As a coach of a high school basketball team, I would play the young aspiring players on my team one on one and have no trouble beating every one of them, as I still played a lot of basketball. After kicking their buts they would ask me coach why didn’t you play Pro or the NBA? I would laugh, and tell them you have no clue what it takes to make it, as even I know that the talent in the NBA is from another planet.
How hard is it to make it to the NBA? Making the NBA is every basketball player’s dream, the odds of this dream are 3 out of 10,000 high school athletes fulfill this dream. Around 1200 athletes play Division 1 college basketball each year with around 50 being drafted out of 60 spots in the NBA draft. This doesn’t even guarantee that a player will play a single game in the NBA.
Today’s NBA players are well rounded in every aspect of their game but will tend to have one attribute that stands out that makes them the player that they are, increasing their chances of getting drafted. So let’s dive in and take a look at some numbers and see what it takes, there are a lot of opinions and theories as to what a player needs to do to make it to the league, see if you agree.
The NBA is Every Aspiring Basketball Players Dream
Everyone has a story, everyone has a dream. If you grew up watching or playing basketball then like me your dream may have been to make it to the NBA. Little did we know how impossible it was or how far away you were from achieving this goal, and that’s okay. Dreaming big dreams is not a terrible thing to do in fact what’ the worse that can happen. You don’t make it to the NBA but you manage to play college basketball, go to school for free and now you have a sweet paying job.
Or maybe now you are playing professional basketball, or running camps and coaching while being paid to do so. Had you not dreamed this impossible dream then none of which you had right now would be possible. As the quote goes Shoot for the moon. If you miss it, you will still land among the stars. So just how hard is it to make the NBA?
Odds of making it to the NBA
There are around 500,000 high school boys basketball players in America each year, around 16000 of these players will play college basketball, whether that is Division 1,2,3 Junior College etc. 110 of these college players will play at least one NBA game in their career. So the odds of a male basketball player making it to the NBA is 1 in 3333 or 0.03%.
Many of the players that make it to the NBA are starting on their varsity team as a freshman or sophomore. Playing at a competitive level in high school you need to be averaging over 20 points a game easily with a double in rebounds or assists. They also are ranked in the top 100 of their class. The closer to the top 10 the better their chances. While being in the top 10 is almost a guarantee that a player will make the NBA. If you are shorter than 6 feet 7 inches the odds are lower even if you are in the top 10.
Being ranked in the top 100 class is going to get you noticed and put on the map. That athlete has a much better chance of making the NBA than the athlete who isn’t ranked. They will get scholarship offers from very prestigious Division 1 schools and will further better their chances while being on a good college team with excellent coaches. That alone will not guarantee a roster spot in the NBA but it is an easier path to accomplish the dream that every kid has.
Height Matters A Lot
Let’s face it the average height in the NBA is 6 feet 7 inches tall and the average weight is around 220 lbs. If you are under 6 feet 7 your odds of making it are much worse, especially if you are under 6 feet tall, right now there are only one or two players who are under 6 feet tall in the NBA.
That should say a lot about a league that is made up of over 400 players. The average male in North America is 5 feet 9 inches. At this height alone you have one position you could possibly play and that is the point guard position. Everyone that is your height to around 6 feet 9 inches tall is playing this position. My question to any athlete that is average in height is what do you have that a 6 foot 5 player doesn’t have. What can you bring to a team that no one else can, while making up for the lack of height you don’t have.
I hope it’s explosive speed and quickness no one can match you on the court. Court vision and passing ability are superior to your peers while also being able to shoot outside shot with ease. While even that may not be enough but it’s a good start.
Usually, at the height of 5 feet 9 there is a very big problem if you want to play in the NBA, and that is on the defensive end. You are limited based on your genetic makeup, with your short arms and length to get to where you need to be on the defensive side of the floor. Many teams will not draft a small player due to being a defensive liability. A much taller player can shoot over you and there is nothing you can do about it.
Taller than 6 feet 7 and having the ability to be able to move like a guard is a way you could make the NBA. The sad part is that there are very few 6 feet, 7 athletes, when compared to the rest of the population. While there are far fewer 6 feet 7 or taller athletes that are able to move like elite level guards of the same height in the NBA.
A player like Javale McGee made the NBA because of his height and his jumping ability that has allowed him to be a defensive threat on the court. But the days will be gone where players are just good at one thing, on the basketball court. It is apparent that players are not only athletic but are able to shoot the outside shot now that the NBA has been changing to an outside game where it seems the game of basketball is controlled by three-pointers.
Athletic Freak
Some athletes are just born gifted with the perfect genetic makeup, not only are they tall they can run fast and jump out of the gym. Although there are things the average athlete can do to improve their athletic ability like working out with weights and plyometrics. It is a must when you’re competing with top-level talent. If your a smaller athlete you may need to put on some muscle mass so you are not overpowered on defense. Think of players like Isaiah Thomas and Nate Robinson.
I am willing to bet every athlete is freakishly athletic in some way in the NBA when compared to the average player. They can do things not only on the basketball court but surprisingly in other sports too.
Steve Nash was not the most athletic point guard in the NBA and didn’t look like it one bit. But if I told you I had a friend who was a genetic freak of an athlete in high school who got to play Steve Nash one on one game.
My friend was the number one player in the province I lived in and was the best basketball player I had ever seen while at the time Nash had just entered the league riding the bench with the Dallas Mavericks. They played one on one at a Nike I.D. camp when Steve Nash was there and to my friends surprised he and anyone else could not get by Steve Nash. Hopefully, that puts things in retrospect of how gifted most athletes in the NBA are when it comes to physical capabilities. It was also rumored that Steve Nash had pursued soccer instead of basketball he would have played professionally also.
It Pays To Be Lucky
It is quite obvious that players in the NBA at some point during junior high and high school, go through a growth spurt. Many NBA players who were much smaller in high school worked tirelessly on their fundamentals to keep up with their competition. In doing so they were already one of the best on the court at scoring and ball-handling etc.
When they finally went through a growth spurt they grew much taller, this helped them become bigger on the court because their body matured, they became stronger, faster and now can play with players as tall as them.
And because these players worked on their skill set as when they were small guards, not relying on their height as they were just average. Their games improved and that is what separated them from the competition. C.J. McCollum is a classic example of this, he was 5 feet 3 inches tall in his freshman year of high school and was able to go through a growth spurt at the perfect time to have colleges recruit him before the end of his senior year.
Reality Of the NBA
You are either born with these god giving gifts, that seem out of this world to the average person or you’re not at all. Just like height, these unnoticed attributes can not be attained. Maybe this is why you see a lot of NBA players and their sons making the league, passing down the genetic code to their offspring.
The reality of making it to the NBA is this, even if the stars align and you are 6 feet 9 inches tall and can jump out of the gym and you have a very good shot at making it, working hard would be the last ingredient, but here’s the catch, how hard are you willing to work and what are you willing to sacrifice. I’ll tell you right now you wouldn’t be here reading this article if that was the case, you would be working out.
But even then you could do everything right, but along the way get injured and lose out your spot to a bigger better athlete. If haven’t watched the movie HOOP DREAMS, you should do so. It involves two athletes in junior high in which a camera crew follows them throughout their basketball career. There is a lot of questions that are answered that you may have never thought about. The documentary is from the early 90s but still holds true today in some regards. Well worth the watch.
Basketball IQ
The most underrated attribute that most athletes do not work on when it comes to their game is their basketball I.Q. In fact how could they if they have no idea what they should be studying or looking for? Think of it as starting a new course in school, if the isn’t a teacher in the class how do you know what you are supposed to be working on or how to solve a problem. Generally, if a player can surround themselves with top-level coaches and elite level players they are way ahead of the game.
Using Steve Nash as an example, I am sure we can make an argument that Nash wasn’t your ideal NBA player. He was undersized as a guard standing at 6’3 and we all know that was probably with shoes on. He wasn’t very athletic in terms of other NBA players and he sure wasn’t anything special on defense.
While it took him a while to start to make a name for himself, what Steve Nash had that no other player could compare with him is his ability to see the floor and his basketball I.Q. That alone is the reason he stayed in the leagues so long, won two MVP’s and now is the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
If one athlete is working on their game and basketball I.Q at the same time but another athlete who just works on their game you get two different athletes. I think there are many athletes who can be considered the same skill level as someone on the court but what sets one or the other apart is how they approach the game of basketball and use their I.Q. Just like a job, not just anyone gets hired as a Manager or a Boss. The ones that work hard move up and use their head will get there over the rest.