Can a player who can't palm the ball able to become an allstar/superstar in the NBA?

[riseagainst]

Or would he even get in to the NBA?
I think no because there's no way they can compete at that level without better ball handling. They might get away with small hands in high school.

[eurobum]

steve francis.

[NumberSix]

Could Iverson palm the ball? Supposedly Kobe has small hands. Can he?

[brandonislegend]

Could Iverson palm the ball? Supposedly Kobe has small hands. Can he?
yes easily he had big hands

[Heavincent]

I don't think Steve Francis could palm the ball.

[Rake2204]

I don't think Steve Francis could palm the ball.
From what I've heard and seen, this is truthful. I'm sure he's not alone.

[MrWarrior]

Kwame Brown. :lol :lol

[lilgodfather1]

I don't think JJ Hickson can palm the ball very well because he has tiny hands for a 6'8" guy, but he's not an all star, and neer will be. Might prove your first point :confusedshrug: , but dispells the second. I doubt Tiny could palm the ball, and I would imagine Nate Robinson would have difficulty palming.

[BuffaloBill]

Derrick Rose

[Rake2204]

Contrary to what one may believe, I've heard on numerous occasions that Ben Wallace could barely palm a basketball. From a personal standpoint, I tend to recall a number of instances where the ball would squirt out of his hands on a dunk attempt. I suppose it still he could palm, just not too well.

[tmacattack33]

Umm...

I don't think big hands correlates to ball handling skills...Or else the best ball handlers in the league would be the big 7 footers.

So being able to palm the ball wouldn't help you out except for doing things like Jordan used to do in the air while palming the ball, or palming the ball and swinging it around as you are on the ground and before you start your dribble (using it as you jab step and stuff).

[Dwyane Rose]

Josh Smith can't palm a ball.

[lilgodfather1]

Umm...

I don't think big hands correlates to ball handling skills...Or else the best ball handlers in the league would be the big 7 footers.

So being able to palm the ball wouldn't help you out except for doing things like Jordan used to do in the air while palming the ball, or palming the ball and swinging it around as you are on the ground and before you start your dribble (using it as you jab step and stuff).
Just because you are tall doesn't mean you will have big hands.

[embersyc]

Ben Wallace is on the can't palm the ball list.

[ralph_i_el]

How can an nba player not palm the ball? I'm 5'11 and can palm a ball

[Smoke117]

Rasheed Wallace had small hands and he could barely palm the ball. It's part of the reason he wasn't that good of a rebounder. He couldn't pull them down with one hand

[Overdrive]

How can an nba player not palm the ball? I'm 5'11 and can palm a ball

5'9 a can palm it for a little bit, a 6'3 friend of mine can't.

I doubt Mugsy Bogues could.

[CavaliersFTW]

Or would he even get in to the NBA?
I think no because there's no way they can compete at that level without better ball handling. They might get away with small hands in high school.
Nate Robinson can't palm a ball + he's only 5-7.75 w/o shoes... so yes you can at least "make it" to the NBA w/o being able to palm. Having hands small enough to not be able to palm the ball is going to be rare considering even the smallest NBA players are rarely less than 6-0 to 6-1...

[ForeverHeat]

You guys are only focusing on height and hand size. The most important thing when you are palming the ball are the strength of your fingers. Having bigger hands helps but if you have small hands you can still palm the ball. I've seen a tiny asian man do it so its definitely possible.

[Xiao Yao You]

Darrell Griffith one of the best dunkers of his day couldn't palm it. He wasn't an all-star but put up all-star type numbers before he was benched in favor of a stiff.

[RRR3]

Darrell Griffith one of the best dunkers of his day couldn't palm it. He wasn't an all-star but put up all-star type numbers before he was benched in favor of a stiff.
Who was that stiff?

[Rake2204]

5'9 a can palm it for a little bit, a 6'3 friend of mine can't.

I doubt Mugsy Bogues could.
I am 6'3'' and cannot palm a ball. I think some folks here are overrating the necessity to palm a rock. It is not imperative to palm a ball in order to have excellent ball handling skills.

Also, I believe hand size is the biggest factor in palming a ball. Hand strength helps, but it will only take a person so far. Further, you guys may scoff, but I actually think the makeup of a person's skin plays a role. By that I mean, those with chronically dry and stiff hands may be at a slight disadvantage. For instance, the only time I can kind of palm a ball, is when it's relatively humid outside, the one time my hands actually carry any small level of moisture.

[LT Ice Cream]

Steve Francis couldn't palm the ball. He was an all-star I think.

[NBA4EVER]

Josh Smith can't palm a ball.

thats a lie :lol

but yeah Nate Robinson has been quoted that he can't palm a basketball. I don't think palming a basketball has much to do with whether or not you become an NBA Superstar or not

also palming has nothing to do with ball handling, otherwise it would be a carry. It has more to do with dunking then anything else

[NumberSix]

I can palm the ball unless my hands are really sweaty

[L.Kizzle]

Contrary to what one may believe, I've heard on numerous occasions that Ben Wallace could barely palm a basketball. From a personal standpoint, I tend to recall a number of instances where the ball would squirt out of his hands on a dunk attempt. I suppose it still he could palm, just not too well.
From what I remember something happened to Ben's wrist, which may be why he couldn't palm a ball.

He had great form on his shot, but would always go everywhere when he released the ball.

[General]

I'm 6'3" and I can't palm a basketball:facepalm My hands measure just under 8 inches from the tip of my middle finger to my wrist. Small hands I guess.

[Living Being]

I'm 6'3" and I can't palm a basketball:facepalm My hands measure just under 8 inches from the tip of my middle finger to my wrist. Small hands I guess.
What about hand spread? You can make up for hand length if you can stretch your hand wide + have strong fingers.

[Xiao Yao You]

Who was that stiff?

Bobby Hansen who was third string before Griffith held out and broke his foot. Jazz were always one to hold a grudge and he never got his job back. They also traded Dell Curry because of the great Bobby Hansen! :roll:

I can't palm it but can handle the ball just fine. Griffith wasn't a great ball handler but did improve a lot before he retired.

[Ikill]

big hands help you finish better

[East_Stone_Ya]

Dirk maybe:confusedshrug:

[East_Stone_Ya]

Rasheed Wallace had small hands and he could barely palm the ball. It's part of the reason he wasn't that good of a rebounder. He couldn't pull them down with one hand

put K.Love can:rolleyes:

[FatComputerNerd]

You guys are only focusing on height and hand size. The most important thing when you are palming the ball are the strength of your fingers. Having bigger hands helps but if you have small hands you can still palm the ball. I've seen a tiny asian man do it so its definitely possible.

This is true.

I'm like 5'8 150 w/ smallish hands but my hands and fingers are strong (thank you captain of crush hand grippers) and I can palm the ball due to finger and hand strength.

[Euroleague]

Barkley could not palm the ball.

[swi7ch]

How can an nba player not palm the ball? I'm 5'11 and can palm a ball

yes, because every person in the world has the same genes as you :facepalm

[alenleomessi]

palming the ball is like the least important thing in basketball

[demons2005]

CP would be a complete scrub if they didn't let him palm the ball

[riseagainst]

I have hands smaller than a 4'11" girl's. :(

[Rake2204]

CP would be a complete scrub if they didn't let him palm the ballI believe you're mixing up two different types of palming. From what I've gathered, the original poster is referring to this type of palming, where a player has the basketball fully gripped:http://www.suchiate.me/_basketballhistoryblog//31buxS18eILSL500.jpg
This is not to be confused with the dribbling violation some refer to as "palming", where a player's hand slips beneath the ball in-between dribbles. In this instance, they do not literally grip the ball (as shown in the Jordan picture). This is close to being an example here:

http://blog.stack.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Allen-dribbling-answer-white-black4-629x419.jpg

[allabouthawks]

was reading somwhere once that josh smith cant palm the ball

[NBA4EVER]

was reading somwhere once that josh smith cant palm the ball

http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/9045745/640/9045745.jpg

[redhonda76]

Patrick Ewing can't palm the either. I remember back hearing that from Walt Clyde Frazier on the radio 20 years ago saying that Ewing got small hands for a man of his size.

[scm5]

also, palming an NBA ball is different than palming a sticky TF-1000.

[NJW1247]

What the hell does palming a ball have to do with becoming a superstar in the NBA? :lol

[demons2005]

What the hell does palming a ball have to do with becoming a superstar in the NBA? :lol
See CP and AI. They are nothing without palming the ball and everyone knows it that's why people prefer college basketball

[KungFuJoe]

Palming the ball is HUGE. You ever play with those "rubber" basketballs that are real easy to palm? I could dribble those and grab/palm them on the up dribble. Man my game was SO much better...I could handle the rock much better and layups around the rim were so easy as I could manipulate the ball, English, up and under, etc. However, my outside shot would suffer a bit because the ball would "stick" to my hand on release.

But that being said, I think being able to easily palm the ball is a huge advantage.

[CryinInTheCar]

I heard somewhere that players with smaller hands are able to shoot the ball better.

[Rake2204]

Palming the ball is HUGE. You ever play with those "rubber" basketballs that are real easy to palm? I could dribble those and grab/palm them on the up dribble. Man my game was SO much better...I could handle the rock much better and layups around the rim were so easy as I could manipulate the ball, English, up and under, etc. However, my outside shot would suffer a bit because the ball would "stick" to my hand on release.

But that being said, I think being able to easily palm the ball is a huge advantage.Perhaps it could make certain maneuvers easier to perform, but I don't believe palming the ball will automatically mean one player has a huge advantage over another. I suppose it's similar to saying standing 6'11'' has the potential to provide more advantages than standing 6'3'', but that doesn't mean the 6'11'' person will always be better (or anywhere close).

So again, even if we somehow conclude that palming a ball provides an upper hand (pun intended), I don't think it takes much for a player to compensate for not being able to palm a ball. To be completely honest, I've never really considered palming the ball to have any sort of effect one way or another in terms of how good a player is. I've known a lot of excellent finishers, dunkers, and ball handlers through the years, and a ton of them could not palm a ball (and were vastly superior to many players who could palm a rock).

The only noticeable difference palming a ball has provided me comes on my dunks. When I can't palm a ball (99% of the time), I'd guess I probably have to jump a little higher than normal to throw one down. When I can palm a ball, it seems a little easier to finish off plays with dunks instead of layups (though palming dunks often feel weaker, stemming from a hand motion instead of an arm or wrist motion).

[Brick Rick]

Would Michael Jordan still be GOAT with undersized hands? Maybe. Maybe not. I think he would be a lesser player though. Would he be as popular? Probably not. Because a lot of his moves were made possible because of his center sized hands in addition to his athleticism.

The way I see it palming the ball does offer certain advantages on the court such as catching passes, grabbing boards, manevuers in the air, ball control in certain respects.

[Rake2204]

Would Michael Jordan still be GOAT with undersized hands? Maybe. Maybe not. I think he would be a lesser player though. Would he be as popular? Probably not. Because a lot of his moves were made possible because of his center sized hands in addition to his athleticism.

The way I see it palming the ball does offer certain advantages on the court such as catching passes, grabbing boards, manevuers in the air, ball control in certain respects.Right, but I think it's an if-then statement situation. The insinuation of some appears to be "If you're a star, then you can palm a ball". In fact, even the converse would be very incorrect ("If you can palm a ball, then you're a star"). As such, I think the correlation is loose.

Surely, I think the ability to palm a rock can offer some benefits, but it won't make a star and it's not a necessity to become one. I think the freakish dimensions of NBA players overall can greatly contribute to rising to the level they have and hands large, strong or sticky enough to palm the ball would be included amongst beneficial dimensions, but again, I don't think palming alone goes hand-in-hand with skill or stardom, no matter how we look at it.

[greymatter]

Or would he even get in to the NBA?
I think no

Hopefully no one is dumb enough to ever pay you to do this.


because there's no way they can compete at that level without better ball handling. They might get away with small hands in high school.

Shawn Kemp says "hi".

[riseagainst]

Hopefully no one is dumb enough to ever pay you to do this.



Shawn Kemp says "hi".

I do get paid to think, so I guess a company with $1.5 trillion under asset management is dumb. :oldlol:
anyway, no reason to go personal and insult people. If you think I'm wrong then just prove me wrong. Just having a casual conversation. :coleman:

[lilojmayo]

Palming helps, obviously doesn't hurt. But if you can't it isnt that big of a deal.


Improving hand strength/flexibility help.


This is a way to improve it



http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/19944560.jpg

[jbot]

steve francis.
1st player that i thought of. that craptastic dunk contest where he couldn't replicate a dunk because he couldn't palm the ball.

[jbot]

francis must have small hands.

[Rake2204]

1st player that i thought of. that craptastic dunk contest where he couldn't replicate a dunk because he couldn't palm the ball.Ha, yep. The dreaded Wheel. Steve Francis draws a Terence Stansbury Statue of Liberty, one foot 360, then Jason Richardson draws a Dominique Wilkins windmill. Someone got screwed there.

[allabouthawks]

http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/9045745/640/9045745.jpg

they was wrong then haha:lol