ESPN Analysis of NBA Player Skills

To analyze one of the best playmakers in the NBA draft, we brought former UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball into the ESPN Sports Science Lab. At 6'6", Lonzo is more than 3 inches taller than the average NBA point guard. And this length helps Lonzo drop dimes. In our lab, he consistently identifies the open target in less than half a second. And using his long levers, he's able to launch passes as fast as 38 miles per hour in just 21 hundredths of a second. That's about 40% less time than it typically takes Aaron Rodgers to get off a pass. But in order to truly test Lonzo's passing skills, we enlisted his brothers, D'Angelo and LaMelo. And of course, That's that big baller style, baby! his His dad, LaVar. And we swapped the hardwood for the blacktop. What we're going to do is literally have you pass through traffic. Whoa, wait a minute. With the car moving? With it actually moving. Oh, man. This is serious business now. Let's go. That's my home. Get Johnny. That's what I'm talking about, creativity. Let's go, Mello. So with LeVar behind the wheel. What if that ball of Ritchie Shane hit you right in your face? Lonzo will have to whip the ball through two small, two foot wide windows to complete the pass. Woo! Ready? Go! As the SUV approaches at more than 10 miles per hour, Lonzo leads his target by nearly four feet. This trajectory causes the ball to enter the SUV less than three inches from its grab handle. As he fires this pass at more than 31 miles per hour, it's able to clear the next window with less than three hundredths of a second to spare. That means if Lonzo launched this pass just one mile per hour slower, this ball gets jammed up in traffic. How did that feel? Felt good, you know? I got the best passer in the nation, baby. You know what I'm talking about. Amazing. Hey, any other stuff you come up with that ingenious attitude, come see the ball, boys. We'll do it. You're on. In college, Lonzo Ball shot a respectable 41% from the three-point line. But how will his unique jumper hold up at the next level? Find out. We brought him into the ESPN Sports Science Lab and wired him up with a state-of-the-art motion capture suit. Now compared to a more traditional form, like Steph Curry's, in Lonzo's shooting motion, the ball has to travel about 20% farther to get to its release point. And because he brings it up from his left side... Before he starts to flick his wrist, his right forearm sits about 50 degrees from the ideal vertical position. But just 12 hundredths of a second before he lets go, Lonzo rotates his right hand directly. behind the ball's vertical equator. This normalizes his shot's trajectory, and it allows him to impart almost the optimal amount of backspin on the ball. Now, at times, when his shot is rushed, he can't fully rotate his hand. And because launch velocity accounts for the majority of shooting errors, this sideways release can increase his chances of missing left or right. But what should keep launching is the ability Lonzo's shot effective in the NBA is that his quick release usually gives him enough time to finish this last-second adjustment. In fact, even with these unorthodox mechanics, he's able to consistently get his shot off about 13% quicker than the NBA average. That's only two hundredths of a second behind the release of Golden State's Klay Thompson. Magic Johnson recently called Rajon Rondo the best point guard in the NBA. But what exactly elevates Rondo's game and sets him apart? Rondo takes it away! Rondo has the quickness and agility of a classic point guard. but he actually has the reach more like a big man. According to Da Vinci's study of human proportions, Rondo's wingspan should be the same as his height, 6 feet 1 inch. But his wingspan is not the same as his height. is a ridiculous 6 feet 9 inches. Those extra 8 inches make his wingspan 11% longer than normal, and a big reason Ronda led the NBA this season in steals. Ronda takes it away! And at the end of those long arms are giant hands, 9 inches long and 10 inches wide. That's more than... two inches longer, and three inches wider than the average male hand. In fact, Rondo's hands are actually larger than LeBron's. And amazingly, according to Da Vinci's calculations, Rondo's hands are proportionate to a man taller than Yao Ming. Those large hands help him control the ball, whether he's running the floor, grabbing rebounds, or dishing out assists. He has taken the game over. On this play, the extra-long lever formed by his arm and shoulder, nearly 34 inches long, allows him to whip the ball 180 degrees around his back in a 5-foot arc, compared Compared to the distance a football travels in an elite quarterback's throwing motion, the basketball travels a longer distance than the football in a shorter amount of time. Only 283 milliseconds. And defenders are left with a handful of air. The NBA championship could come down to who can grab that critical rebound, make a steal, or snag a loose ball. And analyzing the matchup between the point guards, even though Rondo and Derek Fisher are the same height, Rondo's wingspan is half a foot longer. For Sports Science on ESPN, I'm John Brinkus. Entering the ESPN Sports Science Lab is one of the top prospects in this year's NBA Draft. Duke's Brandon Ingram. At 6'9", with a 7-foot 3-inch wingspan, Ingram has a standing reach more than 9 feet above the ground. That's the same reach as the NBA's leading rebounder, Andre Drummond, even though Ingram is two inches shorter. And this length gives him tremendous defensive potential. With a 12-foot high max touch, Ingram's defensive range spans more than 3,600 cubic feet. That's actually larger than the range of Kevin Durant. Now, offensively, Ingram is one of the draft's best shooters. During a typical shot, Ingram cocks his arm back at about a 58 degree angle, and he aligns the ball almost directly over his right hip. This form, similar to the shot of former MVP Dirk Nowitzki, helps keep his elbow near vertical as he launches the ball. To test out Ingram's excellent mechanics hold up in tight quarters, we put him through our phone booth test. These walls will reduce his range of motion and obstruct his vision during his shot. I've never done any tests like this before, so I hope I do well. This blocks his view of the hoop for more than a third of his shooting motion. Studies have shown in precision-based tasks, shorter visual fixations can increase excess muscle activity and reduce accuracy by more than two percent. 25%. But despite the visual challenge, and with less than six inches of space to his left or right, Ingram stays locked in and knocks down 70% of his shots. And get this, even though Ingram's arms are 38 inches long, his release is just 20 milliseconds slower than the release of one of the best shooters in the NBA, the Warriors'Klay Thompson. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm John Brinkus. In the 2011 NBA slam dunk contest, the Washington Wizards'JaVale McGee pulled off simultaneous dunks on side-by-side baskets. To dissect this double feature, we brought McGee. into the ESPN Sports Science Lab. Standing 7 feet tall, McGee has a wingspan we measured at a ridiculous 7 feet 6 inches. This is the largest... documented wingspan of any current NBA player. And it's a wider reach than the height of one of the tallest players in NBA history, Yao Ming. With arms that can cover 244 cubic feet and an impressive 31 and 1 inch vertical leap, McGee is one of the league's top shot blockers. Our question is, how does he use those physical gifts to pull off his radical? Double dunk. Studies have shown that humans are actually incapable of truly multitasking. Rather, we rapidly shift our attention from one task to another. An analysis shows that McGee first focuses on Paul's the alley-oop with his right hand. 2 tenths of a second later, dunks with his left. And 2 tenths of a second after that, finishes the dunk on the right. And surprisingly, McGee dunks with his left hand when the The hoop is practically invisible. At a near 170 degree angle, visual acuity is reduced by more than 90%. But the particular photoreceptors of the eyes, known as rods, which dominate peripheral vision, play a large part in our brain's ability to react quickly and reorient our bodies. So although he's focusing on bucket number two, visual stimuli from the corner of his eye processed in only 5 10,000ths of a second, helped McGee sense where his body is in relation to bucket number one. If that double dunk was the main course, it's time for a little dessert, because we want McGee to attempt the world's highest cookie dunk at 11 feet. And 3, 2, 1. Nice. You could argue that JaVale McGee was born to play basketball. In fact, JaVale is the first player in the NBA whose mother played in the WNBA. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm John Brinkus. LeBron's instantly legendary Game 7 chase down block begins when he's 88 feet away from the opposing hoop. As the play develops, LeBron covers the first 60 feet of his pursuit in just 2.6 seconds. That's a faster split than we measured from all-pro NFL running back Jamal Charles, who LeBron outweighs by more than 50 pounds. But despite this acceleration, when Andre Iguodala accepts the pass, he's still seven feet closer than LeBron to their eventual meeting point. LeBron is able to make up the gap with a top speed of just over 20 miles per hour and with help from J.R. Smith's defense, which delays the release by an estimated 15 hundredths of a second. At liftoff, LeBron raises his center of by 35 inches to get his hand 11 feet 5 inches off the ground and block the ball in a window of opportunity that lasts just two tenths of a second. That's less time than it takes to pop a bottle of champagne. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm John Brinkus. He's one of the most versatile players in the league. Here's why he can excel at every position on the court. First, quickness. The average player can cover the length of the court with 13 strides. LeBron can do it with just 9. And we've clocked him at over 20 miles per hour. That's as fast as NBA. speedster Chris Paul. When passing, LeBron can get off a 40 mile an hour dart in under two tenths of a second. That's twice as fast as the average NFL quarterback releases a pass. This means from 35 feet away or nearly 12 yards, LeBron can hit his man faster than Tom Brady can hit his target from the same distance. Next, technique. LeBron typically releases a shot at more than nine feet off the ground. That's higher than a stop sign. If a 6'9 defender is only three feet away, he can't even get a hand within a foot of the ball. And finally, range. The average NBA center is 6'11 with a max vertical. leap of about 31 inches, creating a range of about 3,600 cubic feet. LeBron is three inches shorter, but his estimated 40 plus inch max berth actually gives him a range that's more than five. percent greater than the average center. This helped LeBron this past regular season snag more than 74 percent of rebounds per opportunity. That's an efficiency rating better than the league's leading rebounder DeAndre Jordan. In addition to all the offensive skills that LeBron brings to the game, his defensive contributions to Cleveland's success can't be overlooked. During the regular season, the Cavs allowed 4.6 fewer points per 100 possessions when LeBron was on the court. That means when LeBron came off the bench, the Cavs went from 27th in league defensive efficiency to 15th. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm John Brink. Hey! LeBron James lost an estimated 20 pounds during the off season. Here's how that weight loss could potentially impact his play this season. By reducing his weight from roughly 270 pounds to 250, LeBron will be able to accelerate quicker when pushing off the ground with the same amount of force. This means his already elite first step could be even faster than the 0.33 seconds we clocked him at last season. But less mass also means less momentum when LeBron is driving the lane, which he did 569 times last season. And he's not going to be able to do that. If LeBron is moving at 15 miles per hour, a defender will have to impart roughly 1,800 pounds of force on a 250-pound LeBron to completely stop his forward momentum. This is about 150 pounds of force less than a 250-pound LeBron. than it took to stop him at his heavier weight, meaning LeBron might have a bit more trouble overpowering defenders this year. But the biggest impact LeBron's weight loss might have is on the rest of his career. All else being equal, LeBron's knees will experience about 7% lower peak impact forces when landing his lighter body. This means that over the course of the season, LeBron's new weight could reduce the beating his knees are subjected to on dunks alone by over 18,000 pounds of cumulative force. Now, if LeBron keeps all the weight off, and that's a big if, his knees will also benefit while he's simply running, which he does a lot. Last season, LeBron ran more than 185 miles in regular season games alone. That's equivalent to running seven marathons in just six months. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm John Brinkus. When we talk about LeBron James, MVP could stand for most versatile player. Here's why he can excel at every position on the court. First, quickness. The average player can cover the length of the court with 13 strikes. LeBron can do it with just 9. And we've clocked him at over 20 miles per hour. That's as fast as NBA... speedster Chris Paul when passing LeBron can get off a 40 mile an hour dart in under two tenths of a second that's twice as fast as the average NFL quarterback releases a pass this means from 35 feet away or nearly 12 yards LeBron can hit his man faster than Tom Brady can hit his target from the same distance Next, technique. LeBron typically releases a shot at more than nine feet off the ground. That's higher than a stop sign. If a 6'9 defender is only three feet away, he can't even get a hand within a foot of the ball. This virtually uncontestable shot is one reason LeBron's catch-and-shoot field goal percentage this season is actually better than his teammate. One of the greatest pure shooters of all time, Ray Allen. And finally, range. The average NBA center is 6'10", with a vertical leap of about 32 inches, creating a range of over 3,600 cubic feet. LeBron is 2 inches shorter, but his estimated 40-plus inch max vert actually gives him a range more than 12% greater than the average. average center. This helps LeBron snag more than 13% of all available rebounds. That's an efficiency rating in a class with the center who's five inches taller. This year's Defensive Player of the Year, Mark Gasol. In addition to all the offensive skills that LeBron James embodies, he's just as good on D. As a single isolation defender on the perimeter, LeBron has allowed less than 9 tenths of a point per possession. That's as good as defensive specialist Tony Allen. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm Jon Burns.

With a 12-foot high max touch, Ingram's defensive range spans more than 3,600 cubic feet. That's actually larger than the range of Kevin Durant. Now, offensively, Ingram is one of the draft's best shooters.

During a typical shot, Ingram cocks his arm back at about a 58 degree angle, and he aligns the ball almost directly over his right hip. This form, similar to the shot of former MVP Dirk Nowitzki, helps keep his elbow near vertical as he launches the ball. To test out Ingram's excellent mechanics hold up in tight quarters, we put him through our phone booth test. These walls will reduce his range of motion and obstruct his vision during his shot.

I've never done any tests like this before, so I hope I do well. This blocks his view of the hoop for more than a third of his shooting motion. Studies have shown in precision-based tasks, shorter visual fixations can increase excess muscle activity and reduce accuracy by more than two percent. 25%.

But despite the visual challenge, and with less than six inches of space to his left or right, Ingram stays locked in and knocks down 70% of his shots. And get this, even though Ingram's arms are 38 inches long, his release is just 20 milliseconds slower than the release of one of the best shooters in the NBA, the Warriors'Klay Thompson. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm John Brinkus. In the 2011 NBA slam dunk contest, the Washington Wizards'JaVale McGee pulled off simultaneous dunks on side-by-side baskets.

To dissect this double feature, we brought McGee. into the ESPN Sports Science Lab. Standing 7 feet tall, McGee has a wingspan we measured at a ridiculous 7 feet 6 inches. This is the largest... documented wingspan of any current NBA player.

And it's a wider reach than the height of one of the tallest players in NBA history, Yao Ming. With arms that can cover 244 cubic feet and an impressive 31 and 1 inch vertical leap, McGee is one of the league's top shot blockers. Our question is, how does he use those physical gifts to pull off his radical?

Double dunk. Studies have shown that humans are actually incapable of truly multitasking. Rather, we rapidly shift our attention from one task to another. An analysis shows that McGee first focuses on Paul's the alley-oop with his right hand.

2 tenths of a second later, dunks with his left. And 2 tenths of a second after that, finishes the dunk on the right. And surprisingly, McGee dunks with his left hand when the The hoop is practically invisible. At a near 170 degree angle, visual acuity is reduced by more than 90%.

But the particular photoreceptors of the eyes, known as rods, which dominate peripheral vision, play a large part in our brain's ability to react quickly and reorient our bodies. So although he's focusing on bucket number two, visual stimuli from the corner of his eye processed in only 5 10,000ths of a second, helped McGee sense where his body is in relation to bucket number one. If that double dunk was the main course, it's time for a little dessert, because we want McGee to attempt the world's highest cookie dunk at 11 feet. And 3, 2, 1. Nice.

You could argue that JaVale McGee was born to play basketball. In fact, JaVale is the first player in the NBA whose mother played in the WNBA. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm John Brinkus.

LeBron's instantly legendary Game 7 chase down block begins when he's 88 feet away from the opposing hoop. As the play develops, LeBron covers the first 60 feet of his pursuit in just 2.6 seconds. That's a faster split than we measured from all-pro NFL running back Jamal Charles, who LeBron outweighs by more than 50 pounds. But despite this acceleration, when Andre Iguodala accepts the pass, he's still seven feet closer than LeBron to their eventual meeting point.

LeBron is able to make up the gap with a top speed of just over 20 miles per hour and with help from J.R. Smith's defense, which delays the release by an estimated 15 hundredths of a second. At liftoff, LeBron raises his center of by 35 inches to get his hand 11 feet 5 inches off the ground and block the ball in a window of opportunity that lasts just two tenths of a second.

That's less time than it takes to pop a bottle of champagne. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm John Brinkus. He's one of the most versatile players in the league. Here's why he can excel at every position on the court. First, quickness.

The average player can cover the length of the court with 13 strides. LeBron can do it with just 9. And we've clocked him at over 20 miles per hour. That's as fast as NBA. speedster Chris Paul. When passing, LeBron can get off a 40 mile an hour dart in under two tenths of a second.

That's twice as fast as the average NFL quarterback releases a pass. This means from 35 feet away or nearly 12 yards, LeBron can hit his man faster than Tom Brady can hit his target from the same distance. Next, technique. LeBron typically releases a shot at more than nine feet off the ground. That's higher than a stop sign.

If a 6'9 defender is only three feet away, he can't even get a hand within a foot of the ball. And finally, range. The average NBA center is 6'11 with a max vertical.

leap of about 31 inches, creating a range of about 3,600 cubic feet. LeBron is three inches shorter, but his estimated 40 plus inch max berth actually gives him a range that's more than five. percent greater than the average center. This helped LeBron this past regular season snag more than 74 percent of rebounds per opportunity. That's an efficiency rating better than the league's leading rebounder DeAndre Jordan.

In addition to all the offensive skills that LeBron brings to the game, his defensive contributions to Cleveland's success can't be overlooked. During the regular season, the Cavs allowed 4.6 fewer points per 100 possessions when LeBron was on the court. That means when LeBron came off the bench, the Cavs went from 27th in league defensive efficiency to 15th.

For ESPN Sports Science, I'm John Brink. Hey! LeBron James lost an estimated 20 pounds during the off season.

Here's how that weight loss could potentially impact his play this season. By reducing his weight from roughly 270 pounds to 250, LeBron will be able to accelerate quicker when pushing off the ground with the same amount of force. This means his already elite first step could be even faster than the 0.33 seconds we clocked him at last season.

But less mass also means less momentum when LeBron is driving the lane, which he did 569 times last season. And he's not going to be able to do that. If LeBron is moving at 15 miles per hour, a defender will have to impart roughly 1,800 pounds of force on a 250-pound LeBron to completely stop his forward momentum. This is about 150 pounds of force less than a 250-pound LeBron.

than it took to stop him at his heavier weight, meaning LeBron might have a bit more trouble overpowering defenders this year. But the biggest impact LeBron's weight loss might have is on the rest of his career. All else being equal, LeBron's knees will experience about 7% lower peak impact forces when landing his lighter body.

This means that over the course of the season, LeBron's new weight could reduce the beating his knees are subjected to on dunks alone by over 18,000 pounds of cumulative force. Now, if LeBron keeps all the weight off, and that's a big if, his knees will also benefit while he's simply running, which he does a lot. Last season, LeBron ran more than 185 miles in regular season games alone.

That's equivalent to running seven marathons in just six months. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm John Brinkus. When we talk about LeBron James, MVP could stand for most versatile player. Here's why he can excel at every position on the court. First, quickness.

The average player can cover the length of the court with 13 strikes. LeBron can do it with just 9. And we've clocked him at over 20 miles per hour. That's as fast as NBA... speedster Chris Paul when passing LeBron can get off a 40 mile an hour dart in under two tenths of a second that's twice as fast as the average NFL quarterback releases a pass this means from 35 feet away or nearly 12 yards LeBron can hit his man faster than Tom Brady can hit his target from the same distance Next, technique.

LeBron typically releases a shot at more than nine feet off the ground. That's higher than a stop sign. If a 6'9 defender is only three feet away, he can't even get a hand within a foot of the ball. This virtually uncontestable shot is one reason LeBron's catch-and-shoot field goal percentage this season is actually better than his teammate.

One of the greatest pure shooters of all time, Ray Allen. And finally, range. The average NBA center is 6'10", with a vertical leap of about 32 inches, creating a range of over 3,600 cubic feet. LeBron is 2 inches shorter, but his estimated 40-plus inch max vert actually gives him a range more than 12% greater than the average. average center. This helps LeBron snag more than 13% of all available rebounds. That's an efficiency rating in a class with the center who's five inches taller. This year's Defensive Player of the Year, Mark Gasol. In addition to all the offensive skills that LeBron James embodies, he's just as good on D. As a single isolation defender on the perimeter, LeBron has allowed less than 9 tenths of a point per possession. That's as good as defensive specialist Tony Allen. For ESPN Sports Science, I'm Jon Burns.

Transcript for:ESPN Analysis of NBA Player Skills

Transcript for:
ESPN Analysis of NBA Player Skills