is wiggins as athletic as pre-2012 lebron?

[yarrak]

Bran was a concern to some coming out of high school because they saw him as 'too ready' meaning that he was at a physical and athletic peak at that time and adding more muscle/size would only be a detriment.

For his first 8 years Bran (with some added bulk) proved everyone wrong, he was a freight train. Now in his 30s he himself is trying to lose weight and had some success with it this summer (Kobe did the same thing a few years back).

Big bodies aren't built for the long term.

If you look at Wiggins, he is very similar to Jordan at that time. Here is a pic of all four around the same age:



Wiggins has a lot of room to add bulk, but bulk isn't a thing people want anymore, look for trainers to have him focus on body weight workouts, core training etc. not traditional adding of muscle mass.

He is only 20 and not at the same stage in his development Bran was at 20, he is equally athletic (perhaps moreso in raw stats) but Bran is stronger. 20 years is nowhere near anyone's strength peak so Wiggins has time.

Wiggins is an insane athlete who is still leaning how to harness his athleticism, in the last two months his dunk totals have spiked, he has gotten to the rim a lot more, and has proven to be an extremely effective post up player. All this while still looking a bit stiff. Once he gets caught up to his athleticism and smooths it out he will then be able to pin point his force and be a stronger player.

People forget how athletic young Lebron was...

Wiggins will never even get close to Lebron level athleticism.

[plowking]

Some serious underrating of Wiggins.

He is a better two footed leaper, more agile than Bron has ever been, and I'd say equal in end to end pace. Wiggins might be the quickest guy in the league end to end at the moment, just like Bron was at one point.

Wiggins isn't that dude who can just jump high and wow you. He seriously is a gazelle out there running end to end.

[Im Still Ballin]

The thing that makes Lebron so freaky and what sets him apart from other great athletes is his bulk/size. At his peak he was pretty much 270 and getting his shoulders at rim level. Dude was going HAM on the test/steroids and HGH... this was back when Dwight was superhuman too and had those boulder shoulders...

God I miss the Stern steroid era

[Hoopz2332]

wiggins doesn't look as athletic as jabari parker

[CTbasketball92]

Wiggins might be the most explosive player in the league in terms of straightline speed and vertical leaping. Honest to god think he could hurt himself if he were to jump as high as he could because he'd fall so far. His first step is also ridiculous for his size -- better than LeBron's ever was.

With that said, LeBron is far more graceful with his body control and dexterity around the rim, and even though wiggins is actually very strong (explodes through contact like a running back even though he's skinny), and has amazingly light feet, LeBron is just a demon when it comes to strength and he's just as fast and he still weighed about 35 pounds more than Wiggins. To be completely honest, I'm not sure Wiggins even has more functional athleticism than LeBron now. LeBron also probably still has a 40+ inch vertical off the run (considering how high vince still jumps. I don't think NBA players lose as much bounce as people think they do. LeBron's bounce is still insane, never saw the dropoff other people saw).

As for Kobe ... yeah, I'd say Kobe was more functionally athletic. Kobe was incredibly fluid with the basketball and his first step was also very strong. That could also be a function of Kobe's skills though. Imagine if Wiggins had Kobe's skills? Definitely a 28 ppg a game scorer. As a raw athlete, give me wiggins, though.

[Smoke117]

Fvck no

hhahaha I legit just muttered that when I read the thread title.

[eliteballer]

Wiggins might be the most explosive player in the league in terms of straightline speed and vertical leaping. Honest to god think he could hurt himself if he were to jump as high as he could because he'd fall so far. His first step is also ridiculous for his size -- better than LeBron's ever was.

With that said, LeBron is far more graceful with his body control and dexterity around the rim, and even though wiggins is actually very strong (explodes through contact like a running back even though he's skinny), and has amazingly light feet, LeBron is just a demon when it comes to strength and he's just as fast and he still weighed about 35 pounds more than Wiggins. To be completely honest, I'm not sure Wiggins even has more functional athleticism than LeBron now. LeBron also probably still has a 40+ inch vertical off the run (considering how high vince still jumps. I don't think NBA players lose as much bounce as people think they do. LeBron's bounce is still insane, never saw the dropoff other people saw).

As for Kobe ... yeah, I'd say Kobe was more functionally athletic. Kobe was incredibly fluid with the basketball and his first step was also very strong. That could also be a function of Kobe's skills though. Imagine if Wiggins had Kobe's skills? Definitely a 28 ppg a game scorer. As a raw athlete, give me wiggins, though.

19 year old Wiggins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjILCFmQKco


19 year old Kobe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x3cOWs0bRM

[CTbasketball92]

19 year old Wiggins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjILCFmQKco


19 year old Kobe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x3cOWs0bRM

Yeah I've seen these before. I think wiggins is faster in a straightline and maybe just as quick as Kobe. Wiggins prob. jumps higher than almost anyone in the NBA ever. Kobe had a 38 inch vert at 17, so it no doubt got up to at least 41 or so, but wiggins might actually have an MJ level 45 inch vert. They're both really strong, even when they were thin.