was rarely toxic in my opinion. It did get a little out of hand when their individual grand slam counts was in the 20s, but the guys themselves — even Fed and Novak who used to have a tense relationship — didn’t encourage it, and were unfailingly complimentary about each other. Especially come retirement time for Fed, even Novak had come around. I will always appreciate him coming out and being a good sport for Roger’s retirement at the Lavar cup. Same with Rafa’s last French Open: it was incredible to see Novak and Andy coming out. There were times where Novak must have wondered what it must take for him to be as universally loved as Roger and Rafa, but I feel like he was at peace with it when both retired.
PS: Always and forever a Federer fanboy. I watch a bunch of sports and Federer makes me feel things I didn’t realize sport and athletes could, but Novak is the undisputed GOAT. Fight me.
Djokovic is the most accomplished, but Federer was the most magic athlete I had ever seen in my life until Shohei Ohtani.
This is mostly media hype.
Federer peaked well before Novak. Sure they played at the same time but Federer was well past his prince.
Peaks were:
Federer: 04-09 Nadal: 06-14 Novak: 11-21
Nadal played both while in their prime, while Federer and Novak competed against one another but neither was in their prime. This is why I have always felt Nadal was most impressive. Never played without another player who is in the top 5 ever playing at the same time as him.
Being to nitpicky. They all played each other for about a decade. In dozens of tennis matches.
Andy Murray could have had a much more decorated career but he peaked at the same time as these dudes. Tough luck
Federer is 6 years older than Novak. That’s a huge gap in tennis
My two favorite subs colliding, we got a fucking squad now
Man, you better shut your F*** up.
hey stefanos you wanna look at me and talk?
Man U better stfu? Wasn’t expecting football to be discussed here
That’s a great quote. All the NBA fans discrediting championships cuz such and such got injured blah blah blah
If my grandma had wheels she’d be a bicycle- Italian dude whose passionate about pasta
I like that
Goat
If my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle.
If my grandma had wheels….
She’d be a transformer?
Ee ee oo ah ah
Autobots, roll out!
She would have been a bike!
In San Antonio, she’d be a Peterbilt
https://youtu.be/A-RfHC91Ewc?si=fi0cj20ahpfa2PUl
It’s such a great clip
She’d be like a British Carbonara
she could drive herself to the store
That is a hilarious way to put it. But I think we are past that point. At their age, it’s too rare to go from being a non-shooter to a + shooter, especially one capable of doing it off the dribble at a good percentage.
Âccording to the talking heads, it just takes one summer of real dedication.
Kinda what Aaron Gordon did tbh…
This…. It’s very doable for athletes of their caliber. There’s plenty of examples of this happening.
Yeah but there’s a shit ton more examples of players who couldn’t. For every Brook Lopez, there’s 5 Dwight Howards.
I used to think that anybody can become a good shooter if they just shoot 1000 jumpers a day or make 500 in a day or whatever, because that’s what all the great shooters do. I’ve come around on the idea that there’s something inherently innate in shooting and some people can put in that work and still never get good, and we just don’t hear about their shooting routines.
That or they just can never do it under pressure. How many videos of Rudy draining 3s in practice or over the summer. Never even close to the reality we see on the court.
This. I think it relates more to how you can deal with immediate pressure in your face while trying to maintain excellent mechanics. They have the mechanics down - these dudes would shoot the lights out of an LA Fitness any day of the week but when it’s high intensity? It’s hard to replicate that for most players
I’ll never forget Dwight Howard shot something like 95% at the free throw line in practice
not quite that high but the drop off from practice to in-game was massive
https://i.imgur.com/eU7iDNN.jpeg
I’m something of an expert in hyperbolic arcs myself.
Hand eye coordination. I was reading something that that’s why golfers can be good shooters and good shooters can be good golfers. Not that golfers have the body and athleticism to play in the nba but from a pure hand eye coordination level that’s the big one. Plenty of nba players don’t need that if they’re super athletic but that’s at least what I’ve heard
Not really. Very few. Most just had slow releases or a bit odd releases that they adjusted. If this were the case, any non-shooter would do this to stay in the league for way longer.
Andre Drummond shot 32⁄90 .356% this year from 3 and is a sub 50% career ft shooter
Tiny sample size
Players need to take the ego out of it. I fully believe any NBA athlete should be able to shoot 70 at the ft line. It’s insane that they can’t. They need to change their mechanics and a lot of them are too hard headed to do so.
lol that like 1 three every three games
He had 28 total his previous 13 seasons combined. I was giving an example of someone late in their career going from no shot to some sweety ! Be better
Can you name the examples that did while they were still on rookie deals? Every time this topic comes up I feel like it’s always center later in their career like Brook Lopez or Andre Drummond. I’m just extremely doubtful they make the transition in the time the Pistons and Rockets need to justify paying them
Kawhi Bron Fox AG Jason Kidd Ant just to name a few
The twins, in three seasons, have combined to hit 96 threes at a .213 clip.
Kawhi’s rookie season: 41 at .376
Bron’s rookie season: 63 at .290
Fox’s rookie season: 47 at .307
AG’s rookie season: 13 at .271
Kidd’s rookie season: 70 at .272
Ant’s rookie season: 171 at .329
There’s being a bad shooter and there not being a shooter, is what I’m saying.
Kawhi shot 25% from 3 in college
Fox shot 24.6% in college
Seems like they improved after immediately getting NBA training and regimented shooting. To the point, yes non-shooters can absolutely improve with dedicated help
I think there point was that Kawhi showed potential immediately when he got NBA training, but the twins have had 3 years of it and are still dog water.
Ant was never a bad 3pt shooter though. He wasn’t elite like he is now, but he was at least passable.
Hmm I wonder how he went from passable to elite
Not everyone can just shoot more in the offseason and become a good shooter and it’s a lot easier to go from passable to elite than from dogshit to passable. Ricky Rubio was working with shooting coaches every offseason for his whole career and never became an above average shooter.
The Thompson twins are in the league because of their elite defense. It is entirely possible that they just do not possess the hand eye coordination to become NBA level shooters no matter how many shots they put up in an offseason.
Kawhi
Not comparable. Even Rookie Kawhi looks like Steph Curry compared to Ausar.
That’s not fair, you’re pushing goal posts.
You asked for a player who got a hell of a lot better at shooting the 3, kawhi was one of them.
If anything, it only helps that the Thompsons are starting at such a poor / low start. If they can get fairly better, that would be a game changer.
Kawhi? They drafted him literally with the intention of fixing his shot
Donovan Clingan from year 1 to year 2, year 1 he took less than 50 3s on the year on 28%, year 2 he took 250 on 34%. Went from a non-shooter to a merely below-average one. It’s a slow, stand-still shot he needs a ton of space to get off, but if you want evidence of a young guy who couldn’t shoot massively increasing both volume and efficiency, DC is a decent example of adding shooting as a tertiary skill.
I mean the rookie deal favours them ultimately since it’s easier to develop new skills at a younger age, as well as your physical peak. Another late/mid career transition would be Jason Kidd, whom started off as a terrible shooter (32% age 21-30 on 3.6 attempts) to a really good one (37% age 31-39 on 4.5 attempts). When he retired he was like top 5-10 in 3pm.
Similarly LeBron averaged 33% on 4.2 attempts until 2012 to then elevate to 36% on 5 attempts until today, with a 9 year stretch averaging 36% on 6 attempts (2017-2025) even. Guess it’s unfair to come up with LeBron in any of these discussions but I think it’s realistic to expect top tier athletes to develop like LeBron in just one aspect of the game, which would be shooting. If they could shoot 35-36% on 4-5 attempts as well as 40% on corner 3s they’d be some of the most sought after players in the league.
Another example would be Rui Hachimura, whom averaged below 33% during 3 out his first 4 seasons in the league. Since then he’s averaging 42%. He developed into an elite shooter right after his rookie contract, so he might be the best example
LeBron got so good at it that he doesn’t even have to step back and pause 3 seconds before a 3 point shot anymore
This crushed me 👌
Flashbacks, I used to mention this so often back in the days. His 3 was so slow and bad, he hesitated too much. I’m glad he fixed all that.
If he could shoot 3s with a jumpshot/release like Melo back in his Heay days.
sold his hammies to the devil
Blake Griffin too. Everybody forgets that Blake played 80% of his career without a reliable jumper and then one year started the season with a wetter that continued into his Piston years.
He took 4 years to do that, according to his shooting coach. It’s not just some magical offseason.
….huh. I guess anything can happen in the playoffs.
There’s way more stories of guys never being able to develop a shot than there are stories of guys like Aaron Gordon.
Ya, takes next level work. Aaron Gordon build a whole gym at his house to work on his shot every day in the offseason. It’s that level dedication you need if you don’t have a shot.
Tougher for Thompson twins and probably have to adjust workouts too. Dudes have the most insane quick twitch muscles ever but difficult using them for precision. They’re the NBA version of the ideal wide receiver who can’t catch the ball so they become an insane corner.
Also, Gordon shot like 35% in college, so he wasn’t starting from nowhere.
That’s not what he did. He had some sort of jumper even in his early days. You could see that in college and his shot was a bit slow in the nba so he struggled. The Thompson twins just don’t have a shot at all.
NBA players with hundreds of millions of dollars and their entires life’s work on the line, “oh wait why didn’t I try practicing the most important skill in the game”.
It’s funny seeing people say this when we know for a fact that a large portion of the league isn’t grinding in the gym.
Your perspective is one of somebody looking to excel at your job. So many dudes have the perspective of “I made it, I’m paid, why would I do more?”
But to the contrary, you’re really telling me that the most coordinated and athletic people on earth with unlimited resources and training are at their wits’ end with shooting improvement? You think they’ve really tried everything and it’s just not possible for them to be even league average 3pt shooters? Especially with all the stories from past nba players who talk about how little some guys actually work on developing their game
You’re making a joke but there are plenty of guys in the league who get by off pure athleticism and talent, and once they get into the league accept their role.
Is it more likely these world-class athletes just can’t find a shot they’re good at? Or that they’re fine riding off what got them there without trying to change their style of ball?
Jason Kidd couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn from 3 back when he was on the suns and eventually ended his career as a spot up 3 guy with the mavs but then again that was over 10 years later
lol that’s right. Dude came into the league as “Ason Kidd” because he didn’t have a J!
He wasn’t god-awful like the Thompson are, though. If you see them, it’s truly terrible.
do you know why every time there’s a story about a player not having a 3pt shoot who later develops it, it’s always Jason Kidd?
Yep, I remember people using Kidd as an example of how Ricky Rubio could become a better shooter and that was like 13-14 years ago lol.
andre drummond ruined it for everyone
Talking Heads: “Pro athletes need to spend time dedicating themselves to their craft”
NBA Players who made it to one of 450 spots in the league through a lifetime of dedication:
<drake computer meme>
It really only takes a summer of daily shooting practice to develop a decent shot. You’re not gonna become an elite shooter in that time, but it’s long enough to become establish a serviceable jumper from 1 or 2 spots.
These guys have access to the best trainers and facilities, but some players don’t work on their game after getting into the league and it shows.
With that being said, sometimes it takes a certain amount of self awareness to realize you may have to change your shooting form completely. It isnt always about reps. If your mechanics are broken theres very much a ceiling on how great you can shoot, and how consistently you can shoot great. Lonzo Ball, and Kawhi going from college to the NBA are 2 examples off the top of my head.
Im speaking from my own experience. In high school i was a great defender and slasher but i was just as likely to airball a jumper as i was to make it. Think “great value Tony Allen.” When i got to college hoops my coach said id be unplayable if i couldnt hit open shots. I rebuilt my form from the ground up and became a decent spot up shooter. Granted, i was always an extreme gym rat and routinely spent 4-6 hours a day working out. Its possible but requires a lot of dedication.
I love David Byrne but he doesnt know anything about basketball
it’s rare but not unheard of
Agreed. Lopez, Blake Griffin, Aaron Gordon, Drummond all did it. They are all big guys though
Derrick White too (don’t look at his stats this season please).
as long as they don’t do an herb jones/lu dort pop-off for a season and then revert to the mean.. but honestly if they could just hit their wide open 3’s, then at least teams can’t just dare them to shoot
Everytime I think about Andre Drummond becoming somewhat serviceable from outside, it makes me that much more mad at how Ben Simmons turned out
That was definitely one of the weirdest career transformations I’ve seen recently, particularly because he wasn’t even serviceable at free throws earlier in his career.
I swear he shot better from 3 in the playoffs than he did from the free throw line.
He legit had a higher 3p% this season than he did in his worst ft% year (barely, on way less attempts, but still.
35.6% on 3’s this year (1.4 attempts per game).
35.5% on free throws in 2016 (7.2 per game)
They called Dwane Casey crazy for giving Drummond the green light from 3 back in 2018 but he had the vision
Drummond’s 3p% is kind of deceiving though. No doubt it’s impressive he went from essentially never shooting 3s to being league average this season. But he did it on such low volume (1.5 a game), and maybe most importantly, it takes him SO LONG to wind up his shot that basically every 3 is him standing completely alone in the corner with all the time in the world.
Even at 36%, Drummond doesn’t space the floor because no one guards him. If anyone did guard him on the perimeter, he’d never be able to get off a 3 because it feels like it takes him 5 seconds to shoot it.
Nobody is saying he’s a legitimate floor spacing big, but it’s still amazing how far he’s come.
Oh for sure. I’m honestly amazed he’s had such a long career. That’s a huge accomplishment.
Bam Adebayo, of all people, scored 83 points in a game and he still isn’t the most notable person on this list.
You guys are absolutely right. It’s possible and it’s necessary. These twins have all the talent in the world and they could very well be a couple of seasons away from turning around their three point shot.
At Their age, checks notes, turned 23 four months ago…
With their defense they will play in the league for a minimum 10 more years. They can make some improvements in 10 years.
Or they can be Ben Simmons
To be fair, his problems stemmed in part due to chronic injuries. A healthy Ben Simmons would still be in the league.
Ausar is a little younger so he could potentially make it happen.
You would think they are 30 years old with the amount of comments saying this. I promise you 23 year olds have more than enough time to develop a decent jump shot, like wtf
Yeah the amount of “at their age” comments is wild. The dudes just turned 23… Like give them another three to five years - minimum, before you write them off. If they are still this bad at 27-28 you can say welp this is who they are.
Srsly, no excuse
At their age? Plenty of NBA players have added or improved their 3 point shots
Kawhi ruined it for everyone like Josh Allen ruined it for the inaccurate QB in college with a cannon arm that can scramble
Nah. Look at Blake Griffin. From paint scorer only. Gradually improve his jumper and to a point became a triple threat scorer.
Drummond for the 76ers got an extended career as a big guy because of this right?
Duece McBride
If they got a legit 3 point shot they would both be one of the 15 best players in the nba
And they wont
Yaaaa but you could imagine what it’d be like if they did, right? Huh? Huh?
he’ll be one of those players who develops a 3 point shot at like age 30, but it’s too late and his athleticism is already waning
Amen has turned himself into a near 80% free throw shooter.
They’ve proven to be hard workers. It won’t happen overnight, but if they work hard they could get to low 30s in a few years.
And either one with a capable shot is an all-NBA level player.
They’re still young so it’s possible, but a lot of this isn’t just about training and reps. I’m old and I’m positive I’ve taken more shots than any high school kid that exists right now, but I also promise there are thousands of high school kids that are better shooters than me.
Same thing with, e.g., Mitch Robinson and free throws. Do we think he doesn’t practice? Of course he does. He’s coached and he trains but there are limits to what can be done.
They don’t even need a 3 point shot. Just a solid middy. Just some spacing bro.
Everyone is shitting on sengun rn but if his squad shot better. It would be a different story.
And the spot up corner 3 so they can’t be completely if ignore by the defense.
Well he is not a great rim protector. Nor a great shooter. Putting him and amen together just leads to a phone booth offense.
Yes they do. being able to hit a middy doesn’t really help with spacing
OG anunoby is lowkirk a top 15 player in the playoffs rn, leaguewide is another thing
OG anunoby also had a good 3 point shot right when he entered the NBA
if they locked themselves in a gym
I hate when takes like this imply that guys don’t already do this. You don’t become as good as they are without an insane amount of effort. You don’t become as good as Mitchell Robinson is without an insane amount of effort. Thse guys already do pretty much lock themselves in the gym. Some people just aren’t good at things and don’t have the capacity to be good. Also, being good in a gym is differnt than bring good in the flow of a game in a high pressure situation in front of thousands of people.
There are a metric fuck ton of dudes who aren’t locked in the gym looking to improve their game. We don’t have to wonder this when there are hours of podcasts with players outwardly admitting it.
If it was standard to do this, nobody would care what Steph and Ray Allen do, or Lebron or Kobe, because everybody would just already be doing it. It wouldn’t be special.
There is a huge difference between doing the bare minimum to get by and keep your spot, and staying hungry. There is an unlimited amount of players who have openly said they weren’t doing anything more than they had to. So like yeah, they practice during the summer, but that is not what he’s talking about dude. He’s looking for above and beyond the baseline, and most (half?) of the league is not doing that dude
yeah it’s just naive to think that everyone in the NBA only made it bc they’re gym rats. so many of these dudes glided by their entire life bc they have always been the biggest and most athletic. the Thompson twins never had to put in extra hours bc they would dominate the court regardless. that’s just how it is when the game is so dependent on something that doesn’t have to be worked for, size & athleticism
The Thompson twins are pretty famous for having an insane work ethic. It was part of why they were such good draft prospects, they’d been in thee gym since middle school chasing the dream.
I actually think that’s a pretty big discrepancy between big men and wing types.
I think a lot of big men end up in the NBA because they’re big and athletic and got pushed into basketball, and somebody with NBA big man size and athleticism tends to dominate at lower levels without even trying that hard. This is how you end up with guys like DeAndre Ayton whose motivation is clearly inconsistent or Javale McGee who never really learned how to play.
But with wings and guards, that’s not the case. There are a TON of guys their size and athleticism, so, sure, maybe there are a few outliers, but generally the guys who make it are the guys who love it and put in the time.
And obviously there are degrees of “putting in the time” but, as I mentioned in another comment, I’ve known a couple of people who were pro-sports-level athletes and they were busting their asses for a shot. “Not working that hard” by pro-athlete standards is putting in a shit-ton of hours.
There are a LOT of 6’7 guys with crazy athleticism playing in the g-league, China, or Europe. (Although I suspect the Thompson twins are a little taller than their official listed height). You get up to 6’9 or 6’10, and it falls off a lot, but in that 6’5-6’9 range, even the great athletes can’t take it for granted.
And I think people are vastly underestimating the amount of work the Thompsons have put in. I’m more familiar with Amen’s game, but the ability to finish in traffic the way he does is not just pure athleticism. The skill to finish like this is not something you acquire without working on it. A couple of the plays before that in that video, where he’s bringing the ball up in transition and they finishing around and through contact, that’s not just pure athleticism.
(I think a lot of people are underestimating just how much skill is involved in dribbling full speed down the court into a layup even without an NBA defender standing there. We take it for granted because every wing or guard in the NBA has mastered that skill. But it’s something a high school player practices a thousand times a season and plenty of them still screw it up.)
You’re just assuming these guys aren’t hard workers? Seems like a massive reach. You don’t just become one of the best defenders in the NBA by virtue of being a good athlete
There have been plenty of guys drafted on athletic ability who never come close to making it in the league. There are only 450 guys in the NBA out of millions of basketball players in the world.
Almost all of them are not just gifted athletically but very talented due to tons of practice.
I remember, when he was a Warrior, David Lee spent a ton of time every offseason trying to extend his range. He was a really good shot from two steps inside the arc, and despite spending time on it every offseason, he just couldn’t extend his range.
I think the Thompson twins should be able to be better shooters than they are, but they’re young, and shooting is one of those things that many players do improve throughout their careers.
But that doesn’t mean that there’s an easy short-term path towards being significantly better than they are now.
There are many many videos of Rudy Gobert shooting jumpshots in the offseason trying to improve his offense. Every year he comes back and outside of dunks and tip ins his offense is rough.
I think its just like how much would you have to improve just one specific move to be useable at the NBA level, probably an astronomical amount.
80% in practice at the NBA level is generally the threshold for ‘you have a green light to take this shot in game’.
It’s also a confidence level thing as well as in game reps. Gotta have a unique situation where the player is allowed to fuck up indefinitely and the player is irrationally confidence enough to keep missing while trusting the process to the point where they never get in their own head
Yeah it really shows how insanely talented the NBA is. If it were that easy guys like Simmons, RHJ or Thybulle wouldn’t wash out. They’d just get in the lab and simply be some of the best players in the NBA due to their 2 way ability.
or Thybulle
TBF to Thybulle, since he has been in Portland he has shot 37.42% from 3 and his ability to catch and shoot has been a positive development.
That’s fair to point out. I thought he was still a low 30s type guy.
Well no one said easy…but there is a short term path, work at it every day like it’s their full time job. Ausar has one of the best shooting coaches in the world, a full offseason in the gym, every day, shooting hundreds of shots, there’s really no excuse.
If Lonzo Ball can learn how to change his form from a wrong side of the head catapult, to a smooth good looking jumper over a year or two, there’s no excuse for the Thompson twins not to loser focus on their shots all offseason. Hell don’t even do it for their teams, which they absolutely should still, do it for the hundreds of millions more they will make in their careers.
but there is a short term path, work at it every day like it’s their full time job
And you know they haven’t already been doing this how?
If Lonzo Ball can learn how to change his form from a wrong side of the head catapult,
Sometimes it’s easier to fix a player’s shot if it’s obvious what’s wrong with it. I could have worked with Lonzo on his form. It’s far less clear what the Thompson twins need to fix. The subtler the mistake, the harder it is to change.
Same with the absolutely preposterous narrative here that players out for “load management” were really just too lazy to play or whatever bullshit. Do you really think superstar athletes get to and stay at their level without really caring about their craft? Total insanity.
they literally gain a million pounds as soon as they actually stop working out
You’re very naive. Plenty of these guys coast on genetics. The notion that all pro athletes work hard is hilarious
I forget who said it, but I remember a notable NBA player said that a significant portion of the NBA player base didn’t actually love the game of basketball, they just played it because they were so athletic that it became an easy way to make millions of dollars. It was basically implying that these same guys didn’t really care about getting better or winning as long as they were getting paid.
Paul George on his podcast
Edit: he specifically said about 75-100 players on average every season
Have you ever heard of this guy named Deandre Ayton?
Once these dudes get to the nba. The way they play is a part of who they are and how they see themselves.
They can practice all they want, but it doesn’t matter if they don’t have the instinct to do those things on the court with confidence.
Guys like Demar Derozan and Russell Westbrook massively limited their careers by sticking with the things that got them to the top and refusing to change.
They need to lock themselves into separate gyms, they play together too much in the offseason and it shows. Their 1 on 1 battles are well documented, it’s made them incredible defenders, but you’re not going to build a serviceable jumper trying to score on a top 5 defender all offseason when both of them have god awful jumpers to start with. The whole offseason needs to be put towards shooting practice exclusively
No shot. They’re already gonna get paid a ton as is.
As much as a three point shot would help, they would need to develop like Kawhi in terms of making their own shot to get that much more than they’re already getting. I could see Amen maybe getting there, but Ausar is waaaaaaay off.
I don’t understand why guys like this (and a lot of other people that talk about basketball) don’t think both of these players haven’t been spending an insane amount of time working on their shots for years at this point.
We have so many hours of interviews with players outright stating they don’t do anything more than what they have to do because they made it.
It’s just as outrageous if not more so to act as though the entire NBA is locked in on maximizing their talent. That is objectively false with unlimited testimony to back it up.
Practice?? You talking bout practice??
100%, can pull up the recent MPJ confession on his stream for example.
If these are the results from the supposed training, then it’s not looking good.
Most players that come into the league that can’t shoot at all don’t “develop” respectable jump shots.
Most likely, neither one of the Thompson twins will develop a respectable jumper. It’s possible, but it’s very unlikely and there’s a ton of precedent for that.
Brook Lopez is a polar bear in Arlington in terms of that
With him, though, it’s not that he couldn’t shoot at all, it’s that he didn’t. He always had good touch, and you can’t teach touch, only extend range of it.
he isn’t really at all and is actually a perfect example of people just following numbers instead of actual on the court context
Brook was a sniper from midrange and a good free throw shooter since college
he also just happened to have his career at the perfect time where bigs weren’t shooting a lot of threes unless that was already a big part of their game while it transitioned into every single player should shoot 3s if they can. Brook could and started doing it and it worked right away lol
Brook actually has the characteristics of a good shooter. He shot well from the FT line and has a good mid-range jumper. He was not asked to shoot 3s until the team needed him to, which he did. He expanded his shooting range into a reliable shooter.
The Thompson twins cannot shoot from the FT line, midrange or 3-point range.
Amen just shot 78% on free throws this season
Which is a good thing, but let’s see if it’s not a one-off year.
There’s Kawhi Leonard too lol
Like Brook, Kawhi always had decent shooting indicators. Shot 74% on free throws at college over two years and shot 80% on free throws in his rookie and sophomore seasons. Brook shot 76% at the line in college & was an 81% free throw shooter in his first 2 years in the nba.
Amen Thompson has shot decently on free throws only this year so far (first two years at 68%, this year at 78%, 70% in the playoffs). Ausar has been worse, a career 60% free throw shooter (57% this year, 51% in the playoffs). Some guys just don’t have the coordination required
Literally, but then everyone will go “but look at Kawhi and Jaylen Brown!” as if they aren’t outliers.
Ausar is still ridiculously valuable to the Pistons but he will likely never develop a jumpshot.
Because logically if you train a skill consistently and correctly you should be getting better at it?
It’s not crazy to say that. Theres clearly some deficiencies somewhere if they aren’t improving.
Kobe’s whole thing was putting in insane amount of work to get better. If the whole league was doing it, it wouldn’t have been such a huge deal. The reality is guys get complacent and a lot of them just do the minimum
A lot of people in this thread act like all these guys already grind 110% all the time, and it’s impossible to actually improve.
No, there are a lot of guys in the league who are there solely because they are 99.99999th percentile genetic freaks. Like, do y’all realize how rare it is to be 6’9” AND this fucking athletic?
I’m pretty sure Nick is right.
Here’s a nice perspective from actual NBA players.
https://youtube.com/shorts/TmBy2mgcABo?si=j7tksgjMp7oB2iS6
Especially when the money’s fully guaranteed and the specific height/wingspan traits required are so rare that even randoms can stick around the league for 8 years without anyone noticing
I wanna see what happens if only one of them does it
we got a scientist here
Those kids grew up in the Steph Curry era they should’ve been working on their shooting.
Take a look at their training routine growing up. Like scoring was an afterthought lmfao
Hold me now
Woah, warm my heart
Stay with me!!!!!!!!!
I’m a regular joe and one summer I completely developed a left hand finish, floater and improved my dribble as a tight dominant player. I played on average 2 hours a day, and did a Larry Bird-esque “I’m only going to use my left hand”
Another offseason, I completely overhauled my jump shot and improved from everywhere significantly. Obviously different strokes for different folks, but if you’re willing to relearn and retrain your body it can be done. If you’re already a multi millionaire with other extremely valuable facets to your game, then it’s probably much less of a priority
Bunch in this thread saying stuff like, “they’re NBA players, best of the best, you don’t think they’re already practicing their jumpers?” Surely if they put in the work they could improve from freaking 20% from 3
Yeah lots of people who never played I think lol.
Like, when I was in high school I went from being an absolute bum behind the line my sophomore year to being one of the best spot up shooters on my team junior year because I literally went to the gym every day during the summer and fall (while working a summer job doing physical labor for 6-8 hours a day) and didn’t leave until I made 50 3s, 75 3s, 100 3s, etc.
If my 5’10” unathletic ass can do that after mowing yards just to get 8 minutes a game on a small town high school team, surely these dudes with all the money, resources, and athletic ability in the world can too lol.
The Shaq free throw story is the best example here. Dude openly admits was just too lazy/proud to practice free throws his entire career.
I actually like nick wright but I don’t think any of his takes are ever that good
Ausar has bigger issues on offense to address rather than developing a stand in the corner no one guards me 3
Cant dribble or shoot a FT
Ausar needs to develop a 3PT shot but Amen needs to develop and master the mid-range if they want him to realize his full superstar potential.
Thompson twins barreling towards being named Megumi Fushiguro.
Which is why Peyton Watson is gonna get paid, he’s a slightly less athletic version of that player.
Does he think they have not practiced shooting their whole lives?
Every player in the league can sink an unlimited number of 3s when unguarded and not under pressure. Doing it consistently during a game is a completely different skillset. I hate this narrative that any player can shoot like Steph Curry if they just get off their lazy ass and lock themselves in a gym. And weirdly they’ll never say the same for anything other than shooting. Like, if you can appreciate how hard it is to be an elite shot blocker, break ankles with your handles, box out and get rebounds, have perfect court vision and do all the rest at an NBA level, maybe consider that the same applies to shooting as well?
“If he could only develop a jumper.” Is the epitaph on about million tombstones of players who washed out of the league
This is sort of insane to consider
I wouldn’t doubt they can sit in a gym and drown three pointers at a level that would surprise most. Most nba players have a baseline of skills. Neemias Queta spends half of pre game warm ups draining threes before games.
It’s the reliability to do it in game circumstances that are lacking. I dunno how you build that up
Man, did this take need to be 46 seconds? Speaking at the speed of a turtle
Everything Ive heard about these guys is that they are absolute gym rats and they eat, sleep, and breathe basketball. I don’t think it’s that simple with the jump shooting
If Ben Simmons could shoot…