I have already stated once that I used to be crazy about basketball, (and volleyball…and swimming) I also love to talk about height and how to grow taller. So I wanted to throw in an article about basketball and height, which is a related subject.
The purpose of this post is to ask the reader this “At what time during the day is considered one’s true height?“- HOW are we really measuring our height? – Should we standard the process to have some consistency?
We all know that one’s height changes throughout the day because of our back vertebrate and the disks compress and make us shorter as time continues. When we wake up after a long night of sleep, we go back to the highest height.
Lets look at the height of Lebron James and the height of Kevin Durant, two of the premier NBA players, if not the best basketball players on the planet at this time (Summer, 2012).
Let’s take a look at picture #1.
On the NBA site and on the individual team’s websites, the heights of Lebron James on the Miami Heat website is listed at 6′ 8″ at 250 lb. If you want to see the Reference, click HERE.
On the NBA site and on the individual tema’s website, the height of Kevin Durant on the Oklahoma City Thunder website is listed at 6′ 9″ at 235 lb. If you want to see the Reference, click HERE.
What I don’t seem to understand is why there seems to be such a large height difference between the two players in that picture. I would guess that the two players seemed to have a 3-4 inch height difference between them. Let’s take into consideration the angles, the body positions, and the footwear.
Lebron James is standing closer to the camera so in theory he should look bigger due to the Law of Perspective. He does not. Both Lebron and Kevin are leaning towards the center of the picture, to the woman in the middle. However, Lebron seems to be leaning back a little while Kevin is leaning in. Overall, they are both facing the camera .
Kevin Durant has a natural posture of stooping, but he still looks far bigger in that picture with his posture problem.
From a measurement of the average human head/skull, the distance from the horizontal line from the middle of the eyes to the top of the skulls is usually between 4-5 inches in length. From that picture, it look like that the middle horizontal line from Kevin Durant’s eyes line directly lines up to the tip of Lebron’s head. So, does that mean the Kevin is 4-5 inches taller than Lebron? What the hell is going on?
Let’s now do a better analysis
Refer to Picture #2.
From this picture we note that again the two players seem to have a height difference far more than just 1 inch. If you don’t remember how big 1 inch is, either go find a measuring stick or ruler in your house. If you can’t even find that, look at the first part (endpoint) of your thumbs. That is about the length of an inch (assuming you are an average sized US male).
The height difference looks slightly less this time, removing the angle and posture problems that was involved in the last picture. We can say that the height difference between the two is more like 3-4 inches.
So how does the listings on the websites have such a difference between what the pictures say?
Let’s go to what the old measurements for the two players were. If we go to the predraft measurements, we see something strange. For the Predraft Express Website, click HERE.
The official measurements of Lebron James on the Dredraft Express Website are:
Rank Pick: 1st in 2003 by Cavaliers (Born 12/30/1984 – was drafted at age 18.5 years old) – Went directly to NBA from high cchool
Height Without Shoes: 6′ 7.25″
Height With Shoes: 6′ 8″
Weight: 245 lb
Wingspan: 7′ 0.25″
Standing Reach: 8′ 10.25″
The official measurements of Kevin Durant on the Dredraft Express Website are:
Rank Pick: 2nd in 2007 draft by SuperSonics (Born 9/29/1988 – was drafted at age 18.75 years old) – Spent 1 year in college
Height Without Shoes: 6′ 9″
Height With Shoes: 6′ 10.25″
Weight: 215 lb
Wingspan: 7′ 4.5″
Standing Reach: 9′ 2″
No Step Vertical: 26″
Maximum Vertical: 33.5″
From these number, we could argue that Lebron was only 18.5 years old when drafted so he could have grown the extra 3 quarters of an inch to hit 6′ 8″ as he is always billed. That is completely reasonable because guys have shown to be able to continue to grow in height even up to age 21-22. Given that most of the NBA players have amazing height genes and often have dramatic crazy growth spurts, it is definitely reasonable that he reached that height. But then, shouldn’t Lebron then be only 1 inch shorter than Durant? It doesn’t look like it. If the height difference between the two was really 1.75 inches, then it might be acceptable to go with that difference to explain the pictures. However, we are going with the opposite assumption. Lebron is 6′ 8″ and Kevin is 6′ 9″. So if we go with this arguement, what the hell is going on then with the pictures? Could it be that Durant also grew another inch (or more) since he was only 18.75 when he was drafted? It is likely but how come his height has not been adjusted on the teams website?
So let’s bring up picture #3
This picture may be the greatest example at how varied the human body can be. It is also a spectacular example of just how big these NBA players are compared to normal human beings. Kobe Bryant was billed at 6′ 7″ when he first came into the league at age 17, but he had big hair back then. He is now listed at a reasonable height of 6′ 6″. Dwayne Wade is listed in the league at 6′ 4″ and his predraft measurements show that he is 6′ 3.75″ without his shoes on. Given the these facts, and then looking at the picture maybe it is time to recognize the fact that Lebron James is really 6′ 8″.
If not, then there is only two other possibilities.
1. One, he is listing his height as himself in shoes, which makes him 6′ 8″ exactly as he is billed.
2. He is listing himself using his height during the morning, when he wakes up after sleeping. His height would have increased from the vertebrate decompression.
For me, who is slightly over 6′ 0″ when I wake up and slightly more than 5′ 11.25″ late at night, I understand that one’s height can change. For a person like Lebron who has a bigger body, that means that the variation in his height is probably a lot larger than mine. His height could possibly range form 6′ 7.25″ up to 6′ 8.5″ through out the day. It is totally reasonable to say that Lebron is indeed 6′ 8″ for much of the day. Of course, all of this height speculation on Lebron is assuming that Kevin Durant has not grown over his predraft measurement listed height of 6′ 9″.
So, if this NBA player is listing his height at his maxium height of the day, should I do the same? Should I claim that my height is 6 foot even though it is only that measurement for a short time during the day?
So then, we go back to the original real question this post is supposed to ask, “At what time during the day is considered one’s true height?” – HOW are we measuring our height? – Should It be changed or altered to have some form of consistently?
hahahahh great dilemma. in the morning I usually 184.5 cm tall, and around 183 cm when I go to sleep. So yeah, it will be cooler to co claim I’m 184.5 😀
Pingback: Complete List Of Posts - |
Pingback: Who Is The Real Superman? Comparing The Height And Size Of Dwight Howard And Shaquille O'neal - |
my height is 195 in the morning and 193 at night.
You’ve completely missed the perfect reference points in the first photo, the brick wall behind them. The series of straight, horizontal lines gives a great reference point in determining the difference in height between both players. There looks to be 1.5 bricks difference between the two at the very most. I’d say it’s closer to 1.2 considering LeBron is leaning more than KD. Given that these are standard house bricks (2.5 to 3 inches wide) you can estimate the height difference is around 3 to 3.5 inches.
Also, if you look at the first Team USA photo, KD is taller than Kevin Love who is listed at 6’10”. KD’s shoulders are much taller than Love’s but the tops of their heads look alot closer, though KD is leaning and slouching slightly whereas the other guys are ‘standing tall’ so to speak.
So my guess is LeBron, in shoes, is 6’8″ and KD is 6’11”.
Dude, you guys have missed another huge detail. They are standing next to a pool. That floor is sloping which would put Kevin 2 to 3 inches higher than Lebron!
Lol ur dumb. U cant use the bricks in the background as a reference. Use ur brain. The picture isnt perfectly straight. And the two of them are not standing straight up, nor same distance away from camera.
Good day genius.
Pingback: Worst “Holiday” of the Year NBA Picks | Southpaw
Kevin Durant is 6 10 at least. Kendrick Perkins is that tall, and KD is taller than him by an inch or more:
Kevin Durant appears to be taller because of his long skinny frame but if he and lebron was to stand back to back there would only be about a 2 inch height difference one inch makes a huge height difference standing side by side
Kevin Durant: 6’10 1/2
Lebron James: 6’8
Carmelo Anthony: 6’7 1/2
Kobe Bryant: 6’5 3/4
Dewayne wade: 6’3 3/4
Blake griffin: 6’9
Steve Nash is not 6’3 lol more like 6’1
Nba players are anywhere from 1-2 inches listed over there normal height because basketball shoes give you more height and doubled socks
At 205cm I have to say the fact that you all want to be taller is hilarious and/or misguided. What benefits do you think of coming from being tall? Sure I enjoyed playing college basketball, but after that you enter the real world and the real world is just not designed for tall people. We have shorter lifespans, we have increased likelihood of chronic disease, we cannot fit into standard locations (cars, airplanes, desks, etc.) without great flexibility or compromise.
It is not that it is all cracked up to be…
Being beyond the 110th Percentile in height in the U.S. I can say that I would much rather have grown to 6’3 or 6’4. The world can accommodate that person much easier than it can me…
Heck, even at 5’11+, like the author claims, you could go pretty much anywhere and do anything without fear of actually fitting where you are going. I would love to not have to call ahead to make such arrangements or pay more for bigger beds and custom clothing.
Be confident with your height and who you are…You will get more from that than any supplement.
FYI: I have met both Lebron and KD briefly at a fund raiser and I can tell you that Lebron is every bit of 6’8 and KD is certainly 6’11 if not 7’0. All of us were wearing dress shoes if that matters. If KD were able to fill out to even 230 lbs he would look even taller. Being lean does not help with the appearance of height as much as shoulder width and neck diameter. I have met some people taller than me that from a distance I was certain were shorter and vice-versa. Body type plays a big role.
Lebron is 203cm tall
Lebron is 203cm tall
Actually lebron is closer to 6’7 barefoot. He hasn’t grown as he is barely taller than Melo who is in the 6’6 range. I know melo for a fact. Kobe is a smidgen or so under 6’5 (closer to jordan and barkely’s heights). If anything KD has grown but I don’t see him over 6’9.5-6’10 barefoot. He is only slightly taller than ibaka and Perkins who both show 6’8 and change barefoot
You have to understand the politics when it comes to height in the NBA. The bigger the game got, the more players heights were inflated. Players height has always been and obsession in the NBA (as this article kind of indicates lol). Eventually players were listed at their height in shoes always rounded up, but it has gotten more ridiculous. You can get a lot of laughs from that draft express site by looking at some of these guys with and without shoe numbers recently with the invention of the “elevator shoes”.
The 6’4 sg and the 6’9 or 6’10 pf is a running joke. Wade listing actually makes sense using their usual method of listing. Dion Waiters was 6’2.5 without shoes and 6’4 exactly at the combine. Kevin love was 6’7.75 and 6’9.5 with shoes (which was of course rounded up lol). This is big money, and these guys have smart people around them. It’s also a pr thing as NBA teams don’t want fans second guessing their addition of an undersized player even if they know that the guy can make up for it with wingspan, and overall talent.
Sorry if I’m rambling, but Durants listed height is actually very interesting/complicated. I have followed both of their careers closely since both entered the league. Lebron grew but no more than an inch, so he is one of the few guys listed at his legitimate barefoot heights like they listed in the old days. Although Durant is a little older he was a boy and lebron was a man regarding physical maturity. Durant most likely grew an inch and a half.
Durants listing is one of the few examples of a player listing not just his barefoot height but his shortest barefoot measurement available after high school/college. Durant is a perimeter player who only wants to be thought of as a highly skilled perimeter player, not a 6’11 guy in the high and low post. Kevin Garnett did the same thing after it become somewhat clear that he grew into a true seven footer, but he didn’t want to be listed as such because they’re know to be brute centers who play strictly in the low post. Before lebron slimed down to about the 260 range a few years ago he was pushing around 280 for a perimeter player, they still list him at 240 usually. It’s rare but sometimes these freakish athletes downplay their measureables because they think it interferes with how they want to play.
Pingback: Lebron James HeightPzAvd News | PzAvd News
I have seen some other pictures of LeBron and Carmelo.According to the picture carmelo was really way high from lebron.it seems that carmelo was about 5cm taller than lebron of course they were standing face to face.so based on picture carmelo is taller than lebron however carmelo is 203cm and also he is as tall as lebron on regular basis.