You know who would serve as a great mentor for Zion: a guy who happened to a be big freaksih athlete, high school phenom, whose managed to to become an absolute master at keeping his body in peak shape. Make it happen Rob: although i think Zion is going to end up with the Knicks.
seriously, though: has anyone who struggled with their weight been able to be a really effective nba player, long-term. shaq's the obvious example, i guess, but after that? stanley roberts ate his way out. big baby davis couldn't make it work. oliver miller was really talented, but nope. it's hard to work against your body.
Tractor Traylor lasted 7 years in the NBA then another 5 in some obscure leagues. Shocked he made it that long. Still can't believe the Mavs flipped him for Dirk. My random Tractor Traylor story: It's amazing how athletic even NBA players of his size are. He participated in a Jason Terry led charity game that I went to in 03ish in Atlanta and I've never seen someone that size move like that in person. He was doing 180s, tried a 360, getting lobs that you expect to see going to someone like Amare. I never saw that level of athleticism from him in the NBA. Guess it had to do with the limited level of competition in this thing and there weren't any of the usual trees waiting for him in the paint. Other heavy bigs that come to mind: Kevin Duckworth (11 years, 2x all star), Michael Sweetney (4 yrs in NBA), Eddy Curry (11 years).
good ones. othella harrington and jahidi white out of gtown, too, shorter and less successful. i guess we both left barkley off, but mid-career/mvp barkley had shed a lot of the fat. big point is that huge dudes a) haven't fared well overall and b) have had short primes when they have. i was reminded of larry johnson when i first saw zion, but lj was just heavy, not really fat. still...the heaviness doesn't lend itself to the nba. edit: and i just realized we're in the monk thread. he's not fat.
Draymond and Haslam are the obvious guys who were able to drop weight but they did pretty much right after college and have been able to maintain. Barkley is the obvious case comparison to Zion and he was an easy first half ballot HOF despite his struggles and inconsistencies with weight
@JSM I was once rewatching some old games on Youtube, and came across one with that early 90s Portland team. It jumps out how often they go to Duckworth (probably a testament to how inside-out the game was back then), and its kind of shocking how many post moves Duckworth has. He was really good, not how I remembered him when I was younger.
Another nice one for Monk. Who'd a thunk that in January, he'd be our #2 scoring option. Bron needs to find a way to get him second billing in the next Space Jam to recoup the money for signing another minimum contract this summer.
Amazing. We need to find a way to keep him. Somehow. I don't know how, it's not my job to figure it out.
