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

[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.
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.

[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

[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]

they was wrong then haha