Not All About Size

In basketball, size is one of the biggest talent and requirement.  When you look at NBA, average height is 6’7 (2.01m) which is 10 inches(25cm) higher than average American male.  Shortest NBA player in 2019 is 5’7 which is only 2 inches shorter than average height, so it seems like if you want to be a professional, you have to be very tall.
I assume that you thought I would talk about Allen Iverson.  But actually I won’t.  This time I want to talk about a girl who became viral on social media a few years ago whose name is Jaden Newman.  If you check BALLISLIFE or MIXTAPE, you always hear about Julian Newman, and Jaden is his little sister.

When she was 5th grade, she was playing with high school students.  And in this video, she is exceptionally small.  Unlike Tacko Fall who became viral during Summer League 2019, she looks average 5th grade girl except her performance.  Her opponents looks twice bigger than her, but she is attacking like it is nothing.

Please look at how she uses her body and ball.  Her opponents have longer legs and arms, but she leaves defenders by using her quickness and handling.  When you are not tall, it is easier to turn and change the direction.  How she shoots the ball shows she knows how short she is.  Instead of getting blocked ball goes over the defender’s head.  Instead of jumping higher, she made the loop higher so that before defender reaches the ball, ball goes higher than they can touch.

This is a great motive to work on your skills.  Instead of being jealous about heights of others, you can practice what only small players can do.  Allen Iverson showed the way by winning MVP with 6 ft (1.83m).  Actual height is 5’10 (1.78m).  Let’s work on and win the 1 on 1!!