If I were taller, I would definitely still not be in the NBA. Let’s be real, I’m not really a good basketball player. I just wanted you to click the article so I can shamelessly plug products like this electric bicycle/basketball/tire pump. I bought one for my bike, and it’s honestly one of the greatest things I’ve ever used.
Anyway, I was sitting here thinking about things to be grouchy about, and then decided to complain about the fact that NBA players need to jump so little to dunk.
As my millions of readers know, I’m pretty short at 5’6’’, but from 2012 to about 2016, I could regularly touch and sometimes even grab a 10-foot basketball rim. Accounting for my standing reach, that means my max vertical (running) was at least 35 inches. The average NBA player’s standing vertical is around 28 inches, with a max vertical in the range of 28-34 inches. I could basically jump just as high as the average NBA player. Not to mention, I never worked on my vertical. Yes, I absolutely skipped leg day.
Let’s put this in perspective. Kevin Durant is 6’10” with a 9’2″ standing reach. He only has to jump about 10 inches to touch the rim. Meanwhile, here I am, needing to jump a ridiculous 35 inches just to reach the same rim. If I’d just been 6’6’’, I could’ve been the next Jeremy Lin. Transanity should’ve happened instead of Linsanity! It’s not fair! Instead of being a rich, millionaire athlete getting fined more for making finger-gun gestures than the average person’s salary, here I am, sitting in my hotel room, complaining about how I could’ve been a contender.
What a waste of athletic potential. When life gives you lemons, just add it to your pho and enjoy your meal, because at 5’6’’, you’re not making the NBA unless you’re Muggsy Bogues.
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P.S. Writing this rant reminded me of a time in college when I was playing basketball with my friend, who was maybe 5’9″ and pretty athletic but didn’t play basketball. After we played, he said, “You’re pretty good. Maybe I jump a little higher, but we’re about the same skill level.” Yacin, you did not jump higher than me.