It’s a shame we didn’t get to see Oden actually play. Because he was similarly way too quick for his size.

The thing that jumps out is Oden’s speed and agility.

We all know Oregon’s Aaron Brooks is fast. Brooks finished the ³⁄₄ court sprint in 3.2 seconds. Oden was 3.27 seconds. Durant, meanwhile, finished in 3.45. (modern comparison: De’Aaron Fox was 3.18)

Oden’s 11.67 in the agility drill speaks volumes to the footwork so many scouts rave about. Durant did the same drill in 12.33.

fastest player in terms of max speed during his peak seasons was probably

westbrook, rose, lebron

they’ve all moved at the 17-18 mph line which is incredibly rare for full court sprints, we’ve only ever seen this from wall, wade, fox and ja aside from those three

Barbosa was faster but bron could jump out of the stadium

Peak athleticism was definitely in Cleveland. 07-09 imo

I think he was at his most powerful in Miami and developed a ton of half court skill, but I think he had already lost a step athletically in terms of speed/quickness/flexibility at that point, as crazy as it is to say.

2009 LeBron was just ludicrous, his playoff highlights were insane. Just highlight reel plays constantly against playoff defenses.

What is the most ridiculous thing Miami Lebron did, and is it crazier than catching this pass?

https://youtu.be/3-kolNcY53s?si=zKL-EE_KkPPIQHA2

I’ve always thought the best version of Lebron was during those two Miami title runs. A 27 game winning streak is absurd. There was also no one in the league that he couldn’t effectively guard.

first cavs stint he was the strongest guard and fastest forward lmao it was actually stupid to watch. In Miami he wasnt freestyling as much as his 2 cavs stints so the athleticism stood out a little less.

Also maybe the cavs stint stands out because in comparison to the rest of the league he felt like an alien. I might have gotten used it to it by the time he was in Miami.

Lebron would definitely be candidate #1 for any potential Jango Fett situation.

Just had to mention Jordan …

Shaq’s body guard can attest

Lakers Shaq too. Guy was around 340 and was still quick as hell and could beat 250 pound guys down the court

Wilt averaged 48 minutes on ⁵⁰⁄₃₀ splits. Nothing compares.

Even peak Shaq was still the best athlete possibly on Earth. It’s just ridiculous how that size and length can move like that

Grew up watching him, I absolutely agree.

But the thing is, you at the very least expect something like that from a 6’9 260 athlete (not stuff like the looking down at the rim from above ge used to do, that’s absurd but you get the point).

You would never expect someone as tall and lanky as Wilt to be that fast and strong, nor someone as big and chunky as Shaq to be so agile and quick.

We all know Wilt and all the bullshit God graced him with, but people mostly only remember Shaq when he was a giant unstoppable force with no immovable object in the league with the Lakers and Heat. They either forgot or never saw Orlando Shaq, who was only somewhat slimmer but ran like a fucking gazelle on fastbreaks.

Edit: not pertinent to the question, but one of my favorite moments of NBA history is the casual 1 on 1 between Shaq and MJ at an AllStar game, in I believe the ¹⁹⁹⁵⁄₁₉₉₆ season (Shaqs last as a Magic player) where you see just how quick and nimble Shaq was for his size. Here you go..

I grew up watching Vince Carter break into the league. Lebron is a better overal olayer and athlete but when it comes to explosive dunking power, I have yet to see someone that comes close to VC when he wanted to show off.

I feel like you need to watch more young Shaq highlights.

Possibly, meant to say a dude that huge should not be that agile. You would think athleticism would have to give with his frame, but he was QUICK. 

Nah Magic Shaq was defying physics at his size

No because unlike strength which is positively correlated with size, quickness and speed tend to be inversely correlated. So the bigger the guy, the lower the standard.

the guy exploded his damn shoe in front of barack obama. we will never see something so cartoonish again

I still think we never saw him at that level in the NBA. He got injured in preseason and was never quite the same.

I saw Zion very early into the start of his junior year of HS, and even my wife was like that is the future #1 pick, it was unreal.

He’s not dead

Look who won one championship and is now big dicking everybody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhiG7uoIQQg

important to watch the replay at least once per year ⬆

Same! Truly my favorite in-game dunk of all-time. The height, the speed, the diameter of the windmill. All so good. (Kk at the very least, it’s my favorite non-Vince-Carter in game dunk)

And durability

we all know this but its not cool to say lol

I doubt if he could play today, but the fact that there was ever a time in the nba where a man shorter than the average woman could play over 10 years in the nba is crazy.

makes me think of nate robinson being in the dunk contest. mans had bounce and was solid on the nuggets.

Monster regardless….. but I do agree with you. He had a longer career than I thought he would. I am just happy I am old enough to witness his whole career. Including college.

I’m curious what people say, but Bo Jackson comes to mind. Star in 2 pro sports. Superhuman strength, etc. My dad used to say Jim Brown for his era. 

I wonder what people would say for track. Jesse Owens comes to mind for an all timer. 

Jim Thorpe. Worth a google if you’ve never gone down that rabbit hole. There’s a reason he was on top of a lot of “greatest athlete of the century” lists around Y2K.

For guys I have personally seen, I’d put Mario Lemieux, Bo Jackson, Mike Vick, and Deion Sanders in that top tier with LeBron in terms of athletic ability. And, hell, I might throw Eric Davis in there too.

I’d say Lemieux is the best athlete I’ve ever seen, just in terms of absolute freakshow size and ability.

Among major American team sports the obvious shout’s Bo Jackson.

Realistically though it’s probably some track athlete like Usain Bolt.

Bo Jackson was the theoretical limit for human athleticism

I am told that I watched him on TV in the 1973 Finals. I have no memory of this, as I was one year old at the time.

Just the photos of him airborne and at that size are silly

I’ve watched whole games of him

I just showed my mom this thread, now somebody here has seen him play. 

Wilt had a game where he went 44/39/3 with 22 blocks, and 0/10 FT.

Prime westbrook was a literal blur, never seen a human accelerate that fast

Westbrook was my thought too. His legs almost seemed to move too fast for his body. Only other athlete I’ve seen like that was Percy Harvin.

Don’t medium think it, it’s Jordan

Westbrook, kinda like Zion and Blake Griffin, knows he’s got a lot of mass at his size. A guy like Ja Morant will take an acrobatic layup if he can’t dunk over the defense. Westbrook (and Zion/Griffin when healthy) would eat the contact whole and punish you. And Westbrook was the most aggressive of them all, dude was just a goal line RB lol.

Thon Maker

Blake wasnt just destructive, his grace and smoothness were like a wing

you would be that angry too if you had lawyers from a dozen women chasing you for child support.