Can Wembanyam Play More than 500 NBA Games -- Probably Not.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

I was listening to a prospect profile podcast about Webanyama, and one of the hosts made a very sad, but startling point. Yao Ming did not even play a full 500 regular season games in the NBA during his career (486 regular season, 28 playoffs). So, I decided to take a look at the tallest players in NBA history to see how many players 7'3" or above managed this feat.

If Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_players_in_National_Basketball_Ass ociation_history) is to be believed, it looks like the total number is 6. They are:

Mark Eaton, 7'4", 875 games
Rick Smits, 7'4", 867 games
Shawn Bradley, 7'6", 832 games
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, 7'3", 771 Games
Randy Breuer, 7'3", 681 games
Manute Bol, 7'7", 625 games


None of these players averaged 30 minutes or more per game for their careers, with the typical range being 28 mpg to 18 mpg. Simply put, human beings are not meant to be that tall, and for that reason, I struggle to see Wemby playing more than 7 or 8 seasons in the NBA for his entire career. I understand why the Spurs still need to select him number one overall, but I dont think he's a guy you can truly build a franchise around -- at least not for more than 5 or 6 seasons.

I really, really hope to be wrong.

[Mr. Body]

David Robinson only played in 987 games.

[Mr. Body]

Some of those guys played the equivalent of 10 seasons. That doesn't seem minor to me.

[DesignatedT]

Advances in science and the way Wembanyama has been training for this at a very young age puts him a step above all those guys. Not to mention he also carries a lot less weight then most of those that you listed. Don't think anyone is expecting him to have a 19 year career like Duncan but there's no reason to think he can't play 10-15 seasons if he continues to take care of himself and has a little luck along the way.

[spurraider21]

wemby is extremely dedicated to his physical condition the way lebron has been, with a pretty expansive and dedicated staff looking out for him. hes not some lazy fatfuck like zion

[daslicer]

I have the attitude of that we'll see what happens. If he can't then it is what it is. I'm just going to enjoy the next several years and see what he brings to the table.

[Obstructed_View]

Spursfan: Victor's body will break down!

Also Spursfan: Victor needs to put on 30 lbs of muscle!

[Obstructed_View]

A note to Spurs fans: Don't listen to Rockets podcasts. They are bitter AF right now. :lol

[Leetonidas]

Wemby has zero in common with any of those players besides his height. Not only that, but the sample of players his size is so small that you can't draw any real conclusions from it. Like who gives a shit if Yao couldn't stay on the court? That has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not Wemby will

[JPB]

Already discussed in another thread...

- There are much more if you consider the euro players who had a career un Europe before and/after the NBA...
- All the guys mentioned were stiffs (Yao wasn't honestly that skilled of a player, he was just tall) and their value diminished with age.
-they mostly played more than 15 years ago or more.
- They weren't prepared since they were 15.
-They didn't have Guillaume Aulquier to watch their toes.
- They weren't Wemby.

[John B]

I was listening to a prospect profile podcast about Webanyama, and one of the hosts made a very sad, but startling point. Yao Ming did not even play a full 500 regular season games in the NBA during his career (486 regular season, 28 playoffs). So, I decided to take a look at the tallest players in NBA history to see how many players 7'3" or above managed this feat.

If Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_players_in_National_Basketball_Ass ociation_history) is to be believed, it looks like the total number is 6. They are:

Mark Eaton, 7'4", 875 games
Rick Smits, 7'4", 867 games
Shawn Bradley, 7'6", 832 games
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, 7'3", 771 Games
Randy Breuer, 7'3", 681 games
Manute Bol, 7'7", 625 games


None of these players averaged 30 minutes or more per game for their careers, with the typical range being 28 mpg to 18 mpg. Simply put, human beings are not meant to be that tall, and for that reason, I struggle to see Wemby playing more than 7 or 8 seasons in the NBA for his entire career. I understand why the Spurs still need to select him number one overall, but I dont think he's a guy you can truly build a franchise around -- at least not for more than 5 or 6 seasons.

I really, really hope to be wrong.

I doubt Wemby plays Center as the players on your list, but instead a SF/PF type. So yes I’m sure he could play over 500 games like KD has.

[LeBowen]

Not going to lie, these injury takes are getting so fucking annoying.

Almost every NBA player got injured at some point, comparing Wembanyama with players that have completely different builds and played decades ago is just straight up dumb.

Yeah, he might get injured, he might be an ironman, there's nothing we can do about it.

As already said, he's on Lebron level when it comes to taking care of himself. If he gets injured, well, shit happens.

But all the clickbaity articles and videos guaranteed that he'll get injured are disgusting.

[MultiTroll]

I was listening to a prospect profile podcast about Webanyama, and one of the hosts made a very sad, but startling point. Yao Ming did not even play a full 500 regular season games in the NBA during his career (486 regular season, 28 playoffs). So, I decided to take a look at the tallest players in NBA history to see how many players 7'3" or above managed this feat.

If Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_players_in_National_Basketball_Ass ociation_history) is to be believed, it looks like the total number is 6. They are:

Mark Eaton, 7'4", 875 games
Rick Smits, 7'4", 867 games
Shawn Bradley, 7'6", 832 games
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, 7'3", 771 Games
Randy Breuer, 7'3", 681 games
Manute Bol, 7'7", 625 games


None of these players averaged 30 minutes or more per game for their careers, with the typical range being 28 mpg to 18 mpg. Simply put, human beings are not meant to be that tall, and for that reason, I struggle to see Wemby playing more than 7 or 8 seasons in the NBA for his entire career. I understand why the Spurs still need to select him number one overall, but I dont think he's a guy you can truly build a franchise around -- at least not for more than 5 or 6 seasons.

I really, really hope to be wrong.
Nice post and you could not have made it any more clear, you are the messenger not the message.

Here's hoping Wembys strength management team keeps it real for as long as possible.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I was listening to a prospect profile podcast about Webanyama, and one of the hosts made a very sad, but startling point. Yao Ming did not even play a full 500 regular season games in the NBA during his career (486 regular season, 28 playoffs). So, I decided to take a look at the tallest players in NBA history to see how many players 7'3" or above managed this feat.

If Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_players_in_National_Basketball_Ass ociation_history) is to be believed, it looks like the total number is 6. They are:

Mark Eaton, 7'4", 875 games
Rick Smits, 7'4", 867 games
Shawn Bradley, 7'6", 832 games
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, 7'3", 771 Games
Randy Breuer, 7'3", 681 games
Manute Bol, 7'7", 625 games


None of these players averaged 30 minutes or more per game for their careers, with the typical range being 28 mpg to 18 mpg. Simply put, human beings are not meant to be that tall, and for that reason, I struggle to see Wemby playing more than 7 or 8 seasons in the NBA for his entire career. I understand why the Spurs still need to select him number one overall, but I dont think he's a guy you can truly build a franchise around -- at least not for more than 5 or 6 seasons.

I really, really hope to be wrong.

The denominator is 25. IOW out of 25 7-3+ players to ever play in the NBA 6 of them went on to have 8+ year careers.

The problem is lack of context. What do you think the average success rate is for players that are shorter held to the same standard? I guarantee you it is less than the 17% here.

[TekXX]

Kareem Abdul-Jabaar 7'2- 19 seasons

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The average NBA career is 4.5 years.

[MultiTroll]

- All the guys mentioned were stiffs (Yao wasn't honestly that skilled of a player, he was just tall) and their value diminished with age.
Psssh Yao went toe to toe with Fatquile and got the better of him more then once.
Many times dealt a loss by LakerRef, in one of the prime LakerRef eras.
Also played in the era of Prime Timmy Duncan with ditto on GNob and Parker.
The hell were you expecting Yao to do?

Also i believe the Chink gov't forced Yao to play for the National team every summer. Could be wrong.

Nonetheless Yao was a legit All Star and no way in hell the NBA was going to let Houston rise during the Kobme Snaq erz.

[CorrectCrusader]

Victors body type is closest to Kareem. He will be FINE. Can we stop worrying about potential injuries until it looks like he may be injury prone? He just played 70 games in france.

[Spursfanfromafar]

I was listening to a prospect profile podcast about Webanyama, and one of the hosts made a very sad, but startling point. Yao Ming did not even play a full 500 regular season games in the NBA during his career (486 regular season, 28 playoffs). So, I decided to take a look at the tallest players in NBA history to see how many players 7'3" or above managed this feat.

If Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_players_in_National_Basketball_Ass ociation_history) is to be believed, it looks like the total number is 6. They are:

Mark Eaton, 7'4", 875 games
Rick Smits, 7'4", 867 games
Shawn Bradley, 7'6", 832 games
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, 7'3", 771 Games
Randy Breuer, 7'3", 681 games
Manute Bol, 7'7", 625 games


None of these players averaged 30 minutes or more per game for their careers, with the typical range being 28 mpg to 18 mpg. Simply put, human beings are not meant to be that tall, and for that reason, I struggle to see Wemby playing more than 7 or 8 seasons in the NBA for his entire career. I understand why the Spurs still need to select him number one overall, but I dont think he's a guy you can truly build a franchise around -- at least not for more than 5 or 6 seasons.

I really, really hope to be wrong.

Why keep the lower end arbitrarily at 7'3''.. Whats the scientific reason for that?

'Cos if you drop to 7'2'', you will enter Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/ Dikembe Mutombo territory and not very far off from Robert Parish (7' 1''). And KA-J played 1,560 games, Mutombo: 1,196 games and Parish - 1,611 (!) games.

'Cos if you then look at what Abdul-Jabbar and Mutombo did to have long careers, one might understand that they had far better work ethics and basketball regimens over time than the list you have put up with the lower limit at 7'3''.

[Maddog]

It's been pointed out and it's definitely a concern.
On the other hand the denominator is quite small and many of these players where just not very good.
Smits was playing 79 games and 22 playoffs at age 33- he allegedly had problems with his feet- but listed as nerve problems from bad shoes as young player. I'm little uncertain about that.
Big Z played until 35.
Sabonis 7'3" played 78 games at age 38 despite a ton of injuries early his career and probably sub optimal care.

Kareem not far off the height as mentioned earlier played 19 seasons
Wemby's commitment to fitness seems to be more in line with Kareem than the others.
So fingers crossed

[baseline bum]

I was listening to a prospect profile podcast about Webanyama, and one of the hosts made a very sad, but startling point. Yao Ming did not even play a full 500 regular season games in the NBA during his career (486 regular season, 28 playoffs). So, I decided to take a look at the tallest players in NBA history to see how many players 7'3" or above managed this feat.

If Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_players_in_National_Basketball_Ass ociation_history) is to be believed, it looks like the total number is 6. They are:

Mark Eaton, 7'4", 875 games
Rick Smits, 7'4", 867 games
Shawn Bradley, 7'6", 832 games
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, 7'3", 771 Games
Randy Breuer, 7'3", 681 games
Manute Bol, 7'7", 625 games


None of these players averaged 30 minutes or more per game for their careers, with the typical range being 28 mpg to 18 mpg. Simply put, human beings are not meant to be that tall, and for that reason, I struggle to see Wemby playing more than 7 or 8 seasons in the NBA for his entire career. I understand why the Spurs still need to select him number one overall, but I dont think he's a guy you can truly build a franchise around -- at least not for more than 5 or 6 seasons.

I really, really hope to be wrong.

Yao Ming's career was ended by being forced to play through a stress fracture in his foot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. If Durant was from China and had the communist government expecting him to play through his stress fracture to glorify them on their showcase to the world he would have probably been out of the league years ago too. I also find that 7'3" number to be conveniently cherry picked since there were some very high end 7'2" players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dikembe Mutombo, and Artis Gilmore who played long and successful HOF careers.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

Spursfan: Victor's body will break down!

Also Spursfan: Victor needs to put on 30 lbs of muscle!

I think best case scenario for Victor is to be skinny strong like KG. I dont think his feet will hold up if he bulks beyond that.

[RC_Drunkford]

here come the cliff jumpers

[RobinsontoDuncan]

Why keep the lower end arbitrarily at 7'3''.. Whats the scientific reason for that?

'Cos if you drop to 7'2'', you will enter Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/ Dikembe Mutombo territory and not very far off from Robert Parish (7' 1''). And KA-J played 1,560 games, Mutombo: 1,196 games and Parish - 1,611 (!) games.

'Cos if you then look at what Abdul-Jabbar and Mutombo did to have long careers, one might understand that they had far better work ethics and basketball regimens over time than the list you have put up with the lower limit at 7'3''.

Every measurement listing I've seen on Wemby has him between 7'3" and 7'5"

[rjv]

A note to Spurs fans: Don't listen to Rockets podcasts. They are bitter AF right now. :lol

rockets fans before the lottery-wemby will change this franchise and lead us back to greatness! he's going to be the next dream!

rockets fans after the lottery-wemby will never live up to the hype and is bound to have an injury plagued career.

[R. DeMurre]

:lol The percentage of posters who focus on the injury potential for Wembanyama has declined dramatically since the Spurs landed the #1 pick.

[exstatic]

:lol The percentage of posters who focus on the injury potential for Wembanyama has declined dramatically since the Spurs landed the #1 pick.

I don't remember many paying it much attention, and personally thought it was a dumb trope even before the lottery.

[R. DeMurre]

This article is older (from 2011) but still very interesting: https://weaksideawareness.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/average-nba-career-length-for-players-details/

Here's one excerpt from it:

BTW, dimension also matters… average careers for players with…

Height of 7 feet or more = 5.78 seasons.
Height from 6-7 to 6-11 = 5.43 seasons.
Height from 6-3 to 6-6 = 4.51 seasons.
Height 6-2 or below = 4.12 seasons.

[polandprzem]

Already discussed in another thread...

- There are much more if you consider the euro players who had a career un Europe before and/after the NBA...
- All the guys mentioned were stiffs (Yao wasn't honestly that skilled of a player, he was just tall) and their value diminished with age.
-they mostly played more than 15 years ago or more.
- They weren't prepared since they were 15.
-They didn't have Guillaume Aulquier to watch their toes.
- They weren't Wemby.
:lol

[spurraider21]

:lol The percentage of posters who focus on the injury potential for Wembanyama has declined dramatically since the Spurs landed the #1 pick.
what injury potential?

[Arcadian]

You just never know. Most NBA players in general don't play 500 games. Short guys get injured too. At least the modern NBA has more rules in place to prevent it.

Tbh, I do hate the fact that there will be a constant anxiety about this guy's health. Every time he bumps into another player, every time he falls down, every time he lands after a dunk - we're gonna be worried for a moment. :lol

[couchman]

One thing that may help is that Wemby is resisting any though of “bulking up,” which I think would be bad for him. He needs to keep his weight reasonably low so that his long bones, ligaments, and tendons aren’t facing unusual stress as compared to shorter players.

[offset formation]

Aside from Bol and Bradley, all those dudes were pretty freaking stout and carried a lot of weight. Not to.mention that Wembanyama has been receiving state of the art physical therapy and management/training on his body since he was 14.

His tendons and ligaments are as well suited for this basketball endeavor as anyone his size could possibly be.

I'm less worried about a foot / ankle injury with him than I am a knee getting rolled into on a meaningless rebound that rips his knee to shreds.

[Obstructed_View]

I think best case scenario for Victor is to be skinny strong like KG. I dont think his feet will hold up if he bulks beyond that.
Some people don't seem to have seen Victor play. He's immensely strong. He blocks guys and they go to the ground. They didn't lose in the last round because he got overpowered, they lost because they don't have as many good players.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

Some people don't seem to have seen Victor play. He's immensely strong. He blocks guys and they go to the ground. They didn't lose in the last round because he got overpowered, they lost because they don't have as many good players.

I agree with that. I’ve been watching his tape a lot since the Spurs won the lottery, and tried to catch as many of his playoff games as possible. I think he could stand to add some leg and core strength, but his biggest issues on the offensive end were more rawness than power.

[KingKev]

here come the cliff jumpers

hahah preach my brother! Injuries are apart of the game but I trust PATFO to manage Wemby best they can.

[polandprzem]

I hear that dude is one in generation :D
So tbh all nba team this season is a must, but I hear that he will have minutes restrictions and ppl gonna pray he will not broke.

Looks like he is made of glass and ppl still do not want him to hit the gym :lol

NBA is bit different then French league. I have not seen him being such a force so ... this hype train is n ot for me. I need to see some proof.

[CorrectCrusader]

I hear that dude is one in generation :D
So tbh all nba team this season is a must, but I hear that he will have minutes restrictions and ppl gonna pray he will not broke.

Looks like he is made of glass and ppl still do not want him to hit the gym :lol

NBA is bit different then French league. I have not seen him being such a force so ... this hype train is n ot for me. I need to see some proof.

The french league is miles more physical than the NBA.

[024]

Quietly hoped for the 2nd pick because of this reason. Would have taken the pressure off since the Spurs couldnt draft Wemby anyways. Scoot seems like a sure fire all-star with a superstar ceiling.

Not to say Wemby can't beat the odds and have a long and healthy career but you would have to ignore history. It's quite the gamble to draft Wemby but you got to do it. This could easily look like Oden vs Durant in retrospect.

[InRareForm]

And you might win 2-5 titles

[itzsoweezee]

Luckily, the science athletes use to care and repair and improve their bodies has progressed tremendously over the past few decades. Your examples, therefore, aren’t predicative of anything regarding wemby’s future

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

This was certainly a concern of mine as well, but hearing more about how he trains, and the bevy of trainers he surrounds himself with, I think he's got the potential to break that mold. And, being a lighter center, and likely not to take the same degree of pounding as big men from the past, I would put his injury risk the same as any other NBA prospect.

[Obstructed_View]

Luckily, the science athletes use to care and repair and improve their bodies has progressed tremendously over the past few decades. Your examples, therefore, aren’t predicative of anything regarding wemby’s future
And the Spurs are in the process of building a world-class human performance research center. It will be up and running by Victor's first game as a Spur.

[Dingle Barry]

Aside from Bol and Bradley, all those dudes were pretty freaking stout and carried a lot of weight. Not to.mention that Wembanyama has been receiving state of the art physical therapy and management/training on his body since he was 14.

His tendons and ligaments are as well suited for this basketball endeavor as anyone his size could possibly be.

I'm less worried about a foot / ankle injury with him than I am a knee getting rolled into on a meaningless rebound that rips his knee to shreds.

Knees are routinely permanently repaired these days. Below the knee ailments common to the giga tall players such as stress fractures are not so much and tend to be chronic. Wemby already has had a fibular stress fracture. I think lower body stress fractures are the primary concern with him but unlike OP and some others, I'm not gonna piss my pants worrying about it. He and his people have been handling him correctly by diligently focusing on flexibility.

[JPB]

Psssh Yao went toe to toe with Fatquile and got the better of him more then once.
Many times dealt a loss by LakerRef, in one of the prime LakerRef eras.
Also played in the era of Prime Timmy Duncan with ditto on GNob and Parker.
The hell were you expecting Yao to do?

Also i believe the Chink gov't forced Yao to play for the National team every summer. Could be wrong.

Nonetheless Yao was a legit All Star and no way in hell the NBA was going to let Houston rise during the Kobme Snaq erz.

Sure, Yao may have been an all star but if you ask people the part of his game they liked or what made him great, that's where things get tricky... He was no Olajuwon or Duncan, just a tall guy with good hands, pretty slow and living under the basket...He would be basically useless today.

[MultiTroll]

Sure, Yao may have been an all star but if you ask people the part of his game they liked or what made him great, that's where things get tricky... He was no Olajuwon or Duncan, just a tall guy with good hands, pretty slow and living under the basket...He would be basically useless today.
2nd play of the Tube, Yao stroking a trey. Looks 100 natural.
Not his fault the coaching of that time discourage Center Treys.

https://youtu.be/Ve3H4tYj47c?t=7