I went to high school with Michael Jordan. I am 6’3” and (am still) in great shape. Played him one day 1 on 1 - at his home, no less. We played to 10. And, despite having a cold, I won fairly easy: 10-5. No lie. Also no lie: the Michael Jordan I played that day was a skinny 5’3” white kid. Good shooter.
I went to a pickup soccer game one time. Good level of competion, mostly college players home for summer break. Some older guys too that still had a good touch. The oldest guy there was a former player for the Cameroon national team. He was in his 60s and had a knee injury so he couldn't run much. He was jogging around in the middle of the field going 10%. The ball stayed on his foot like glue and he would embarrass anyone that tried to steal it from him. Best touch I've ever seen. Can't imagine how good he was in his prime.
This is the case in pretty much every sport. I'm from the UK, and played football (soccer) against a player when we were teenagers, who ended up playing professionally in the Premier League years later. We weren't a bad team, but remember not being able to get close to this kid--he scored about 8 or 9 goals. It was only years later that I saw him playing in the Premier League that made me realise how big the gulf is. He wasn't even in the prime of his career when we played him, and he wasn't even one of the better players in the league when he was playing in the Premier League. His name is Scott Sinclair...It made me wonder how good the others are.
Eh, I mean scott sinclair LOOKED like he should've been a monster. Everyone believed he would be. The fact that his career didn't pan out is unfortunate but he seems to have had something gone wrong. By all accounts man city thought he would've been good enough for the prem.
@Ashwin Chatterji I feel you. Poole WAS that talented back then, FOR A HIGH SCHOOL KID. Poole was a late bloomer also. He spent a couple years in the G-League before the Warriors called him up for good.
@Joseph Scott Jr. I know, I was replying to someone bragging about Vanvleet balling on him, but the thing is the fact is that if Poole was *that* talented back then, Vanvleet doing well against him isn't really a huge feat.
@Ashwin Chatterji True. But THAT kid Jordan Poole, at that time, would whoop probably just about ANYONE ELSE that walked in that gym. This is the message of this video. The skill and talent level differences of based on where you are at in the sport.
Scalabrine is an energy guy.... He wouldn't show up on that list of great players because he was not known as a scorer, but he was known as a scrappy player who does the dirty stuff for the Boston Celtics. You may not know him, but the die hard NBA fans do. That guy was a part of that 2008 Championship Boston Team.
@K XII True, but that stat is brought out as evidence that hes a wildly below average (i.e bottom of the league) level player, when that may not be true. Naturally its semantics, and ultimately the point still stands. Scalabrine is no nba superstar, yet even in retirement hes levels above other hoopers.
My "oh shit, none of us ain't shit" moment was in high school when my varsity team went up against... Gilbert Arenas. Our team won our division and had multiple future D1 players and he torched us for like 40 in the first half and then didn't even play in the second half. Our best players looked like tiny helpless babies next to him. I didn't understand how it was possible that like 30 players got drafted ahead of him in the NBA draft a couple years later. These guys are the elite of the elite of the elite.
Funny story actually, the reason he was picked late in the draft was because he was so immature during the interview process of the draft. He said, when asked what he would do with NBA money, that he'd be an international pimp. Lol
As a Suns fan I always wanted to play Charles Barkley, not because I thought I could beat him, but because we're roughly the same size but he was (and still is) obviously much more talented than me, but I wanted to see how strong he was. See how he could move bigger people around was mind-boggling to me.
@KZclip Commenter Trouble is my body is breaking down too, one fake knee and missing part of a lung from lung cancer, I get short of breath just thinking about it. Getting old sucks, good thing we only have to do it once.
You might have a chance because Barkley said himself that he physically can’t play basketball anymore. His body is so broke that he can’t even play one on one
I went to a highschool with two guys who played in the NFL , the linemen of the two was the biggest freshman you've ever seen , In his freshman year of highschool he was bigger than most of the senior guys ,and he played varsity football as a freshman . Dude was so big you'd have to put 3 guys on him to stop him on defense and it felt like he could protect the quarterback from 5 guys at once on the offensive end. He got a college scholarship and made two all conference teams and then made it to the NFL undrafted but played on the patriots practice squad for years where he won a few rings for his role. I think about how he was the best person in his position at the school the moment he started highschool before he'd ever even practiced really but only actually ever played a hand full of games in the NFL as a deep bench backup . The strongest and largest guy i knew in highschool and a man celebrated twice as some of the best talent in the country for his college play was only ever good enough to play backup and practice minutes on a championship NFL team. Talk about perspective.
I've played ball with two NBA players. The first was when I was young and was attending Boise State. Chris Childs was playing there and we guarded each other. On the first pass of the game I caught the ball and hit a turnaround over him. I think he thought I was lucky because he let me do it again the very next play. Then it was like the lights got turned out. I didn't touch the ball on offense or defense the rest of the game. I could do nothing against him, his defense was so strong. Then when I was quite a bit older I got to play pick up ball against Jon Coker. I had only seen Coker play a couple games of Boise State and had thought of him as kind of slow and was surprised that he made the league. When I played him he had been retired for a year and a half and had gone through chemotherapy for cancer treatment. That day, which I think was the first day he picked up a basketball in a year or so, he was the fastest player on the court, he was the best ball handler, the best passer, the best shooter, and easily the best defender all at 7 ft. I've played and watched a lot of basketball and I would have thought he was as good as Kevin Garnett if I hadn't known better. It's like they've evolved to a different species almost. It really is amazing.
After reading all these awesome comments, I have to share my personal one. Used to play volleyball on high school and there was this other kid on my team, who didn't really stand out at all. Fast forward 14 years, he was a beach volleyball olympic champion. I share this because I read somewhere down the comments "these pros were head and shoulders above their teammates all the way to college", and from the one guy I know, that does not confirm. I'm guessing he just kept going, putting insane amounts of time and effort to get there.
@Udi Shomer This is statistically accurate. If you are trying to be in the top of a sport where only ~10k people are actively putting their lives into it won't be that hard compared to a sport like basketball or soccer if you are from another country that has ~100m people vying for a spot.
Beach Volleyball is kind of an obscure sport with very few competitive players (at least in almost all countries). The more obscure the sport, the easier it gets to being a top level athlete.
I love VanVleet. Every person should watch Fred's speech at his draft party...when he wasn't drafted. He thanked everyone for coming, spoke with confidence, and said he would continue to work at getting to the NBA. No tears...no excuses...just toughness. Last week, he played in the NBA all-star game, and although I'll never meet the guy, I really admire him.
@JAHCODe I agree but don't forget Manu Ginobili. Tim Duncan told Pop "who the hell is this guy". Timmy now knows Manu very well. 2nd round late draft pick that no one cared for. DAMN!
Was on a pretty solid AAU team in high school that Bobby Jackson was partially coaching. One day He had some former and newer NBA players at our practice (Mike Bibby, Beno Udrih, Isaiah Thomas and even Demarcus Cousins was there for a sec). Long story short, those guys mopped the floor with us and we even had a couple talented/big dudes who ended up playing for D1-D2 colleges and 1 who even got drafted and is now in the G league. Theres definitely levels to this shit.
I love this video man, great idea. I grew up playing hockey and played in college. I had a few “lower level” ex NHL players in our adult league, the skill level gap was hilarious even against your much better than average player.
I used to work w/ a former under-20 or under-21 Japanese national men's soccer team member. I only played rec soccer, but to watch him control the ball, speed, agility... it was all phenomenal to me. After changing jobs, he played in a inter-company league. Apparently, he'd be double and triple marked most of his matches. I'm sure in his league were former HS and maybe even college level players.
Reminds me of when I was 19yo and won a local Table Tennis (ping pong) tournament. My head (ego) exploded, thinking I must be the greatest player on Earth. Some of the guys I beat told me I wasn’t so good and that I should play the old man who comes there on Wednesday nights. The following week, I showed up to put this old man in his place. Harry (the old man) showed up, too, in his 57yo body, gray hair, dress shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes. I asked him if we could play (knowing that I would easily beat him) and he said, “Sure. I’ll start at 21 in-the-hole (-21) and I’ll spot you 19.” (Note: Back then, TT games were played to 21 points, win by two.) Naturally, I immediately thought this old man wouldn’t take me seriously until he sees how good I am, so I said, “Okay, let’s go!” Harry let me serve first and my plan was to win two quick points and wrap up that first game quickly, then beat him in front of everyone in a normal game where we both start at zero. If you haven’t already guessed, things did not go as planned. Well, to be clear, things did not go as *I* had planned. On the contrary, 42 consecutive points later, Harry DeSchamps-a very kind gentleman who I later learned was the 2-time U.S. Open Runner-Up, 2-time Canadian Open Champion, and then-current No. 1 ranked Seniors player-had shown me precisely the point made in this basketball video: there are levels to sports that most of us don’t even realize exist unless we are fortunate enough to experience them first-hand. Despite my best effort, I did not win a single one of those 42 points. NOT ONE! Thankfully, Harry and I became good friends and years later we even started a local TT club. We played hundreds-maybe thousands-of games over the next 10-12 years before I moved away. Harry never let me win, but he always made losing an absolutely joyful experience. I did beat him one game (barely), but only because he was in his mid-60s by then and clearly having a bad night, while I was “in the zone”. Harry’s gone now, and I miss him. More than anything, he taught me that winning doesn’t matter at all. Doing what you enjoy and sharing that joy with others is everything. FOLLOW UP STORY: Below you can find a follow-up to my original post above, about the last time I ever spent with Harry. Because so many of you have left such kind comments about my original post, I thought you might also enjoy that follow-up. If so, you can find it below in a reply I made to @dwight_Phoenix that begins, "Thank you SO MUCH..." I hope it will bring you as much joy as Harry brought to my life.
@Brand E Yes, Harry’s personality was very Hanks-like. If Tom was a bit younger, he’d be ideal. However, because Harry was in his mid-50s when we met, better physical & age matches might be Keanu Reeves (minus the facial hair), Will Ferrell (minus some weight), or Edward Norton (damn near perfect).
Came back to watch this video. Reminded me when we played against Kendrick Perkins in High school here in Beaumont, Texas. Ozen and West Brook would play against each other twice a year. Lets just say... Kendrick alone outscored our entire team and ran us over like it was nothing. Ive personally felt that bump he use to give... it didnt feel good. He was drafted out of high school the next season to the Celtics and had a very respectable career. Perspective is right. I learned that year of high school that NBA level talent is lightyears ahead of the avg joe. My skills were good but I had nothing on this kat. My best skill was free throws. Thats about it.
I played High School ball. Maybe could have played D2/D3 ball in college. I went to a low-level D1 school and played pick-up with the guys on the team sometimes and was arguably about as good as the walk-on that joined the team that year. That sets the stage on my ability. FWIW, 6'5" My senior year in high school, at basketball practice one day, a guy came to play with us a bit; he was dating one of the girls at my school. He was maybe an inch taller than me (6'6") and a little more muscular. I didn't know who he was so when he came into the lane, I tried to defend him...and got POSTERIZED!!! This was how much better than me Rodney Rogers was his senior year of high school. While I got better as a young adult (I probably played pick-up 2-3 times a year), he got a TON better in his (3) years in the ACC and went on to have a heck of a pro career. So yeah, anybody who thinks they can come close to these guys is clueless.
I played in a pretty high standard weekly pickup game in Australia a while back. Steve Carfino, who was drafted by the Celtics in the 80s but never suited up, then relocated and was a star in the Australian NBL before back problems ended his career in 1991, sometimes came down. This was maybe 10 years ago so he was 20+ years past his retirement. Man, he was SO good. He only played (at most) at half speed, but would just cook you. open or not - he'd hit that 3 as casual as you like, whenever he wanted to. But he obviously preferred to facilitate. Playing on his team was next level fun. You could run just about any cut and he'd somehow find you with a picture perfect pass, open at the rim. Occasionally he'd take a point seriously, and forget it. You weren't stopping him. One of my life highlights was picking his pocket, then on the next play, hitting a shot on him. I'll ignore the fact he was barely defending me haha. Such a great guy too and his son is pretty good.
Great video, I grew up across the street from Earl Boykins family in Cleveland who was a journey man 5'5 nba player. He once showed up to the LA fitness me and my friends were playing at and proceeded to end our 5 game win streak by scoring every bucket and doing whatever he wanted at will. The kicker is he picked up some random little kids on his team so it was 1 vs 5 and we still couldn't stop him. At that moment I knew there was a major skill gap between good rec hoppers and NBA players he also use to bench 250 with ease dude was a freak of nature
@Rushabh Nah, the skill set isn't any better these days. May be worse actually. There were less teams which meant a greater concentration of good players in the league. Plus more people, kids especially, played basketball back then. There weren't as many entertainment options as there are today.
@Cities talk Kareem was the main difference maker between the Lakers and everyone else in the 80s. When he was healthy and had the right team around him he was unstoppable 90% of the time. He really never had that killer instinct but never backed away either. As a Sixers fan he squashed our dreams too many times and couldn't beat him until Moses Malone came to town and finally helped Dr. J get his ring.
It really is like that in any sport. I competed in powerlifting for a few years, I was the strongest one of my friends, I really thought I was strong. Then I went and trained with a guy who competed in the USPLA, and literally his intensity in his warmups was more than I could muster in my top sets. He was a machine, every rep perfect, even as we progressed through the weights. I'll never forget it.
There are levels within the levels that Jimmy pointed out here too. I've recently played in 2 rec leagues within 6 months: the first was in SoCal (which has a great basketball scene) and contained many "retired" high school stars looking to have fun, and the second was in Denver (decidedly worse basketball scene) and contained mostly average joes. Stats were kept in both leagues, and I averaged 9ppg on 32%FG and 23% from 3 in the SoCal league while I managed 20ppg on 52%FG and 47%3PT in the Denver league. To top it off I struggled and had to play really hard to average that 9ppg in SoCal, while I barely tried in Denver but still managed to more than double that scoring output. The fact that there is a huge gap even between the levels within levels of a sport further helps to demonstrate the massive gap between mere mortals and NBA players!
I played some mid level club hockey in middle school and experienced the opposite (strong Denver scene to a weak Socal scene). I had to work my ass off to even get playing time in Denver and then after I moved I slept walked to being the captain and best player at my rink. I quit hockey after some loser clipped me after I juked him out of his jock strap and he nearly broke my leg. I would have never made shit in hockey, but I'm bitter about that because that injury killed my enjoyment of the game.
In college I had the opportunity to see a summer league game where members of the CAVS, Sonics, and Hawks players showed up. As a decent college athlete let me say I have never experienced up close and personal the skills those guys displayed that day. What I remember most was how effortlessly the ball came off their fingers in rhythm. Down right mesmerizing. None of stood a chance and after 10 minutes of play reality stepped in. They were coming over the half court line launching and turning around to get back on defense because they knew the ball was stripping all cord. 😆
My bud played small forward at Penn State. Good/great player. I was a decent high school baller, guard and could almost hang with him on the court even though I was 5'10" and he was 6'5". Rick was invited to a tryout with the Knicks against Ewing back in the day. He told me he thought he could hang and maybe even make the team. When he got on the court he was so outclassed that he was gone in a week. That's the difference between NBA and even good college talent.
This just shows how much work you actually have to put into this sport in order to just make into the NBA. How a guy at the end of the bench is on a completely different level then from us as regular hoopers. It’s God Given talent and sacrifice
Exactly. Most of us need the same amount of space in which to shoot that would equate to a warm-up shot for an NBA player. That's the difference. Someone was talking about Steph and said that after 1,000's of shots, the muscle memory takes over, and it's all about finding enough space to get the shot off. Look at how those NBA players lock each other down. I promise you that they can lock even the best amateurs down to the point they can't get off their "regular" shot. Anything they take is forced up, and you saw the block in this video where he played the kid for his shoes. It just ain't gonna happen. Why does anyone think Steph was able to have a video of himself hitting 105 3-point shots in a row and then got held to zero threes in a game against the Celtics in the 22 NBA Finals? You can be the best player at your local YMCA, but if you get locked down by an NBA player, no one will even see your shot, so it won't do you any good.
Lol yeah there still a fukin N.B.A. Player that got picked to play PROFESSIONAL basketball out of a bunch of players trying to get that same spot in the league and they got pick out of all these people it’s damn near common place to understand these dudes are not trash at basketball maybe trash compared to guys like M.J.,Kobe,K.D.,Curry etc but still really damn good at basketball none the less
Reminds me of my brother racing in school swim carnivals in his senior year, about a month before he went to Olympic trials 😂 smacked everyone up and it was hilarious to watch. Although his competition at said Olympic trials proceeded to do the same to him and then win a gold in Tokyo next time around… 😬
Talent and size definitely play big part of it especially size. But I think what most people fail to understand about professional players vs regular guys is the great divide in the total number of hours played. Think of all the hours you work per week on your job, and then realize that your average NBA player has been on the court playing the game for that same number of hours each week since their youth. As an average Joe player, assuming you had the natural size, it would still take you 8 to 10 years playing the game 6 to 8 hours a day mixed in with special instruction and coaching to get on the level of a league player and of course, that’s with laser focus and a burning desire.
I think what you are underselling here is that that none of those guys could play defense. I think a big takeaway from this is that playing defense at an NBA level is insanely difficult. like, honestly they weren't really contesting/bodying up Scal well at all. he was either too fast or too strong
My dad was in the military and I was in the military and we both played a lot of basketball all over the world. One thing that is consistent is the guy who is the league star and scores 40-50pts a night is almost always the guy who never plays any D. KD tells a story about how he wanted to just play ball and not put in the work to learn how to play defense and try to make the NBA, his mom didn't let him quit and it illustrates the point that even if you are a phenom like KD you won't make it without playing defense well. (Harden may be the exception)
Brian was a bench warmer he might not played many minutes in the actual NBA games but he played tons of practice and tune up games with his former teams
Reminds me of when a former player at our high school, who ended up in the NBA averaging less than 2 minutes per game, came back to lead a few practices while he was recovering from an injury. He was playing at maybe 50% and still made us all look like we didn't even know how to play the game of basketball. That was my 'Yeah, there's a 0% chance I'm going to the NBA' moment.
In high school I watched one of the baseball coaches take on 2 varsity basketball players. The coach played mlb , was a great athlete but he destroyed both of them. Anyone who can't miss a shot is very hard to beat lol
Got to play flag football with Vince Young. Definitely a whole other thing to see their talents while playing against them. The man just flicked his wrist and bombed the ball 50 yards in the air with crazy height. I remember I stopped in my tracks just watching the ball soar through the air. BUT, I can say that I successfully defended a pass against Vince Young lol
I remember getting to middle school after being the best basketball player in my little ass town and just getting beat up and down the court all day. Was a good lesson to learn as a kid that these guys were just as athletic and actually practicing on their own.
When I was 22 at the absolute peak of my game, hitting 3's, dunking in games, I pulled up to my local park and went round and round against a guy, basically splitting the series. I asked if he played college, and he said he hadn't even played high school.....because he was going into 8th grade. He ended up starting D1, NBA D-League, and was a pro overseas for 15 years. I beat him......when he was 12.....and that was the best I have ever played or will play. These dudes are light years ahead. He'd come out to the park after he went D1, and it was absolute joke to even attempt to guard him.
This also reminds me of once in Alameda, CA, when USS Abraham Lincoln first changed ports there from Norfolk, VA. We scheduled a softball game with retired MLB players. We have our shipboard BEST out there and were creamed like we were 2nd graders. It was an honor to play with those guys and of course, we were star-struck, but we wanted to win. Hell, after a while, we just wanted to score. Ever heard the definition of night and day? That would be like a former pro vs. the average Joe. The differences are like the difference between noon and midnight. These guys were better than us on their worse day than we could ever hope to be on our best day. Thanks, Brian.
@oo70mar yeah because all of those park players are like "ah i don't want any of that NBA money, I am good at home depot". They would get their asses kicked in the league. You are forgetting that players play positions. So maybe the NBA doesn't have the 400 best one on one players in the world, but they have the 400 best at their positions. Scal isnt a point gaurd, so could some 6'3" park rat beat him in a one on one game, but that park rat couldn't beat a single NBA player in the league that plays the same position as him and he couldnt play Scal's position in the league. So yeah, cool story bruh
@Fermion Most overseas players don't come close to a million USD per year. The average is below $100K per year, but many make $30-40-50K a year in countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, Colombia or Panama.
Also shows the improvement u make from playing like 2-4 mpg in the nba, just the fact that you're training with superstar talent players will make u so much better. Poole played like absolute dog his first season, did not really get many minutes and went to the g-league, but i think the fact the he's been around steph, klay, draymond and all the other vets for 3 years, made him so so much better
I once heard someone say “for a professional athlete to be bad he first has to be really good” and I think that summarizes this pretty well. The worst pro you ever saw play had to be really good just to get the chance to ever play professionally.
One of the coaches I work with is a semi-professional soccer player in the lower divisions of American soccer and he is absurdly good. Exquisite touch, pass, gamesense, everything, and he isnt even full time. It's incredible how good a professional pro is
Dude, I hooped with a guy who was a freaking career back up and bench rider. At 45 years old he was balling out on us all day. There are clear levels to the skill gaps. Just to make a roster is a big deal.
Back in the late 70's I started a 16 inch softball team in the Chicago area, our team was fairly competitive but nothing outstanding. By our 3rd season we won the league but the year before this 1 of the teams brought a player who we found out later was Hall Of Famer Ron “Big O” Olesiak!! Ron only got to play a couple of games before being asked to leave because he would hit a home run over the fence every time he came up to bat. After his first 3 plate appearances against us he had 2 monster homeruns and a line drive frozen rope double that hit 1 foot from the top of the fence, he was pissed that it didn't go over for another homer. We finally got tired of trying to get him out so we rolled the ball to the plate the remainder of the game. After this game I think the other teams followed suit and wouldn't pitch to him so he just disappeared a few weeks later. It was like a god playing with 6 year old kids and I'll never forget the feeling of hopelessness trying to compete with him. That guy could hit almost anything for a homer!!
I never played against an NBA player but I did play against University of Cincinnati Bearcats players while in college and they ran my ass off the court. We were going to 11 and by the time the score was 5 I knew I had made a grave mistake 🤣
Doubt it. Dwight Howard was like 90% from FT line in practice, apparently it’s during games that it breaks down for bad FT shooters. In a chill contest with no stakes Shaq would likely crush you
Played golf w a former pro once and it was remarkable. The most consistent, easy, and senseless game of golf I’ve ever seen delivered with zero arrogance. Amazing. I sunk a 40’ putt though. Rising waters lift all ships.
I saw these guys at the YMCA, they were in a different league from the average player. They did not miss any open shots (short, mid, long range shots), they were fast, they knew how to run plays.....they were probably college players.
Great video. It's too true how most don't realize how good pro sports players really are. If you're decent at the community court it really doesn't mean you're good enough for the NBA. I thought I was decent because I was one of the better players in gym class and at the playground. I was hard to beat 1v1, had a great hook shot, my ball handling was compared to Globetrotters and my passing was referred to as 'magic'. I was tasked with guarding our high school's starting point guard because I was the best player aside from him during physEd games for fun (in that set of students anyway). I had zero chance. The dude made a complete fool out of me.
Great video. When I was 18 and in College I had an experience. The Chicago Bears have their facility at my college. My roommates and I were shooting around. Dan Hampton was just shooting at the other end. He asked if we wanted to okay. Since I was the runt I was on his team. He passed me the ball and it knocked me over. Needless to say he destroyed all of us. Even great athletes in another sport are so far superior.
Different sport but in a “competitive” Flag Football league there was a former NFL safety who played about five season in the NFL but was buried in the depth chart or was on the practice squad during his hey days. At this point he was in his mid to late 30s and probably over 30 lbs his playing weight. But OMG. He was only 5’11 but jumped over me for a catch. No one could catch him in the open field. His route running and footwork was unbelievable. It was like we were all running in three feet of snow while he was speed skating. Like a lot of the guys in our flag football league were good athletes in our 20s but that’s when most people realized there’s levels to this shit.
I played a D1 “nobody” several years after his career, 3 times during a summer camp. He scored 45. I scored 11. I am very proud of those 11 points. He was incredible.
@Dream Tanks Thank god not before she had me, able to show what's what about superior college players and the 2nd tier players that move on to the NBA when they fail to get a degree.
@Karl with a K LOL years ago I played 5 on 5 against a guy who was a PG at Ball State. We were playing games to 21 and ever game he had like 12 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2-3 steals- ish. Every single game, and I think he was going easy, probably could have taken over at any point. I don't even know if he was necessarily on the team or maybe a practice squad guy but he was really good 😭😭
As a 5 foot 8 guard I'll tell u it was no fun playing against Chris Webber in high school. Dude could cover the whole court in 4 strides! I played former Celtic Terry Duerod in the Detroit police league when he was a fireman and much older, it mattered not! He gave my squad 40 without a deep breath! R.I.P Due!
I was pretty decent back when I was college age some 40 years ago and played pickup against pros and major college guys on more than a few occasions. the differences between a really good gym rat and even a low level pro were both subtle and undeniably large even back then. Main thing that stood out was how much faster their reactions were and how much better they were within the game flow. pro going full speed on a fast break could adjust to a pass thrown considerably behind them and continue to finish at the rim, while I would usually watch it sail out of bounds behind me. In the years since they've uniformly gotten bigger, more athletic, skilled and fundamentally sound, while guys like me really haven't. Also, in this case you can't teach height. Think Scalabrini played at something like 6'8", which is a lot to ask of a 6'2" guy to defend.
Our D1 university varsity soccer guys would occasionally drop by the futsal pick up games during the winter. Chris Mueller, who played for Orlando in the MLS and made the USMNT a few times, would run circles around us. Funny because at the time me and my friends would go toe-to-toe with the club soccer team, so we thought we was worth something.
I told my son one time the last player sittin on the bench on an NBA team is the most unbelievable incredible player that he could ever imagine in his life! And he looked at me with kuku eyes !
Many years ago I was at a gym in Seattle and Detlef Schrempf showed up playing another NBA guy Quinn Buckner. Damn, the way they dribbled, moved, and shot was like they were from another planet and man were they tall...
I've play hockey with some retired NHL guys. Let me tell you... At 60+, these guys can take 4 strides and make it all the down ice. They can shoot from their own blue line and score at-will. While they remain more physically advanced even in retirement, it's their game knowledge and vision that blows my mind. They literally know what you're thinking before you do. It's a greater achievement to steal the puck from one of these guys than it is to score.
I was able to go the lakers workout in the preseason and got to see Kobe scrimmage post achilles injury. He was still going so fast he was a blur in person.
Yeah my friend plays goalie in hockey games with retired pros like Marty McSorley. Very down to earth likeable guy. If you're a Joe, the best way to get to play pickup games with ex NHL pros is to be a goalie. They always need goalies
Scal was on Duncan Robinson's podcast talking about this. How your mind has to be 10 steps ahead in the game, that when he was playing against these guys, within 10 seconds of the game he had each person pretty much figured out. kzclip.org/video/g3zQoy6lL2Y/бейне.html There's the video and where it starts with him explaining that. And that's where his amazing quote comes from, "I'm closer to LeBron James than you are to me".
I was watching a Flyers live practice (I played for Grundy and we were allowed at the Igloo before the public to play there) and seeing Eric Lindros just take the puck and snap it and it sounded like a tree snapped outside, I knew my NHL dreams were limited to NHL 95. Lol.
Can’t lie I’ve had the passing thought before. But the way you went about demonstrating this point, With an older Brian scalabrine dominating a decently athletic looking high schooler sold it. Earned a sub easily
People forget that the guy at the end of an NBA bench has a highlight reel from high school, college, or a foreign league. Every guy in the NBA was a star before he got to the league.
The talent gap is simply amazing. I'm 40 and play in a rec league. I was a decent high school ball player I'm still in reasonably decent shape and an above average shooter. Our team is all middle age guys that played at various high schools and one played some lower level college ball. In my 20's and into early 30's I'd played against several D3 guys and could at the very least hold my own against them. This season we picked up a kid that's an assistant at our local D2 College. He was a 4 year player at a mid major and averaged 9 per game now in his mid 20's. He's a 6-6 guard. He humors us and plays very unselfish team basketball. But when he decides he wants to get a bucket he just goes and gets one. I'd be willing to bet he's shooting above 70% on the season. It is completely effortless and he gets to his spot anytime he wants. He is on a totally different level than anyone I've played with or against it's crazy. I couldn't even begin to imagine what even a rotation player in league can do in the same situation. The gap is huge. Those guys have dedicated their life to mastering their craft.
The level of competition they play/played against over their playing years between intense practices and games creates such an immense gap of what they are able to do against the talent they go up against. Despite whatever talent a lot of these young bucks have, many have similar experiences in simply steamrolling inferior competition, so they have no idea what it's like to go up against someone whose game demands more physical strength, endurance, and reaction/speed than you've ever had to use.
LOL Scal even said it. IN order for him to last so long he had to see the game 10 steps ahead to keep making an impact. All those high quality reps build up and and matter so much in comparison to Jonny Donuts who has never gone through those experiences but has probably put on a show in a rec league tourney.
@Marcel Marshall Maybe in basketball or american football, because size matters so very much. But in regular football, that is noy the case. The best player the world has ever seen is 169 cm and and 67kg. So he is physically speaking below average but he does things with his left foot that people didnt think were possible.
@T. Bareezy to simplify it professional players practice something until they almost never get the move wrong unlike average players they just practice until there able to get the move right.
@Gordon Waugh I mean, if we're being realistic, someone making 50% of their jumpshots IS amazing. Even if they were the only person in the gym. if I walked across the street to the hoop in the church parking lot next to my house and made 15/20 free throws, THAT'S pretty amazing. The skill and coordination and different parts of our physiology that are involved to just get a ball into a hole or a hoop is pretty mind-boggling. But the top .5% that we're talking about here ....yeah, that might as well be magic
I felt that way about feild goal kickers . a lost game couple years ago from a missed feild goal prompted me to say “I don’t see how he could kiss a 15 yard feild goal, I can do that in sandals!!” We’ll long story short I went and bought a football and quickly seen that I CANT! Moral to the story is if you see anyone playing for a professional team they’re there for a reason. In any sport. They’re so good they make it look easy !
Pretty true with any sport. When I was young I thought I was really fast on a dirt bike. Then I went to my first professional motocross race. Knew right then I better figure out a plan B, lol. Those guys were going faster through knee deep whoops than I could have on flat ground. Talent, and big, brass balls, lol.
MX is insane. I cannot understand how they are finding traction on those turns or full throttle through whoops like they do. Fastest on a local track where you know every inch of dirt only to get lapped by a vet-pro who is warming up.
I'm actually one of the guys in the video that played with D wade! It was before his final year in the off season. I'm the bald guy with the tank top. What an amazing unforgettable experience! D wade is not only a Hall of Famer, but one of the nicest guys ever!
'one of...' man it isn't even close honestly. If you put up a chart (yeah... charts... Jimmy...damn man!) that lists 'number of great basketball videos with commentary' it would look like James Harden's free throw numbers from a few seasons ago. A few stars clumped near the top and then WAY up high above them all... Jimmy.
I am 68 and a former DC streetballer. The only organized ball I played was from the Police Athletic League (PAL), elementary, Junior High, college intramurals and some church league stuff. I was walking last week with my tennis rackets trying to get some exercise when a young boy probably around 16 told me to come over so he could break my ankles. I came over and he said at least watch us play. I was in my walking shoes hadn't played ball in a while, coming off an not too long ago car accident, overweight and other issues. Told him I'll get next and play two on two but he wanted to play me personally. I am just under 5'11 he is about 6 ft and skinny. It was first to seven. I had him 3 1, 4 2, 5 3 when he as he put it got serious. He caught me and went ahead 6 5 which is game point. I changed my defense just slightly and made him miss twice. I started at the top of the key came straight at him jumped as high as I could, toes pointed down, let it fly: 'all net'. Didn't even know I could jump because I'm suffering from a debilitating neuromuscular genetic disease. The moral of my story is; high level streetballers can get it done too. Just ask that boy. 😆 By the way, he never seen a running hook before. I hope the kid is okay psychologically. Getting whipped by somebody like 50 years older than you is not good for the mind. 😂
I used to play at a local park with some pretty serious dudes (even though I suck). A dude who walked on to a D1 school and played a few seasons in Europe showed up and his five won every game 21-0 in under 5 minutes. We couldn’t advance the ball down the court and the dude didn’t miss a shot. If that’s what overseas pros can do just imagine what ANY NBA guy could do.
Jason Cooper was a few years older than me and went 67th in the MLB draft in 2000-ish. I was in the stands when he hit a homerun that cleared our high school's 367 foot center field fence... and went through the football team's practice uprights 40 yards past the fence. I've never seen anything like it. His team had 3 guys who were drafted out of high school: BJ Garbe (5th), Cooper (67th), and Rian Doumit (a much later round). Doumit was the only one of the 3 who played in the bigs, but Garbe would have if he didn't wind up having depth perception issues with night games. This may go without saying, but that team won state that year. Edit: The town those guys were from was less than 20,000 people. They had 5 guys go pro off a single senior group.
Back in college my friends and I were playing a pick up game when Sean Rooks (RIP) randomly showed up with his son, and wanted his son to play with us so he knew how to play against bigger/older people. Of course Sean Rooks wanted to play also and when I say this guy would shoot from half court and make it, and wasn't breaking a sweat just proved to my friends and I that the closest we'll get to playing pro is on 2k lol our 100% was his 15%
I would love to see a former star do this challenge lol shout out to the white mamba. I played at a professional level overseas and I was never dumb enough to challenge anyone who ever played in the nba
I saw a video of Jerry West teaching some kids how to shoot and he picks the ball up and hadn't shot a ball in ten years or was lying about it and started hitting mid range shots like my best day ever shooting in the back yard. He probably hit a dozen or more with no misses and he was around 75 at the time and hadn't shot in 10 years, and he knew they were all going in. He knew the technique which is what he was explaining and expected the shots to fall and they did.
Yeah I thought I was a top baseball player in HS. , Playing since I was 5, numerous undefeated teams and All-Star teams I started on. One day at practice coach brings in an old washed up pitcher that never made it out of double A ball. The guy starts off with some fastballs, I'm making decent contact, thinking to myself this guy is bum salad...I guess he was just warming up. Starts throwing curve balls that have me buckling at the knee's, sometimes jumping out of the batters box thinking the balls are going to hit me yet the sail right over the plate. He starts throwing sliders that have me swinging at balls a foot out of the strike zone. The old ball player made a fool of me, made a fool of the whole team...very humbling moment. There are levels to all sports..and this is why I laugh when people say things like "that guy sucks" when watching professional sports.
Exactly. What people forget is that MLB pitchers throw against MLB batters, that NFL quarterbacks face NFL linebackers, and that NBA players have to score against NBA defenders, running defensive schemes designed by NBA coaches. A dude that can score 4 points against Giannis can score 50 against an average joe.
Ginormous props to any man that can last 11 straight years in any top tier professional sports league...I dont care if the dude scored zero points with zero minutes. For 11 years, an NBA team said, "yeah, we want him as one of our 15..."
That dude went home, turned on 2K, went to the black top, and Scal still beat him 11-0. Also, I wanna play against an NBA player, not because I think I’ll win. Not because I think I’ll score, but to simply see how much better they are than me. How much better they are than guys I went to high school and college with (I didn’t play in HS or college, just pick up games and stuff for fun). Just to see what it is like guarding them. Just would have me in awe.
This video underscores the sad delusion so many young guys suffer, thinking that someday they are going to be pros. Scal was obviously not NBA elite but he still dominates even skilled, athletic players. Also, Scal does a great job in his current NBA-affiliated job - he’s a really good color guy on the Celtics’ TV broadcasts - very informative and entertaining.
Scal was paid $1.3 million for his last two year with the Bulls to help implement the culture that new coach Tom Thibodeau wanted, and it worked, with the team reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, after going .500 the year before. Scal wasn’t signed as a free agent there to play much
You don’t make it over a decade in the league by accident. Go look at the players drafted in the last 11 drafts and see what percentage of them are on a pro roster still
Anyone thinking realistically about a challenge like this needs to remember you are going after another guy who has already been there and DONE that. A ton more than you have even dreamed of it, pretty sure they got there for a reason.
When I was in middle school. We got to play Avery Johnson in a 5 on 1. He demolished us like we had never touched a ball. We were middle school state champions, and he made us look like we were all standing still.
When I was in college, I played pickup with Ron Harper (Cavs, Bulls, Lakers) and some of the other varsity players. Ron wasn't even trying and dunked, rained 3's, did whatever he wanted and didn't even break a sweat. They let me touch the ball and shoot a few shots uncontested, I might've made one lucky one where no one was even within 10 feet of me. Needless to say, watching these guys play at maybe 30-40% effort was just as jaw-dropping.
As a successful high school wrestler in Seattle one of our assistant coaches was a BYU wrestling champion and former California State Champ. I was strong and quick but could NEVER take him down. He hadn't wrestled in years and was a practicing attorney but helped coached us. Sure kept all of us humble.
This is my 24th year in the NBA and i've played against NBA players in pick up games.......IT'S WAY DIFFERENT, i couldn't guard nor stay in front of anyone, they are too strong, too gifted, they all get to the hole, all can finish, all can shoot!!!!! Yes we call some of them scrubs but trust me there are no scrubs in the NBA, even WNBA is hard to play against
I've played against a 6' 9" All American in college and against a 6' 4" combo guard retired from the NBA. I had a much better day playing against the college guy. There are definitely levels to this game.
@ryublueblanka The fact that your evidence is made up is majority scandals, and facts that aren’t confirmed to be true is sad. Lebron is much more efficient than Bird, and you realize how stacked Birds teams were? Do you know how many teams had the same advantages as the Lakers. I guarantee you that some of Birds rings come with its own Scandals and asterisks, but I don’t want to bother researching if you use feeble evidence to back your claim. I can also say that Birds career average would drop because he played phew seasons compared to Lebron so his stats are higher. Bird is an insanely gifted player, but it’s hard to rank him in the top 5 because athleticism and longevity are also a big part of the game. I wouldn’t want to pick someone who I can’t tell will be healthy to play.
@Jack Savage LeBron James and Larry Bird have identical career averages and LeBron only has more championship than Bird. The difference between LeBron and Larry? LeBron got his with steroids and super teams as well as the backing of the NBA and it's refs. He also has two championships that are fraudulent...one with a betting/gambling scandal and the other during a pseudo season and playoffs. Those Covid chips don't count. Larry got his on the Celtics and did it in 9 years with a bad back and considered by many to be unathletic. LeBron may own the record books when it's all said and done but it really doesn't count for much when steroids were the reason. He's like the Barry Bonds of the NBA except Barry wasn't doing steroids until the end of his career and he did it just to prove a point.
Nahh, stupid people overestimate themselves, confidence and arrogance are different, an average player saying they can beat an NBA player, that's arrogance
I played one on one against Ed Davis when we were in high school together. He was 6’8” at the time and I was 5’8”. He was taking mid range shots and missing and I got up about 7-3. At that point he said “fvck this” and started to post me up and dunk in my face until he beat mean 11-7. I guess that’s what happens when you play a future NBA lottery pick…
You were up 7-3 on a future 1st round NBA player and only ended up losing because he bruteforced his 1 foot height advantage on you? If thats true its actually impressive as hell
i had a friend once in college that if he said, starting as a kid, spent as much time practicing football as he did playing video games he'd be a tight end in the NFL lol
"I'm closer to LeBron, than you are to me" - Brian Scalabrine
It’s true thou
Probably 100x closer.
You're telling me a professional player that trains is better than the average person?? Even some D1 players playing overseas are better than half NBA
Tough to it fair.
and he needed a log scale to explain it visually
I went to high school with Michael Jordan. I am 6’3” and (am still) in great shape. Played him one day 1 on 1 - at his home, no less. We played to 10. And, despite having a cold, I won fairly easy: 10-5. No lie. Also no lie: the Michael Jordan I played that day was a skinny 5’3” white kid. Good shooter.
Had me in the first half
Thought you where an old head who just got really lucky for a sec 😂
Got me dying bro I was finna start cooking till the end 😭😭😭😂
LMAO 😂
Lol maaaaann you made my 2023 already! 😂👍🏻
I went to a pickup soccer game one time. Good level of competion, mostly college players home for summer break. Some older guys too that still had a good touch. The oldest guy there was a former player for the Cameroon national team. He was in his 60s and had a knee injury so he couldn't run much. He was jogging around in the middle of the field going 10%. The ball stayed on his foot like glue and he would embarrass anyone that tried to steal it from him. Best touch I've ever seen. Can't imagine how good he was in his prime.
that is potentially roger milla, don't feel bad, probably the best a player has even been at 40+ years of age
Isn't that maybe Roger Milla? He scored 2 goals at the '94 WC at age 42!
and he was probably some no name that never actually saw the pitch lol, the gap is much more massive than anyone can fathom
imagine how good messie and cristiano be like
This is the case in pretty much every sport. I'm from the UK, and played football (soccer) against a player when we were teenagers, who ended up playing professionally in the Premier League years later. We weren't a bad team, but remember not being able to get close to this kid--he scored about 8 or 9 goals. It was only years later that I saw him playing in the Premier League that made me realise how big the gulf is. He wasn't even in the prime of his career when we played him, and he wasn't even one of the better players in the league when he was playing in the Premier League.
His name is Scott Sinclair...It made me wonder how good the others are.
Eh, I mean scott sinclair LOOKED like he should've been a monster. Everyone believed he would be. The fact that his career didn't pan out is unfortunate but he seems to have had something gone wrong. By all accounts man city thought he would've been good enough for the prem.
scott sinclair was a weapon at celtic
Prems different. Closest thing we’ve had to a super league in football, standards get higher every year.
@Arms Nnakwe moved to man city too fast
@Arms Nnakwe played great at Celtic tho!!!
Update: Jordan Poole is now an NBA champion. He definitely took notes and worked hard to where he is now.
If only baddies were watching
@Ashwin Chatterji I feel you. Poole WAS that talented back then, FOR A HIGH SCHOOL KID. Poole was a late bloomer also. He spent a couple years in the G-League before the Warriors called him up for good.
@Joseph Scott Jr. I know, I was replying to someone bragging about Vanvleet balling on him, but the thing is the fact is that if Poole was *that* talented back then, Vanvleet doing well against him isn't really a huge feat.
@Ashwin Chatterji True. But THAT kid Jordan Poole, at that time, would whoop probably just about ANYONE ELSE that walked in that gym. This is the message of this video. The skill and talent level differences of based on where you are at in the sport.
@Jessie Ball That was literally when he was still a kid lmao
Scalabrine is an energy guy.... He wouldn't show up on that list of great players because he was not known as a scorer, but he was known as a scrappy player who does the dirty stuff for the Boston Celtics. You may not know him, but the die hard NBA fans do. That guy was a part of that 2008 Championship Boston Team.
he didn't even step on the court in the 2008 playoffs by the way. not one logged minute
"You may not know him, but the die hard NBA fans do" dudes an nba legend what are you talking about lmao
@K XII True, but that stat is brought out as evidence that hes a wildly below average (i.e bottom of the league) level player, when that may not be true.
Naturally its semantics, and ultimately the point still stands. Scalabrine is no nba superstar, yet even in retirement hes levels above other hoopers.
It still doesn't make what jimmi is saying irrelevant. He's was not a good nba scorer and still torched the kid his statements are still valid
Credit to Jordan Poole for working his ass off to the point where he has been an excellent contributor for the Warriors.
Jordan Poole is very blessed to have worked with Steph everyday
This comment has aged well. He was critical in the 22 finals.
Now NBA champion.
@조인우 klay is better than fred tho
@Kevvy Kev yeah, Poole definitely wouldn't get skunked. I was agreeing with you, and just stating who I think would end up winning
My "oh shit, none of us ain't shit" moment was in high school when my varsity team went up against... Gilbert Arenas. Our team won our division and had multiple future D1 players and he torched us for like 40 in the first half and then didn't even play in the second half. Our best players looked like tiny helpless babies next to him. I didn't understand how it was possible that like 30 players got drafted ahead of him in the NBA draft a couple years later. These guys are the elite of the elite of the elite.
Funny story actually, the reason he was picked late in the draft was because he was so immature during the interview process of the draft. He said, when asked what he would do with NBA money, that he'd be an international pimp. Lol
Too bad he ruined his own NBA career
As a Suns fan I always wanted to play Charles Barkley, not because I thought I could beat him, but because we're roughly the same size but he was (and still is) obviously much more talented than me, but I wanted to see how strong he was. See how he could move bigger people around was mind-boggling to me.
@dbsti 300 I'm amateur level compared to him, the man who was "misquoted" in the book he wrote.
I wanna see if you can out shit-talk him. 😆 He's still at it on TNT.
@KZclip Commenter Trouble is my body is breaking down too, one fake knee and missing part of a lung from lung cancer, I get short of breath just thinking about it. Getting old sucks, good thing we only have to do it once.
You might have a chance because Barkley said himself that he physically can’t play basketball anymore. His body is so broke that he can’t even play one on one
I went to a highschool with two guys who played in the NFL , the linemen of the two was the biggest freshman you've ever seen , In his freshman year of highschool he was bigger than most of the senior guys ,and he played varsity football as a freshman . Dude was so big you'd have to put 3 guys on him to stop him on defense and it felt like he could protect the quarterback from 5 guys at once on the offensive end.
He got a college scholarship and made two all conference teams and then made it to the NFL undrafted but played on the patriots practice squad for years where he won a few rings for his role.
I think about how he was the best person in his position at the school the moment he started highschool before he'd ever even practiced really but only actually ever played a hand full of games in the NFL as a deep bench backup .
The strongest and largest guy i knew in highschool and a man celebrated twice as some of the best talent in the country for his college play was only ever good enough to play backup and practice minutes on a championship NFL team.
Talk about perspective.
Abiamiri and Ferentz?
I've played ball with two NBA players. The first was when I was young and was attending Boise State. Chris Childs was playing there and we guarded each other. On the first pass of the game I caught the ball and hit a turnaround over him. I think he thought I was lucky because he let me do it again the very next play. Then it was like the lights got turned out. I didn't touch the ball on offense or defense the rest of the game. I could do nothing against him, his defense was so strong.
Then when I was quite a bit older I got to play pick up ball against Jon Coker. I had only seen Coker play a couple games of Boise State and had thought of him as kind of slow and was surprised that he made the league. When I played him he had been retired for a year and a half and had gone through chemotherapy for cancer treatment. That day, which I think was the first day he picked up a basketball in a year or so, he was the fastest player on the court, he was the best ball handler, the best passer, the best shooter, and easily the best defender all at 7 ft. I've played and watched a lot of basketball and I would have thought he was as good as Kevin Garnett if I hadn't known better. It's like they've evolved to a different species almost. It really is amazing.
After reading all these awesome comments, I have to share my personal one.
Used to play volleyball on high school and there was this other kid on my team, who didn't really stand out at all.
Fast forward 14 years, he was a beach volleyball olympic champion.
I share this because I read somewhere down the comments "these pros were head and shoulders above their teammates all the way to college", and from the one guy I know, that does not confirm. I'm guessing he just kept going, putting insane amounts of time and effort to get there.
@Udi Shomer This is statistically accurate. If you are trying to be in the top of a sport where only ~10k people are actively putting their lives into it won't be that hard compared to a sport like basketball or soccer if you are from another country that has ~100m people vying for a spot.
@Udi Shomer rewatch the video lol
Beach Volleyball is kind of an obscure sport with very few competitive players (at least in almost all countries).
The more obscure the sport, the easier it gets to being a top level athlete.
What’s the name?
Inspirational thank youo
I love VanVleet. Every person should watch Fred's speech at his draft party...when he wasn't drafted. He thanked everyone for coming, spoke with confidence, and said he would continue to work at getting to the NBA. No tears...no excuses...just toughness. Last week, he played in the NBA all-star game, and although I'll never meet the guy, I really admire him.
Fr man he's a tough guy
@JAHCODe I agree but don't forget Manu Ginobili. Tim Duncan told Pop "who the hell is this guy". Timmy now knows Manu very well. 2nd round late draft pick that no one cared for. DAMN!
"Bet on yourself"
- FVV
@James Smith watch a channel called truthunedited and shattered paradise
As a Wichitan who got all the buzz about out 13’ year, he’s made our entire city proud, Love FVV so much ❤️
Was on a pretty solid AAU team in high school that Bobby Jackson was partially coaching. One day He had some former and newer NBA players at our practice (Mike Bibby, Beno Udrih, Isaiah Thomas and even Demarcus Cousins was there for a sec). Long story short, those guys mopped the floor with us and we even had a couple talented/big dudes who ended up playing for D1-D2 colleges and 1 who even got drafted and is now in the G league.
Theres definitely levels to this shit.
I love this video man, great idea. I grew up playing hockey and played in college. I had a few “lower level” ex NHL players in our adult league, the skill level gap was hilarious even against your much better than average player.
That fred vanfleet 1v1 was so insane to me imagine putting together footwork like that and dribble moves and drives. Insane skill
I used to work w/ a former under-20 or under-21 Japanese national men's soccer team member. I only played rec soccer, but to watch him control the ball, speed, agility... it was all phenomenal to me. After changing jobs, he played in a inter-company league. Apparently, he'd be double and triple marked most of his matches. I'm sure in his league were former HS and maybe even college level players.
Looking back at this and seeing him have to introduce Jordan Poole is crazy. Now anybody who watches Basketball knows who Jordan Poole is.
Reminds me of when I was 19yo and won a local Table Tennis (ping pong) tournament. My head (ego) exploded, thinking I must be the greatest player on Earth. Some of the guys I beat told me I wasn’t so good and that I should play the old man who comes there on Wednesday nights.
The following week, I showed up to put this old man in his place. Harry (the old man) showed up, too, in his 57yo body, gray hair, dress shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes. I asked him if we could play (knowing that I would easily beat him) and he said, “Sure. I’ll start at 21 in-the-hole (-21) and I’ll spot you 19.” (Note: Back then, TT games were played to 21 points, win by two.)
Naturally, I immediately thought this old man wouldn’t take me seriously until he sees how good I am, so I said, “Okay, let’s go!”
Harry let me serve first and my plan was to win two quick points and wrap up that first game quickly, then beat him in front of everyone in a normal game where we both start at zero. If you haven’t already guessed, things did not go as planned. Well, to be clear, things did not go as *I* had planned.
On the contrary, 42 consecutive points later, Harry DeSchamps-a very kind gentleman who I later learned was the 2-time U.S. Open Runner-Up, 2-time Canadian Open Champion, and then-current No. 1 ranked Seniors player-had shown me precisely the point made in this basketball video: there are levels to sports that most of us don’t even realize exist unless we are fortunate enough to experience them first-hand.
Despite my best effort, I did not win a single one of those 42 points. NOT ONE!
Thankfully, Harry and I became good friends and years later we even started a local TT club. We played hundreds-maybe thousands-of games over the next 10-12 years before I moved away. Harry never let me win, but he always made losing an absolutely joyful experience.
I did beat him one game (barely), but only because he was in his mid-60s by then and clearly having a bad night, while I was “in the zone”.
Harry’s gone now, and I miss him. More than anything, he taught me that winning doesn’t matter at all. Doing what you enjoy and sharing that joy with others is everything.
FOLLOW UP STORY: Below you can find a follow-up to my original post above, about the last time I ever spent with Harry. Because so many of you have left such kind comments about my original post, I thought you might also enjoy that follow-up.
If so, you can find it below in a reply I made to @dwight_Phoenix that begins, "Thank you SO MUCH..."
I hope it will bring you as much joy as Harry brought to my life.
thats insanely wholesome and beautiful sir, you madre my day.
Great story and sounds like he was a true gent 👍
@Brand E Yes, Harry’s personality was very Hanks-like. If Tom was a bit younger, he’d be ideal. However, because Harry was in his mid-50s when we met, better physical & age matches might be Keanu Reeves (minus the facial hair), Will Ferrell (minus some weight), or Edward Norton (damn near perfect).
This should be made into a movie .. I’d like to see Tom Hanks as Harry ..
Came back to watch this video. Reminded me when we played against Kendrick Perkins in High school here in Beaumont, Texas. Ozen and West Brook would play against each other twice a year. Lets just say... Kendrick alone outscored our entire team and ran us over like it was nothing. Ive personally felt that bump he use to give... it didnt feel good. He was drafted out of high school the next season to the Celtics and had a very respectable career. Perspective is right. I learned that year of high school that NBA level talent is lightyears ahead of the avg joe. My skills were good but I had nothing on this kat. My best skill was free throws. Thats about it.
I played High School ball. Maybe could have played D2/D3 ball in college. I went to a low-level D1 school and played pick-up with the guys on the team sometimes and was arguably about as good as the walk-on that joined the team that year. That sets the stage on my ability. FWIW, 6'5"
My senior year in high school, at basketball practice one day, a guy came to play with us a bit; he was dating one of the girls at my school. He was maybe an inch taller than me (6'6") and a little more muscular. I didn't know who he was so when he came into the lane, I tried to defend him...and got POSTERIZED!!!
This was how much better than me Rodney Rogers was his senior year of high school. While I got better as a young adult (I probably played pick-up 2-3 times a year), he got a TON better in his (3) years in the ACC and went on to have a heck of a pro career.
So yeah, anybody who thinks they can come close to these guys is clueless.
Correction: Matt Tomaazewski did not start at Syracuse. He played a total of 10 games, where he averaged just under two minutes per game.
I played in a pretty high standard weekly pickup game in Australia a while back. Steve Carfino, who was drafted by the Celtics in the 80s but never suited up, then relocated and was a star in the Australian NBL before back problems ended his career in 1991, sometimes came down. This was maybe 10 years ago so he was 20+ years past his retirement. Man, he was SO good.
He only played (at most) at half speed, but would just cook you. open or not - he'd hit that 3 as casual as you like, whenever he wanted to. But he obviously preferred to facilitate. Playing on his team was next level fun. You could run just about any cut and he'd somehow find you with a picture perfect pass, open at the rim. Occasionally he'd take a point seriously, and forget it. You weren't stopping him.
One of my life highlights was picking his pocket, then on the next play, hitting a shot on him. I'll ignore the fact he was barely defending me haha. Such a great guy too and his son is pretty good.
Great video, I grew up across the street from Earl Boykins family in Cleveland who was a journey man 5'5 nba player. He once showed up to the LA fitness me and my friends were playing at and proceeded to end our 5 game win streak by scoring every bucket and doing whatever he wanted at will. The kicker is he picked up some random little kids on his team so it was 1 vs 5 and we still couldn't stop him. At that moment I knew there was a major skill gap between good rec hoppers and NBA players he also use to bench 250 with ease dude was a freak of nature
The Scalabrine story just shows you that he was holding back in the league, he could have been a bigger G.O.A.T but he felt bad for Lebron and MJ
They clearly didn't show him do the fade-away 3pt dunk at age 42, he didn't want to break the internet. Such a nice guy.
I see no lies here. Vanilla Godzilla would've been a killer if he took the league seriously.
@Rushabh Nah, the skill set isn't any better these days. May be worse actually. There were less teams which meant a greater concentration of good players in the league. Plus more people, kids especially, played basketball back then. There weren't as many entertainment options as there are today.
@Cities talk Kareem was the main difference maker between the Lakers and everyone else in the 80s. When he was healthy and had the right team around him he was unstoppable 90% of the time. He really never had that killer instinct but never backed away either. As a Sixers fan he squashed our dreams too many times and couldn't beat him until Moses Malone came to town and finally helped Dr. J get his ring.
Indeed
It really is like that in any sport. I competed in powerlifting for a few years, I was the strongest one of my friends, I really thought I was strong. Then I went and trained with a guy who competed in the USPLA, and literally his intensity in his warmups was more than I could muster in my top sets. He was a machine, every rep perfect, even as we progressed through the weights. I'll never forget it.
thats not a sport
There are levels within the levels that Jimmy pointed out here too. I've recently played in 2 rec leagues within 6 months: the first was in SoCal (which has a great basketball scene) and contained many "retired" high school stars looking to have fun, and the second was in Denver (decidedly worse basketball scene) and contained mostly average joes. Stats were kept in both leagues, and I averaged 9ppg on 32%FG and 23% from 3 in the SoCal league while I managed 20ppg on 52%FG and 47%3PT in the Denver league. To top it off I struggled and had to play really hard to average that 9ppg in SoCal, while I barely tried in Denver but still managed to more than double that scoring output. The fact that there is a huge gap even between the levels within levels of a sport further helps to demonstrate the massive gap between mere mortals and NBA players!
I played some mid level club hockey in middle school and experienced the opposite (strong Denver scene to a weak Socal scene). I had to work my ass off to even get playing time in Denver and then after I moved I slept walked to being the captain and best player at my rink. I quit hockey after some loser clipped me after I juked him out of his jock strap and he nearly broke my leg. I would have never made shit in hockey, but I'm bitter about that because that injury killed my enjoyment of the game.
In college I had the opportunity to see a summer league game where members of the CAVS, Sonics, and Hawks players showed up.
As a decent college athlete let me say I have never experienced up close and personal the skills those guys displayed that day.
What I remember most was how effortlessly the ball came off their fingers in rhythm. Down right mesmerizing. None of stood a chance and after 10 minutes of play reality stepped in.
They were coming over the half court line launching and turning around to get back on defense because they knew the ball was stripping all cord.
😆
My bud played small forward at Penn State. Good/great player. I was a decent high school baller, guard and could almost hang with him on the court even though I was 5'10" and he was 6'5". Rick was invited to a tryout with the Knicks against Ewing back in the day. He told me he thought he could hang and maybe even make the team. When he got on the court he was so outclassed that he was gone in a week. That's the difference between NBA and even good college talent.
This just shows how much work you actually have to put into this sport in order to just make into the NBA. How a guy at the end of the bench is on a completely different level then from us as regular hoopers. It’s God Given talent and sacrifice
People severely underestimate just how good the worst nba player is.
Exactly. Most of us need the same amount of space in which to shoot that would equate to a warm-up shot for an NBA player. That's the difference. Someone was talking about Steph and said that after 1,000's of shots, the muscle memory takes over, and it's all about finding enough space to get the shot off. Look at how those NBA players lock each other down. I promise you that they can lock even the best amateurs down to the point they can't get off their "regular" shot. Anything they take is forced up, and you saw the block in this video where he played the kid for his shoes. It just ain't gonna happen. Why does anyone think Steph was able to have a video of himself hitting 105 3-point shots in a row and then got held to zero threes in a game against the Celtics in the 22 NBA Finals? You can be the best player at your local YMCA, but if you get locked down by an NBA player, no one will even see your shot, so it won't do you any good.
For real, even bench guys get in games where they play vs elite players and have to hang with them. Also when they practice and scrimmage.
@blacker58 which football? The real football or American football?
Any sport really. Football and basketball are some of the most obvious as well as tennis and hockey.
Lol yeah there still a fukin N.B.A. Player that got picked to play PROFESSIONAL basketball out of a bunch of players trying to get that same spot in the league and they got pick out of all these people it’s damn near common place to understand these dudes are not trash at basketball maybe trash compared to guys like M.J.,Kobe,K.D.,Curry etc but still really damn good at basketball none the less
This video is now proof of how insane the warriors are at developing talent. Poole has taken leaps and bounds since that Van Vleet challenge.
Reminds me of my brother racing in school swim carnivals in his senior year, about a month before he went to Olympic trials 😂 smacked everyone up and it was hilarious to watch. Although his competition at said Olympic trials proceeded to do the same to him and then win a gold in Tokyo next time around… 😬
whats ur brother's name
Talent and size definitely play big part of it especially size. But I think what most people fail to understand about professional players vs regular guys is the great divide in the total number of hours played. Think of all the hours you work per week on your job, and then realize that your average NBA player has been on the court playing the game for that same number of hours each week since their youth.
As an average Joe player, assuming you had the natural size, it would still take you 8 to 10 years playing the game 6 to 8 hours a day mixed in with special instruction and coaching to get on the level of a league player and of course, that’s with laser focus and a burning desire.
I think what you are underselling here is that that none of those guys could play defense. I think a big takeaway from this is that playing defense at an NBA level is insanely difficult. like, honestly they weren't really contesting/bodying up Scal well at all. he was either too fast or too strong
My dad was in the military and I was in the military and we both played a lot of basketball all over the world. One thing that is consistent is the guy who is the league star and scores 40-50pts a night is almost always the guy who never plays any D.
KD tells a story about how he wanted to just play ball and not put in the work to learn how to play defense and try to make the NBA, his mom didn't let him quit and it illustrates the point that even if you are a phenom like KD you won't make it without playing defense well. (Harden may be the exception)
Brian was a bench warmer he might not played many minutes in the actual NBA games but he played tons of practice and tune up games with his former teams
Reminds me of when a former player at our high school, who ended up in the NBA averaging less than 2 minutes per game, came back to lead a few practices while he was recovering from an injury. He was playing at maybe 50% and still made us all look like we didn't even know how to play the game of basketball. That was my 'Yeah, there's a 0% chance I'm going to the NBA' moment.
In high school I watched one of the baseball coaches take on 2 varsity basketball players. The coach played mlb , was a great athlete but he destroyed both of them. Anyone who can't miss a shot is very hard to beat lol
Not 0 chance considering Jordan Poole still got destroyed
@lol lol He got hella speed, and a 40 inch vertical. We won't ever be able to
@YTA yep
@Mr.D. whats his name?
Got to play flag football with Vince Young. Definitely a whole other thing to see their talents while playing against them. The man just flicked his wrist and bombed the ball 50 yards in the air with crazy height. I remember I stopped in my tracks just watching the ball soar through the air. BUT, I can say that I successfully defended a pass against Vince Young lol
I remember getting to middle school after being the best basketball player in my little ass town and just getting beat up and down the court all day. Was a good lesson to learn as a kid that these guys were just as athletic and actually practicing on their own.
Scal was a valuable coach player. That dude who can really help in practice, and help make coaching decisions.
When I was 22 at the absolute peak of my game, hitting 3's, dunking in games, I pulled up to my local park and went round and round against a guy, basically splitting the series. I asked if he played college, and he said he hadn't even played high school.....because he was going into 8th grade. He ended up starting D1, NBA D-League, and was a pro overseas for 15 years. I beat him......when he was 12.....and that was the best I have ever played or will play. These dudes are light years ahead. He'd come out to the park after he went D1, and it was absolute joke to even attempt to guard him.
Hey you that youtube guy - the Professor? How would he do against Scalabrine?
This also reminds me of once in Alameda, CA, when USS Abraham Lincoln first changed ports there from Norfolk, VA. We scheduled a softball game with retired MLB players. We have our shipboard BEST out there and were creamed like we were 2nd graders. It was an honor to play with those guys and of course, we were star-struck, but we wanted to win. Hell, after a while, we just wanted to score. Ever heard the definition of night and day? That would be like a former pro vs. the average Joe. The differences are like the difference between noon and midnight. These guys were better than us on their worse day than we could ever hope to be on our best day. Thanks, Brian.
Brian Scalabrine quote: "I'm closer to LeBron than you are to me." Sums it up.
@oo70mar Those black top guys NOT beating Scale one on one, not happening in his glory NBA days forsure. Now in days maybe the top 10% maybe.
@oo70mar yeah cuz that home depot money is so good
@oo70mar yeah because all of those park players are like "ah i don't want any of that NBA money, I am good at home depot". They would get their asses kicked in the league. You are forgetting that players play positions. So maybe the NBA doesn't have the 400 best one on one players in the world, but they have the 400 best at their positions. Scal isnt a point gaurd, so could some 6'3" park rat beat him in a one on one game, but that park rat couldn't beat a single NBA player in the league that plays the same position as him and he couldnt play Scal's position in the league. So yeah, cool story bruh
@Fermion Most overseas players don't come close to a million USD per year.
The average is below $100K per year, but many make $30-40-50K a year in countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, Colombia or Panama.
Also shows the improvement u make from playing like 2-4 mpg in the nba, just the fact that you're training with superstar talent players will make u so much better. Poole played like absolute dog his first season, did not really get many minutes and went to the g-league, but i think the fact the he's been around steph, klay, draymond and all the other vets for 3 years, made him so so much better
I once heard someone say “for a professional athlete to be bad he first has to be really good” and I think that summarizes this pretty well. The worst pro you ever saw play had to be really good just to get the chance to ever play professionally.
One of the coaches I work with is a semi-professional soccer player in the lower divisions of American soccer and he is absurdly good. Exquisite touch, pass, gamesense, everything, and he isnt even full time. It's incredible how good a professional pro is
Dude, I hooped with a guy who was a freaking career back up and bench rider. At 45 years old he was balling out on us all day. There are clear levels to the skill gaps. Just to make a roster is a big deal.
Back in the late 70's I started a 16 inch softball team in the Chicago area, our team was fairly competitive but nothing outstanding. By our 3rd season we won the league but the year before this 1 of the teams brought a player who we found out later was Hall Of Famer Ron “Big O” Olesiak!! Ron only got to play a couple of games before being asked to leave because he would hit a home run over the fence every time he came up to bat. After his first 3 plate appearances against us he had 2 monster homeruns and a line drive frozen rope double that hit 1 foot from the top of the fence, he was pissed that it didn't go over for another homer. We finally got tired of trying to get him out so we rolled the ball to the plate the remainder of the game. After this game I think the other teams followed suit and wouldn't pitch to him so he just disappeared a few weeks later. It was like a god playing with 6 year old kids and I'll never forget the feeling of hopelessness trying to compete with him. That guy could hit almost anything for a homer!!
I never played against an NBA player but I did play against University of Cincinnati Bearcats players while in college and they ran my ass off the court. We were going to 11 and by the time the score was 5 I knew I had made a grave mistake 🤣
I’m pretty positive I could take Shaq at a free throw contest
lol
@dj FRiTZo funny for a guy who only made 1 3 in his career lol
@Jay Mata You still don't get it!
🤣🤣🤣
Doubt it. Dwight Howard was like 90% from FT line in practice, apparently it’s during games that it breaks down for bad FT shooters. In a chill contest with no stakes Shaq would likely crush you
Played golf w a former pro once and it was remarkable. The most consistent, easy, and senseless game of golf I’ve ever seen delivered with zero arrogance. Amazing. I sunk a 40’ putt though. Rising waters lift all ships.
I saw these guys at the YMCA, they were in a different league from the average player. They did not miss any open shots (short, mid, long range shots), they were fast, they knew how to run plays.....they were probably college players.
Great video. It's too true how most don't realize how good pro sports players really are. If you're decent at the community court it really doesn't mean you're good enough for the NBA. I thought I was decent because I was one of the better players in gym class and at the playground. I was hard to beat 1v1, had a great hook shot, my ball handling was compared to Globetrotters and my passing was referred to as 'magic'. I was tasked with guarding our high school's starting point guard because I was the best player aside from him during physEd games for fun (in that set of students anyway). I had zero chance. The dude made a complete fool out of me.
Great video. When I was 18 and in College I had an experience. The Chicago Bears have their facility at my college. My roommates and I were shooting around. Dan Hampton was just shooting at the other end. He asked if we wanted to okay. Since I was the runt I was on his team. He passed me the ball and it knocked me over. Needless to say he destroyed all of us. Even great athletes in another sport are so far superior.
Different sport but in a “competitive” Flag Football league there was a former NFL safety who played about five season in the NFL but was buried in the depth chart or was on the practice squad during his hey days. At this point he was in his mid to late 30s and probably over 30 lbs his playing weight. But OMG. He was only 5’11 but jumped over me for a catch. No one could catch him in the open field. His route running and footwork was unbelievable. It was like we were all running in three feet of snow while he was speed skating. Like a lot of the guys in our flag football league were good athletes in our 20s but that’s when most people realized there’s levels to this shit.
I played a D1 “nobody” several years after his career, 3 times during a summer camp. He scored 45. I scored 11. I am very proud of those 11 points. He was incredible.
@Dream Tanks Thank god not before she had me, able to show what's what about superior college players and the 2nd tier players that move on to the NBA when they fail to get a degree.
@Karl with a K HAHAAHAHAH
U MUMS GAY
@Threezy's World Exactly right. College players are superior to the NBA players, HANDS DOWN.
@Karl with a K LOL years ago I played 5 on 5 against a guy who was a PG at Ball State. We were playing games to 21 and ever game he had like 12 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2-3 steals- ish. Every single game, and I think he was going easy, probably could have taken over at any point. I don't even know if he was necessarily on the team or maybe a practice squad guy but he was really good 😭😭
@Cycle of Life If you don't like what you say absolutely don't give yourself a thumbs up. I do and do.
As a 5 foot 8 guard I'll tell u it was no fun playing against Chris Webber in high school. Dude could cover the whole court in 4 strides! I played former Celtic Terry Duerod in the Detroit police league when he was a fireman and much older, it mattered not! He gave my squad 40 without a deep breath! R.I.P Due!
I was pretty decent back when I was college age some 40 years ago and played pickup against pros and major college guys on more than a few occasions. the differences between a really good gym rat and even a low level pro were both subtle and undeniably large even back then. Main thing that stood out was how much faster their reactions were and how much better they were within the game flow. pro going full speed on a fast break could adjust to a pass thrown considerably behind them and continue to finish at the rim, while I would usually watch it sail out of bounds behind me.
In the years since they've uniformly gotten bigger, more athletic, skilled and fundamentally sound, while guys like me really haven't.
Also, in this case you can't teach height. Think Scalabrini played at something like 6'8", which is a lot to ask of a 6'2" guy to defend.
Our D1 university varsity soccer guys would occasionally drop by the futsal pick up games during the winter. Chris Mueller, who played for Orlando in the MLS and made the USMNT a few times, would run circles around us. Funny because at the time me and my friends would go toe-to-toe with the club soccer team, so we thought we was worth something.
I told my son one time the last player sittin on the bench on an NBA team is the most unbelievable incredible player that he could ever imagine in his life! And he looked at me with kuku eyes !
Many years ago I was at a gym in Seattle and Detlef Schrempf showed up playing another NBA guy Quinn Buckner. Damn, the way they dribbled, moved, and shot was like they were from another planet and man were they tall...
I've play hockey with some retired NHL guys. Let me tell you... At 60+, these guys can take 4 strides and make it all the down ice. They can shoot from their own blue line and score at-will. While they remain more physically advanced even in retirement, it's their game knowledge and vision that blows my mind. They literally know what you're thinking before you do. It's a greater achievement to steal the puck from one of these guys than it is to score.
I was able to go the lakers workout in the preseason and got to see Kobe scrimmage post achilles injury. He was still going so fast he was a blur in person.
SKILLS MAN SKILLS!
Yeah my friend plays goalie in hockey games with retired pros like Marty McSorley. Very down to earth likeable guy. If you're a Joe, the best way to get to play pickup games with ex NHL pros is to be a goalie. They always need goalies
Scal was on Duncan Robinson's podcast talking about this. How your mind has to be 10 steps ahead in the game, that when he was playing against these guys, within 10 seconds of the game he had each person pretty much figured out.
kzclip.org/video/g3zQoy6lL2Y/бейне.html
There's the video and where it starts with him explaining that. And that's where his amazing quote comes from, "I'm closer to LeBron James than you are to me".
I was watching a Flyers live practice (I played for Grundy and we were allowed at the Igloo before the public to play there) and seeing Eric Lindros just take the puck and snap it and it sounded like a tree snapped outside, I knew my NHL dreams were limited to NHL 95. Lol.
Can’t lie I’ve had the passing thought before. But the way you went about demonstrating this point, With an older Brian scalabrine dominating a decently athletic looking high schooler sold it. Earned a sub easily
Just goes to show how much hard work the shorter guys put in
People forget that the guy at the end of an NBA bench has a highlight reel from high school, college, or a foreign league. Every guy in the NBA was a star before he got to the league.
facts bro
The talent gap is simply amazing. I'm 40 and play in a rec league. I was a decent high school ball player I'm still in reasonably decent shape and an above average shooter. Our team is all middle age guys that played at various high schools and one played some lower level college ball. In my 20's and into early 30's I'd played against several D3 guys and could at the very least hold my own against them. This season we picked up a kid that's an assistant at our local D2 College. He was a 4 year player at a mid major and averaged 9 per game now in his mid 20's. He's a 6-6 guard. He humors us and plays very unselfish team basketball. But when he decides he wants to get a bucket he just goes and gets one. I'd be willing to bet he's shooting above 70% on the season. It is completely effortless and he gets to his spot anytime he wants. He is on a totally different level than anyone I've played with or against it's crazy. I couldn't even begin to imagine what even a rotation player in league can do in the same situation. The gap is huge. Those guys have dedicated their life to mastering their craft.
The level of competition they play/played against over their playing years between intense practices and games creates such an immense gap of what they are able to do against the talent they go up against. Despite whatever talent a lot of these young bucks have, many have similar experiences in simply steamrolling inferior competition, so they have no idea what it's like to go up against someone whose game demands more physical strength, endurance, and reaction/speed than you've ever had to use.
"Average players practice until they get it right. Professional players practice until they can't get it wrong." You have been advised.
LOL Scal even said it. IN order for him to last so long he had to see the game 10 steps ahead to keep making an impact. All those high quality reps build up and and matter so much in comparison to Jonny Donuts who has never gone through those experiences but has probably put on a show in a rec league tourney.
@Marcel Marshall Maybe in basketball or american football, because size matters so very much. But in regular football, that is noy the case. The best player the world has ever seen is 169 cm and and 67kg. So he is physically speaking below average but he does things with his left foot that people didnt think were possible.
@T. Bareezy to simplify it professional players practice something until they almost never get the move wrong unlike average players they just practice until there able to get the move right.
@Gordon Waugh I mean, if we're being realistic, someone making 50% of their jumpshots IS amazing. Even if they were the only person in the gym. if I walked across the street to the hoop in the church parking lot next to my house and made 15/20 free throws, THAT'S pretty amazing. The skill and coordination and different parts of our physiology that are involved to just get a ball into a hole or a hoop is pretty mind-boggling.
But the top .5% that we're talking about here ....yeah, that might as well be magic
I felt that way about feild goal kickers . a lost game couple years ago from a missed feild goal prompted me to say “I don’t see how he could kiss a 15 yard feild goal, I can do that in sandals!!”
We’ll long story short I went and bought a football and quickly seen that I CANT!
Moral to the story is if you see anyone playing for a professional team they’re there for a reason. In any sport. They’re so good they make it look easy !
I looked up Jake Fay, he actually did play college ball at Fordham and Hartford. Possibly a walk-on, didn't get any playing time but did play D-1.
Pretty true with any sport. When I was young I thought I was really fast on a dirt bike. Then I went to my first professional motocross race. Knew right then I better figure out a plan B, lol. Those guys were going faster through knee deep whoops than I could have on flat ground. Talent, and big, brass balls, lol.
MX is insane. I cannot understand how they are finding traction on those turns or full throttle through whoops like they do. Fastest on a local track where you know every inch of dirt only to get lapped by a vet-pro who is warming up.
I'm actually one of the guys in the video that played with D wade! It was before his final year in the off season. I'm the bald guy with the tank top. What an amazing unforgettable experience! D wade is not only a Hall of Famer, but one of the nicest guys ever!
Love this video. If I had to take a pick on who I thought I would have the best chance against playing,I would probably say J.J Barea.
let’s be honest, Jimmy is the one of the best basketball youtubers. what a great guy.
@Milo Stout LMFAO... and the one with the massive resources of ESPN (thus Disney) behind them... .third place....
'one of...' man it isn't even close honestly. If you put up a chart (yeah... charts... Jimmy...damn man!) that lists 'number of great basketball videos with commentary' it would look like James Harden's free throw numbers from a few seasons ago. A few stars clumped near the top and then WAY up high above them all... Jimmy.
@Destination 100 Nice! Did u like it?
Jimmy makes up the "long time" without uploading videos with the regular delivery of masterpieces (and graphics)
Is the the best... And here's a chart to show why
I am 68 and a former DC streetballer. The only organized ball I played was from the Police Athletic League (PAL), elementary, Junior High, college intramurals and some church league stuff. I was walking last week with my tennis rackets trying to get some exercise when a young boy probably around 16 told me to come over so he could break my ankles. I came over and he said at least watch us play. I was in my walking shoes hadn't played ball in a while, coming off an not too long ago car accident, overweight and other issues. Told him I'll get next and play two on two but he wanted to play me personally. I am just under 5'11 he is about 6 ft and skinny. It was first to seven. I had him 3 1, 4 2, 5 3 when he as he put it got serious. He caught me and went ahead 6 5 which is game point. I changed my defense just slightly and made him miss twice. I started at the top of the key came straight at him jumped as high as I could, toes pointed down, let it fly: 'all net'. Didn't even know I could jump because I'm suffering from a debilitating neuromuscular genetic disease. The moral of my story is; high level streetballers can get it done too. Just ask that boy. 😆 By the way, he never seen a running hook before. I hope the kid is okay psychologically. Getting whipped by somebody like 50 years older than you is not good for the mind. 😂
I used to play at a local park with some pretty serious dudes (even though I suck). A dude who walked on to a D1 school and played a few seasons in Europe showed up and his five won every game 21-0 in under 5 minutes. We couldn’t advance the ball down the court and the dude didn’t miss a shot. If that’s what overseas pros can do just imagine what ANY NBA guy could do.
Jason Cooper was a few years older than me and went 67th in the MLB draft in 2000-ish. I was in the stands when he hit a homerun that cleared our high school's 367 foot center field fence... and went through the football team's practice uprights 40 yards past the fence. I've never seen anything like it. His team had 3 guys who were drafted out of high school: BJ Garbe (5th), Cooper (67th), and Rian Doumit (a much later round). Doumit was the only one of the 3 who played in the bigs, but Garbe would have if he didn't wind up having depth perception issues with night games.
This may go without saying, but that team won state that year.
Edit: The town those guys were from was less than 20,000 people. They had 5 guys go pro off a single senior group.
Back in college my friends and I were playing a pick up game when Sean Rooks (RIP) randomly showed up with his son, and wanted his son to play with us so he knew how to play against bigger/older people. Of course Sean Rooks wanted to play also and when I say this guy would shoot from half court and make it, and wasn't breaking a sweat just proved to my friends and I that the closest we'll get to playing pro is on 2k lol our 100% was his 15%
I would love to see a former star do this challenge lol shout out to the white mamba. I played at a professional level overseas and I was never dumb enough to challenge anyone who ever played in the nba
Honestly I'm sure I would be sweeped by 82-year-old Jerry West in a one-on-one game right now.
Actually, I think I could best West. He's a bit old, but as long as he gives me a 98 point lead in a game to 100, I should do just fine.
I heard he'll still blow by you so fast they started calling him Jerry east.
I saw a video of Jerry West teaching some kids how to shoot and he picks the ball up and hadn't shot a ball in ten years or was lying about it and started hitting mid range shots like my best day ever shooting in the back yard. He probably hit a dozen or more with no misses and he was around 75 at the time and hadn't shot in 10 years, and he knew they were all going in. He knew the technique which is what he was explaining and expected the shots to fall and they did.
lol...
@Seal with big ash eyes farming basically kept him in shape as its tougher than even some workouts xd..
Yeah I thought I was a top baseball player in HS. , Playing since I was 5, numerous undefeated teams and All-Star teams I started on. One day at practice coach brings in an old washed up pitcher that never made it out of double A ball. The guy starts off with some fastballs, I'm making decent contact, thinking to myself this guy is bum salad...I guess he was just warming up. Starts throwing curve balls that have me buckling at the knee's, sometimes jumping out of the batters box thinking the balls are going to hit me yet the sail right over the plate. He starts throwing sliders that have me swinging at balls a foot out of the strike zone. The old ball player made a fool of me, made a fool of the whole team...very humbling moment. There are levels to all sports..and this is why I laugh when people say things like "that guy sucks" when watching professional sports.
@Paul Engelhard Without really trying either. 😂
Exactly. What people forget is that MLB pitchers throw against MLB batters, that NFL quarterbacks face NFL linebackers, and that NBA players have to score against NBA defenders, running defensive schemes designed by NBA coaches. A dude that can score 4 points against Giannis can score 50 against an average joe.
love stumbling onto this after Poole's career game 2 against the nuggets. in a short time he practically became a splash brother.
Ginormous props to any man that can last 11 straight years in any top tier professional sports league...I dont care if the dude scored zero points with zero minutes. For 11 years, an NBA team said, "yeah, we want him as one of our 15..."
That dude went home, turned on 2K, went to the black top, and Scal still beat him 11-0.
Also, I wanna play against an NBA player, not because I think I’ll win. Not because I think I’ll score, but to simply see how much better they are than me. How much better they are than guys I went to high school and college with (I didn’t play in HS or college, just pick up games and stuff for fun). Just to see what it is like guarding them. Just would have me in awe.
This video underscores the sad delusion so many young guys suffer, thinking that someday they are going to be pros. Scal was obviously not NBA elite but he still dominates even skilled, athletic players. Also, Scal does a great job in his current NBA-affiliated job - he’s a really good color guy on the Celtics’ TV broadcasts - very informative and entertaining.
Just look at it this way:
The Celtics thought it was worth it to pay Scalabrine $1.4 million to sit on the bench for 90% of the season.
Scal was paid $1.3 million for his last two year with the Bulls to help implement the culture that new coach Tom Thibodeau wanted, and it worked, with the team reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, after going .500 the year before. Scal wasn’t signed as a free agent there to play much
You don’t make it over a decade in the league by accident. Go look at the players drafted in the last 11 drafts and see what percentage of them are on a pro roster still
I mean look as haslam on the heat haha
six fouls
PERSPECTIVE
Anyone thinking realistically about a challenge like this needs to remember you are going after another guy who has already been there and DONE that. A ton more than you have even dreamed of it, pretty sure they got there for a reason.
I love coming back to this to kinda see just how much Poole has improved
I respect Jordan Poole I see how he got better he wasn't scared to play better players to learn from and improve
When I was in middle school. We got to play Avery Johnson in a 5 on 1. He demolished us like we had never touched a ball. We were middle school state champions, and he made us look like we were all standing still.
instant subscribe, Would love to see more of this sorta thing - nba players vs lower league professionals
It’s a good day in the community when Jimmy uploads
@Khal o
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@Khal o
@Khal oo
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When I was in college, I played pickup with Ron Harper (Cavs, Bulls, Lakers) and some of the other varsity players. Ron wasn't even trying and dunked, rained 3's, did whatever he wanted and didn't even break a sweat. They let me touch the ball and shoot a few shots uncontested, I might've made one lucky one where no one was even within 10 feet of me. Needless to say, watching these guys play at maybe 30-40% effort was just as jaw-dropping.
As a successful high school wrestler in Seattle one of our assistant coaches was a BYU wrestling champion and former California State Champ. I was strong and quick but could NEVER take him down. He hadn't wrestled in years and was a practicing attorney but helped coached us. Sure kept all of us humble.
This is my 24th year in the NBA and i've played against NBA players in pick up games.......IT'S WAY DIFFERENT, i couldn't guard nor stay in front of anyone, they are too strong, too gifted, they all get to the hole, all can finish, all can shoot!!!!! Yes we call some of them scrubs but trust me there are no scrubs in the NBA, even WNBA is hard to play against
That’s to say, be an NBA player, or professional player in any sports, is a great achievement
I've played against a 6' 9" All American in college and against a 6' 4" combo guard retired from the NBA. I had a much better day playing against the college guy. There are definitely levels to this game.
As the white mamba once said:
“I'm Closer To LeBron Than You Are To Me.”
- Vanilla Godzilla
@Kwame A.N yeah, that's still professional ball.
@ryublueblanka The fact that your evidence is made up is majority scandals, and facts that aren’t confirmed to be true is sad. Lebron is much more efficient than Bird, and you realize how stacked Birds teams were? Do you know how many teams had the same advantages as the Lakers. I guarantee you that some of Birds rings come with its own Scandals and asterisks, but I don’t want to bother researching if you use feeble evidence to back your claim. I can also say that Birds career average would drop because he played phew seasons compared to Lebron so his stats are higher. Bird is an insanely gifted player, but it’s hard to rank him in the top 5 because athleticism and longevity are also a big part of the game. I wouldn’t want to pick someone who I can’t tell will be healthy to play.
@Jack Savage LeBron James and Larry Bird have identical career averages and LeBron only has more championship than Bird. The difference between LeBron and Larry? LeBron got his with steroids and super teams as well as the backing of the NBA and it's refs. He also has two championships that are fraudulent...one with a betting/gambling scandal and the other during a pseudo season and playoffs. Those Covid chips don't count. Larry got his on the Celtics and did it in 9 years with a bad back and considered by many to be unathletic. LeBron may own the record books when it's all said and done but it really doesn't count for much when steroids were the reason. He's like the Barry Bonds of the NBA except Barry wasn't doing steroids until the end of his career and he did it just to prove a point.
@ryublueblanka Lebron is usually considered top three while Bird is 5th or 6th. Lebron statistically is better than Bird and a lot more versatile.
Ironically I think people underestimate how great they themselves can become with dedication and consistency.
Nahh, stupid people overestimate themselves, confidence and arrogance are different, an average player saying they can beat an NBA player, that's arrogance
I played one on one against Ed Davis when we were in high school together. He was 6’8” at the time and I was 5’8”. He was taking mid range shots and missing and I got up about 7-3. At that point he said “fvck this” and started to post me up and dunk in my face until he beat mean 11-7.
I guess that’s what happens when you play a future NBA lottery pick…
@Eli yeah haha. I wasn’t missing my shots that day!
You were up 7-3 on a future 1st round NBA player and only ended up losing because he bruteforced his 1 foot height advantage on you? If thats true its actually impressive as hell
i had a friend once in college that if he said, starting as a kid, spent as much time practicing football as he did playing video games he'd be a tight end in the NFL lol