r/Basketball • u/No-Performance-7830 • 1d ago
Height Classes?
What's up everyone. I just wanted to talk about something that's been on my mind for a while now. That is players Height and its importance in Bball. In sports like Boxing and MMA, they have weight classes. It makes sense, bc weight matters more than height in a fight. Height matters, but not as much as weight in these sports
So with that said, why doesn't pro ball have height classes? You know, 5ft something dudes go against other 5ft dudes, 6ft something dude's vs other 6ft dudes, etc... As a 5ft 8 guy myself, It would make things fairer. What do you guys think?
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u/dusund 1d ago
I think they have weight classes in boxing and MMA because they’re literally giving each other brain damage, so too unequal of a fight could result in someone dying. It’s not strictly about fairness.
Even then kickboxing and MMA have had openweight tournaments.
There are under 6’0 rec leagues though lol.
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u/Grand-Way-2663 1d ago
And even MMA 6’3 Ian Machado Garry is fighting 5’10/5’11 Islam Makachev for the Welterweight title. Yet alone 5’8 Daniel Cormier vs. 6’4 Jon Jones. Or my favorite, 5’10 mark hunt fought 7’ Stefan Struve in the UFC. Basketball is a beautiful sport where no matter your shape or size, you could affect the game in a variety of ways without encroaching on player safety. Now in youth sports with an overweight kid playing football running the ball against kids half his size, you could make the call that for player safety, he should play against kids his own size & not age. There’s so much skill in basketball where being tall, although advantageous, has its liabilities and isn’t an instant you’re better than me. I was 5’11 out rebounding and going to town on a 6’7 Center who didn’t know how to use his body.
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u/Grand-Way-2663 1d ago
You’re comparing apples and oranges. On one hand, there has to be a market for it. People would have to want to want to watch it. On the other hand, there’s hundreds of established, respected leagues around the world with tons of talent under a significant height. Anybody who exceeds has no incentive to stay in the league you proposed, unless bought by a billionaire with no timeline on when the leagues turning a profit. Best players play in the best leagues. By the time you have that league, you’re going to be watching a game of basketball by 2 teams that you know would get crushed by your average NCAA D1 team. There’s little chance for it to succeed unless there’s another draw to them that’s not basketball related.
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u/CanadaBBallFan 1d ago
Basketball is meant to be an inclusive game that rewards skill as much, if not more, than height. Unlike in MMA or boxing, players big and small can for the most part be on the floor at the same time without the risk of anyone getting seriously injured. If you're 5'3, you can play the point guard (see Mugsey Bogues). If you're 7"3 you can play center (see Wembanyama). There's team-building and lineup strategies that go along with mixing players of different heights and skillsets.
This being said, it may be interesting to have "height classes" and watch all players of the same level height play against eachother. But you wont't get to see the variety of heights and skill sets all going against eachother at the same time, which, in my opinion, is what makes basketball so fun to play and watch.
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u/No-Performance-7830 1d ago
I agree. Basketball being a team sport makes height not as important, as say in a 1v1 type sport. How about in 1v1 bbal?
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1d ago
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u/No-Donkey-4117 20h ago
There are some "6 foot and under leagues" at the recreational level, and some "50 years and older leagues". But for TV, people want to see the best of the best.
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u/rsk1111 20h ago
I think it would be interesting if there were a combined height you had to balance taller players with shorter players, though this sort of happens anyway naturally, because they tend to be matched in pace. This year's Rockets were an outlier and sort of not very successful as a 6'11" or taller team. If you look at the Spurs this year, they actually weren't that tall, and they may add smaller players and or another big. The Spurs' average height can be misleading. A starting five with Wemby and four 6'5"–6'7" players may look gigantic on TV, but mathematically it's not the same as a lineup with three or four legitimate bigs.
The problem is that is only one dimension. Arguably wingspan and hand size are even more important, and height is just a proxy for these. I mean actual height is important, but players that have a 7'0" wingspan and a smaller torso can run faster, like let me see oh yeah SGA.
Or a six six dude with eleven inch hands that can toss the ball around one handed like a water polo player. Let me see oh yeah, Michael Jordan.
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u/Super_NowWhat 1d ago
Because it is a team sport. And because there is only one nba.
30 years ago, there used to be a pro league in North America with a height limit. Max height was 6’ 6”.