The Fastest Point A to Point B Player in History

[Da_Realist]

The only people who can compete with MJ in terms of speed and quickness in the half court off the dribble is Derrick Rose, and Allen Iverson. That should tell you something too. Both are PG's. One is 5'11 and the other is 6'1. MJ did this @ 6'5.

So you take comprable speed and quickness and put it on a frame that is significantly longer than both of them, and you have the FASTEST point A to Point B player in the league history. In the half court or full court set. Only player in full court I can think of that is comprable is Dr. J or LeBron from 2004 - 2010.

I remember reading about teams testing MJ's 40 yard dash time, and it was on the level of modern super athletes in the NFL. The Mike Vicks of the world, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkRzE8oroMs

Just watch these plays where Jordan recovers from significant distances to make plays ont he ball.

Look @ that play v.s. New York in game 7. Where he starts off from to where he catches up with the IN BOUND pass.



Then look at the recovery in the open court to get IN FRONT of Xavier McDaniel to swipe the ball.



But let's not just talk about point A to point B in terms of moving vertically.

MJ was one of the fastest players of all-time LATERALLY. That's why he was such an insane defender. I mean, Scottie Pippen had 3 - 4 inches on MJ in height, and a signicantly longer reach ... MJ flustered players more with his ridiculous foot speed than with his length. And if you don't believe me, watch some tape. He was incredible at bouncing side to side with anticipation and speed, moving his feet laterally.

Amazing end-to-end speed here with the ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MC4On7E088&t=2m20s

[Samurai Swoosh]

Amazing end-to-end speed here with the ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MC4On7E088&t=2m20s

I was going to post that too ... forgot it was from one of your mixes. Awesome one too, by the way.

[bdreason]

I knew you had to be a Warrior "super fan" the way you were arguing for Monta Ellis overrated ass the other day. And claiming Stephen Curry was already an All Star PG.

I'm a Warriors fan, but far from a fanboy. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks both Monta and Curry are borderline All-Stars.

[knickswin]

It'd be completely delusional homerism to even begin to argue that MJ was the fastest full-court player of all time. Most point guards are probably faster than him.

But if we're talking about quickness in the half court he's at the very top. His first step was blazing, I would argue that it was his biggest physical advantage. He could beat any defender off his first dribble and then get a good look at the basket.

Lebron's first step isn't that great. I don't think it's even as good as Carmelo's. He's incredible in the open court and he's great at accelerating once he's already in motion, but you rarely see him blow by guys on the first dribble. Maybe it's a matter of coaching rather than ability for him though.

[Simple Jack]

I'm a Warriors fan, but far from a fanboy. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks both Monta and Curry are borderline All-Stars.

You aren't. Monta was playing all-star level ball this past year and Curry is right around the corner.

[OldSchoolBBall]

I've watched pretty much every game Rose has played and there's no doubt in my mind his speed in the half-court is a level above. Same goes for peak Wade. I have a couple of plays Rose plays for now, I'll post more when I get free later:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSHhkL2NdOY&t=1m32s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D54U63ldVcQ&t=2m24s

Rose's speed is CERTAINLY not a "level above" - that's just absurd. I will say that Rose was the guy who I feel covers ground second fastest after Jordan (Rose is faster at covering ground than Iverson imo). His acceleration may be even faster than MJ's (off a live dribble, at least), but MJ's stride length/size (he has 3+" on Rose) makes the difference. Neither of the clips you posted show him covering that distance any faster than Jordan did. The second clip is almost as fast as MJ in terms of the time it took for him to cover that distance.

Again, MJ's first step speed (plus the length of his first step) coupled with his stride length/size makes him the fastest in the halfcourt at covering ground, ESPECIALLY from a standstill.

[NuggetsFan]

Not sure where he'd rank All-Time but a guy like Ty Lawson has to be up there. Ridiculous the amount of buckets he get's on broken plays in the halfcourt simply because of how quick he is. Not many clips of him on youtube but as a guy who's missed about 10-11 games of his entire career thus far I can confidently say he's not slower than some of the guy's getting a mention like Rose, Westbrook.

Reminds me of A.I's quickness.

[eliteballer]

LOCO...how is this not as fast as any of the clips you posted?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5-VO...elated&t=0m26s

[theaussieguy]

that thing about how height is beneficial for sprinting, in theory may be true, but hey why would we use theory when we can use reality?

Its pretty obvious that the majority of sprinters are not tall tall guys. Usain is a freak of nature. He managed to keep muscle mass (drugs? who knows) whilst remaining at a very low body fat. But the most important thing i think which determines the quicks of someone is their dexterity and agility. Generally, as you get taller, you just get lankier and lose coordination, i think because in most cases, whilst your bones may be longer than the average person, your muscle mass and strength is not so your flopping round everywhere. In other words the shorter guys have less weight but similar amounts of muscle, helping in acceleration.

My mum was so suprised when i told her how tall MJ was. She thought he was like 6 foot, which just goes to show how awsome his proportions were. He didn't look like a lanky retard like most tall guys do.

[N0Skillz]

that thing about how height is beneficial for sprinting, in theory may be true, but hey why would we use theory when we can use reality?

Its pretty obvious that the majority of sprinters are not tall tall guys. Usain is a freak of nature. He managed to keep muscle mass (drugs? who knows) whilst remaining at a very low body fat. But the most important thing i think which determines the quicks of someone is their dexterity and agility. Generally, as you get taller, you just get lankier and lose coordination, i think because in most cases, whilst your bones may be longer than the average person, your muscle mass and strength is not so your flopping round everywhere. In other words the shorter guys have less weight but similar amounts of muscle, helping in acceleration.

My mum was so suprised when i told her how tall MJ was. She thought he was like 6 foot, which just goes to show how awsome his proportions were. He didn't look like a lanky retard like most tall guys do.

not true

[HB40TheNextStar]

The answer is Tiny Archibald, you tools.

[PHILA]

Iverson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D58UwufQYyI#t=1m5s



Washington Times - Feb 23, 1996

"[Allen] Iverson is the fastest human being on the planet in any sport," - Villanova coach Steve Lappas, speaking on ESPN at halftime.



Chicago Tribune - Dec 8, 1996

But the fastest man with the ball in the NBA today appears to be 6-foot, 165- pound 76ers rookie point guard Allen Iverson.



Sports Illustrated - January 13, 1997

Quickest First Step?

Not too long ago this poll of one representative from each of the league's 29 teams would have been a waste of time. Only one player would have received votes: Chicago's Michael Jordan, of course. But while Jordan's reign as the NBA's most explosive player continues—he topped our list with 13 votes, nine more than Philadelphia rookie point guard Allen Iverson—the responses from coaches, players and general managers show that His Airness has lost his overwhelming edge. "On the dribble, it's Iverson," says San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. "From a rocker step, live ball, I guess it's still Michael."

[hammer2010]

This thread is stupid. How many times have you seen a PG in the half court blow easily past anyone who is not a pg? And how many times do you see shooting guards post up pg's on the perimeter. The reason being that both on defence and offence *half court* point guards are by far the fastest players. Think about it!! Pg's literally have to rely on speed and quickness playing the game. They don't have any other advantage on the court other than to be the fastest player in the game. With the ball or without the ball. On offence or defence. Full court and halfcourt.. Pretty much in every facet of the game they have to be the fastest players to have any advantage.

[andgar923]

*sigh* some people just don't get what the OP means and has reiterated time and time again.

Sure... Rose and Iverson may be quicker than MJ, but due to MJ's length and speed, he gets to point A to point B faster than they do.

In other words....

It'll take MJ one less dribble and one less stride to get from point A to point B than Iverson or Rose, due to his combination of speed and length.

There isn't a player above 6'4 faster than MJ, and the players that are faster are usually smaller and need to take one more stride and one more dribble to reach point B than MJ.

I believe I've told this story before....

I knew a college player that played in the Space Jam games vs MJ. This dude was 6'4 thin and athletic with great speed. He said MJ was the fastest player he ever faced, including point guards.

There's another story from a friend that saw MJ play front court seats at the Forum, he said he's never seen anybody move so fast and cover so much ground. He said that if he took away anything, was MJ's amazing speed and how every move was executed with pin point precision almost military like (he's a cop).

[pauk]

Amazing end-to-end speed here with the ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MC4On7E088&t=2m20s

close... but no.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNaLIhzSYDI