Is Danny Ainge the most athletic white player ever?

[Flashbeanie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_ainge

Apparently, Ainge was a standout high school athlete, holding the distinction as the only person to be a high school first team All-American in football, basketball, and baseball. This puts him on par with Jim Brown in terms of multi-sport accolades.

[Bigsmoke]

Chase Budinger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU8VgL-vxco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAmTX9z_xWY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdlUOC7JlNo&feature=related

[Laimbeer_Rodman]

Bob Sura,Toni Kukoc,Rex Chapman,Manu

[Crown&Coke]

The dude who kneed Mark Jackson in the chin when he dunked on him

[thejumpa]

IIRC, Rex Chapman had a near 50 inch vertical in college. That's only one aspect of athleticism but damn....dude could leap

And Chase Budinger is pretty athletic. He's big, has a lot of vertical leap, and is super explosive

[Laimbeer_Rodman]

The dude who kneed Mark Jackson in the chin when he dunked on him
Tom Chambers ,thank you,i totally forgot him

[wally_world]

Joe Alexander :hammerhead:

[BarberSchool]

Tom Chambers ,thank you,i totally forgot himI never saw him play in his prime, but I know he averaged like 25-27 a year up in seattle and had tons of baseline dunks and runouts.

[DuMa]

tom chambers easily. and i have never once seen danny ainge do anything athletic.

[Flashbeanie]

tom chambers easily. and i have never once seen danny ainge do anything athletic.

Which is totally surprising given his pre-professional exploits. Ainge's athleticism came up in a comparision to Fredette earlier this year. But leaping ability is only one aspect of athleticism. There's also speed, strength, lateral quickness, body control, hand-eye coordination, etc.

[MeLO MvP 15]

Tom Chambers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDyBSTQDwH8

/thread

[Crown&Coke]

tom chambers easily. and i have never once seen danny ainge do anything athletic.

and you gotta consider dude is 6'10" to boot. Not many guys his size can do the things he did, even less white dudes.

[Crown&Coke]

Tom Chambers ,thank you,i totally forgot him

no, Thank you. I forgot the dudes name. Silly of me to forget

[andgar923]

Which is totally surprising given his pre-professional exploits. Ainge's athleticism came up in a comparision to Fredette earlier this year. But leaping ability is only one aspect of athleticism. There's also speed, strength, lateral quickness, body control, hand-eye coordination, etc.


This.

Not that I believe Ainge IS the most athletic white player, but those are aspects people usually overlook and solely concentrate on leaping abilities.

[millwad]

Brent Barry was damn athletic as well, in fact, he is the only white player to have won the dunk contest.

He had a great dunk where he took off close to the FT-line:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKgPa91VlvE

[DCL]

danny ainge was just talented at 3 sports in high school, but he was never ever "athletic." he was slow as hell, couldn't jump for sh~t, and benched nothing. being good at playing a sport and being "athletic" are totally different things.

[andgar923]

danny ainge was just talented at 3 sports in high school, but he was never ever "athletic." he was slow as hell, couldn't jump for sh~t, and benched nothing. being good at playing a sport and being "athletic" are totally different things.

I agree with this as well.

[PHILA]

http://i.imgur.com/uJfHf.jpg

[Laimbeer_Rodman]

Brent Barry was damn athletic as well, in fact, he is the only white player to have won the dunk contest.

He had a great dunk where he took off close to the FT-line:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKgPa91VlvE
you probably saw this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSVS0rC30ds (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSVS0rC30ds#t=1m55s)

[chocolatethunder]

danny ainge was just talented at 3 sports in high school, but he was never ever "athletic." he was slow as hell, couldn't jump for sh~t, and benched nothing. being good at playing a sport and being "athletic" are totally different things.

What should be said is that being "athletic" doesn't count for anything but being good at playing a sport sure does.

[millwad]

you probably saw this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSVS0rC30ds (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSVS0rC30ds#t=1m55s)

Isn't the NBA ft-line further back?

[Laimbeer_Rodman]

Isn't the NBA ft-line further back?

actually NBA ft line is 1 inch closer to the backboard according to this:
link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_court)

[KevinNYC]

tom chambers easily. and i have never once seen danny ainge do anything athletic.


Do people not know what athletic is anymore? This has gone beyond ridiculous.

Forget high school, Danny Ainge was a major league baseball player before he joined the Celtics. That is he did something Jordan couldn't do.

How many people do you know that made the big time in two different professional sports?

Ainge reached the NBA finals as a contributor on 3 different teams.

So we're at the point where a guy could play 14 years in the NBA at shooting guard make an All-Star team, end up with a career average of 11.5, but he not athletic.

[mentallooser]

Do people not know what athletic is anymore? This has gone beyond ridiculous.

Forget high school, Danny Ainge was a major league baseball player before he joined the Celtics. That is he did something Jordan couldn't do.

How many people do you know that made the big time in two different professional sports?

Ainge reached the NBA finals as a contributor on 3 different teams.

So we're at the point where a guy could play 14 years in the NBA at shooting guard make an All-Star team, end up with a career average of 11.5, but he not athletic.

But he's white. Doesn't that take at least 2 points out of 10 from your athleticism straight off the top? I mean clearly, athletic white people are so rare it's insane. That's why they play tennis and hockey. Two sports which so clearly require no athletic ability whatsoever. Jordan would make it to AT LEAST the semis at Wimbledon right?

[KevinNYC]

Jordan would win the Triple Crown in both baseball and horse-racing if he chose to.

[I.R.Beast]

The dude who kneed Mark Jackson in the chin when he dunked on him
tom chambers

[Theoo]

no tony parker

[Theoo's Daddy]

bob sura was athlectic..

[Crown&Coke]

http://i.imgur.com/uJfHf.jpg

Hondo was so damn athletic that the Cleveland Browns drafted him to play WR for them (he played a bunch of sports in college). He made the team without even going to training camp, but they HAD to cut him because he wanted to focus on bball.

[mentallooser]

Hondo was so damn athletic that the Cleveland Browns drafted him to play WR for them (he played a bunch of sports in college). He made the team without even going to training camp, but they HAD to cut him because he wanted to focus on bball.

Lalalala I'm not listening I'm not listening lalalalalala. Only Bo Jackson and MJ can play two sports. Proven fact on ISH so stop with your clear and utter lack of respect for honesty.

[Crown&Coke]

Lalalala I'm not listening I'm not listening lalalalalala. Only Bo Jackson and MJ can play two sports. Proven fact on ISH so stop with your clear and utter lack of respect for honesty.

bu bu but, we have to have a token white dude on that list!!!! So ha

[Grinder]

The post says wing players. Tom Chambers was a big man.

Joe Alexander's pretty explosive.

[DuMa]

Do people not know what athletic is anymore? This has gone beyond ridiculous.

Forget high school, Danny Ainge was a major league baseball player before he joined the Celtics. That is he did something Jordan couldn't do.

How many people do you know that made the big time in two different professional sports?

Ainge reached the NBA finals as a contributor on 3 different teams.

So we're at the point where a guy could play 14 years in the NBA at shooting guard make an All-Star team, end up with a career average of 11.5, but he not athletic.

i never saw ainge play before the nba. i never saw him play baseball. but my definition of athletic is obviously a lot different than yours. a player can be NOT athletic and still have a very successful NBA career. ainge was someone like that in my eyes. smart on ball decisions, gritty, and playing positional defense is what i remember most about ainge. none of those things require athleticism. basketball doesnt always require athleticism to be successful. and thats what i meant about ainge. he could dunk and show off in practice but i never saw it in the games he played. particularly the finals games.

i dont consider steve nash to be athletic compared to be athletic players in the NBA. yet he is one my favorite players. its not a knock on someone if theyre called 'not athletic'

[EvanW]

Surprised Dan Majerle isn't getting any love.

He's probably the most physically imposing white player I've seen. He was, what, 6'6, 6'7? And he was super ripped. He was probably one of the top-5 explosive players in the league at his prime.

[Droid101]

Tom Chambers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDyBSTQDwH8

/thread
I was about to come in here and post the same link and same text, seriously. Great minds, or something.

[jlauber]

How about a 6-4 guy that played in the 40's?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Pollard


In the NBA, Pollard was considered one of the best forwards in the 1940s and 1950s, and was known for his leaping ability[1] (Pollard would occasionally dunk from the free throw line during warmups[2]) earning him the nickname "The Kangaroo Kid".

[Tha Catalyst]

How about a 6-4 guy that played in the 40's?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Pollard
That's great and all but how can anyone agree or disagree when no-one has seen anything of him and all we have to go by is one line of text. Tom Chambers and Thunder Dan for me.


Would I be wrong in saying majority of teams now would have a player that could do a FT line dunk?

[zass]

http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/report-danny-ainge-got-tons-of-*****-at-byu,19685/

yes

[Swaggin916]

Kris Humphries dunks on dude's but he's half black... somehow he's half black supposedly despite his skin being basically that of a white man. Does have some black features but still...

[EllEffEll]

Q: Is Danny Ainge the most athletic white player ever?

A: No, not in my opinion.

Some Pistol Pete for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5-J2Spj7kg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKTLQOF-p18&feature=fvst

[Collie]

John Havlicek was drafted by the NFL, was a track star and of course, was an NBA star. He would probably be one of the most athletic relative to his time.

[Euroleague]

"The European Blake Griffin"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsw68rajZXI

[KDthunderup]

Blake Griffin

[Lebron23]

Sin Jackal

[jamal99]

"The European Blake Griffin"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsw68rajZXI
This

[KevinNYC]

but my definition of athletic is obviously a lot different than yours.

Right, you're discounting several aspects of athletic ability to redefine ahtleticism is. Redefining it to the point of absurdity.

Redefining so that it not only would no longer apply to any average human being, but redefining it so that it wouldn't apply to majority of professional athletes.

Specifically ignoring Proprioception and hand-eye coordination/dexterity to a great degree and to a lesser degree ignoring things like agility, balance and stamina.

The basic meaning of athletic is good at athletics or sports (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/athletic). So it's an absurdity to say that someone made the big leagues in two different sports is not athletic.

Somebody here once asked if Shaq was the most perfectly athletic specimen ever. And the answer is yes, for the center on a basketball team. He would be pretty shitty in the Tour De France or Olympic diving.

[Walker]

Surprised Dan Majerle isn't getting any love.

He's probably the most physically imposing white player I've seen. He was, what, 6'6, 6'7? And he was super ripped. He was probably one of the top-5 explosive players in the league at his prime.
Thunder Dan ftw

http://europebasketball.net/basketball_wallpaper/majerle_dunks_on_bol.jpg

[Da_Realist]

Do people not know what athletic is anymore? This has gone beyond ridiculous.

Forget high school, Danny Ainge was a major league baseball player before he joined the Celtics. That is he did something Jordan couldn't do.

How many people do you know that made the big time in two different professional sports?

Ainge reached the NBA finals as a contributor on 3 different teams.

So we're at the point where a guy could play 14 years in the NBA at shooting guard make an All-Star team, end up with a career average of 11.5, but he not athletic.

This.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEGZuHsrvQg

[Round Mound]

Tom Chambers

[JohnnySic]

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/ainge_0530.jpg

[Cosmonaut]

just because you can play 3 different sports at a high level doesn't mean you are great athletically, it more likely means you are good mechanically.

[get these NETS]

are dudes really that insecure that ainge is compared to jim brown and micheal jordan?


with a straight face??



same type of insecurity that had people believing that a former cancer patient could beat the disease and then go on to (CLEANLY?) win several tour de france races against young and healthy cyclists.


sad sad sad..

[KevinNYC]

are dudes really that insecure that ainge is compared to jim brown and micheal jordan?


with a straight face??



same type of insecurity that had people believing that a former cancer patient could beat the disease and then go on to (CLEANLY?) win several tour de france races against young and healthy cyclists.


sad sad sad..

What's insecurity got to do with this discussion?

[get these NETS]

What's insecurity got to do with this discussion?
well if you're from NYC for real....you already know..

Dave Debusschere,rip, played in the MLB before playing in the league

think he might be in the basketball hof, seems like damn near every guy on 70s knicks team is in there..

fact that a NYC area fan like you, didn't make THAT comparison but rather wrote about ainge doing what MJ "COULD'NT".. is laughable...

Ainge's accomplishments are great but talking about them in relation to what Jordan "could not" do....reveals some insecurity..perhaps about white athletes.

[KevinNYC]

well if you're from NYC for real....you already know..

Dave Debusschere,rip, played in the MLB before playing in the league

think he might be in the basketball hof, seems like damn near every guy on 70s knicks team is in there..

fact that a NYC area fan like you, didn't make THAT comparison but rather wrote about ainge doing what MJ "COULD'NT".. is laughable...

Ainge's accomplishments are great but talking about them in relation to what Jordan "could not" do....reveals some insecurity..perhaps about white athletes.

I do know that about Dave Debusschere playing baseball, but I only learned it recently. I've never been a Knicks fan . I'm too young for the Knicks's glory days and my Dad's team was the Celtics from way back. When I started playing ball after school, my Dad's favorite player was Dave Cowens, so I was Celtics fan from before they got Bird and once they did there was no chance of me being Knicks. I grew up with the Knicks teams that didn't know what pass to make or that the pass was the play to make at all. (I did like Bernard a lot though. He played high school ball in my neighborhood.) When I did learn about the early 70's Knicks I think I probably would have liked them because they were a great team as a unit.

Um, notice that I never commented one way or the other about Danny Ainge being the most athletic white player ever, because I don't really care. I'm not saying the answer is Ainge and not Debusschere. I just think the reductionist view of what is athletic is ridiculous. Because Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal couldn't make the NBA, they are not athletic? Wayne Gretzky is not the fastest or strongest hockey player, but he was by far the best. This is not athletic? We have to call this mechanical now? Because Shaq was a great NBA center means he would be good in ping-pong or jai-lai?

And yes, Ainge could hit the curveball better than Jordan. And I think Jordan appreciates that achievement.

[KevinNYC]

Actually, I might be able to make my point better using just cycling. Within the one sport, you have several different types of athletes. Sprinters in track cycling are all about power in short distances. They are not very good road cyclist. And road cyclists usually aren't very good track cyclists. In road cycling you have guys also have sprinters, but in the case of road cycling a sprinter is someone who is a good enough distance cyclist to keep up with other distance cyclists over say 100 or 120 miles and still have enough in the tank to burst away from anyone else in the race. Then you have road cyclists who excel at climbing. These are almost never the sprinters because they are usually heavier than the climbers. Some guys are good climbers and terrible time trialists, and vice versa. Some guys who could win a long one day road race might not be even able to finish the Tour De France with one gruelling day after another.