NBA is featured all around the world. The basketball players which are playing there are real superstars. It’s the dream of tens of millions of teenagers which are hoping to be one day in their place. Nevertheless, this league is reserved for an elite. Only 450 players globally on the planet have the opportunity to be part of it each year. Here are the six essential requirements to become an NBA player.
Measure more than 6 foot to become an NBA player
The smallest players in the League peak at around 6 foot. In History, Muggsy Bogues was only 5’6’’. The fact of evolving in the NBA with such size is unthinkable at the present time. Among the other small sizes passed by the Great League, we find Earl Boykins (5’5’’), Spud Webb (5’6’’) or Nate Robinson (5’9’’). These athletes cited all compensated for their small size with enormous determination and exceptional athletic qualities. Today, the average height of an NBA player is 6’6’’. The tallest is the giant Senegalese center Tacko Fall (7’5’’).
Weigh at least 176 lbs
In terms of physical characteristics, it is not enough to be tall to evolve in the NBA! You also have to be strong to withstand impacts. Featherweights don’t really belong there. And this, even if Dejounte Murray could be a counter example. The Atlanta Hawks playmaker is doing pretty well. Before pushing iron in the weight room and reaching 82 kg, his weight was recorded at 77 kg at the dawn of the 2018/2019 season. For his part, in addition to being the highest peak player in the NBA, Tacko Fall is also the heaviest physically. The former Boston Celtics player weighs 141 kilograms on the scale. On average, an NBA player weighs 1 quintal, or 100 kilograms.
Be between 19 and 40 years old
Since 2005, high school students can no longer directly enter the NBA without going through the university or professional level abroad. Due to regulations, they must wait until the year of their 19 years to be able to present themselves to the NBA draft. Frenchman Sekou Doumbouya was the youngest player in the league when he joined the NBA. In 2019/2020, Vince Carter was the oldest NBA player with his 43 years. Having turned 42 last summer, Udonis Haslem will be the oldest veteran in the league this season. The average age of an NBA basketball player is 25.
Having a strong mind: an essential condition to become an NBA player
Without any determination, it is impossible to integrate or to continue in the NBA. There is constant competition that can quickly become unbearable for some. A career in the most prestigious basketball league in the world only lasts an average of 5 years. Physical and technical abilities are not everything! The champions, on the other hand, adopt a very particular mindset.
Have played basketball for at least 8 years
If many professional basketball players have had an orange ball in their hands since birth and have been fed on the basketball courts, this is fortunately not the case for all. The french center Vincent Poirier made his first dribbles at the age of 17. After being the best rebounder in the Euroleague, he joined the NBA in 2019 by joining the Boston Celtics. The native of Clamart was then 25 years old. It is therefore never too late to start playing sports and become one of the best in your country at your playing position.
Don’t have a phobia of flying to become a NBA player
Suffering from hyper-anxiety and fear of flying is incompatible with the daily life of an NBA player. Private jet travel throughout the United States is standard for every game played away. Royce White nevertheless managed to be drafted in the NBA in 2012. In the first round moreover! However, he only played three NBA games with the Sacramento Kings, having been sidelined by the Houston Rockets then. His fear of flying prevented him from pursuing a career at the highest level. And this, even by consulting psychologists. Nothing worked. White had to resolve to retire as a professional basketball player much earlier than expected.
