The Average NBA Player

Basketball is an ever-changing game at every level. When I played youth basketball, I wore classic white sneakers probably from Target; now all the youngsters have to be wearing Curry’s or LeBron’s shoes to avoid embarrassment. From the young kids, all the way up to the NBA Stars, the game is always changing. Now, instead of looking at how many three pointers pros are chucking up these days, or how nobody likes mid range shots, lets look at how the players themselves have changed. Basketball Reference has listed NBA average stats for height, weight, and age from the 1951 season and on. Looking at three quite monumental years for the NBA (the shot clock era [1954], the three point era [1979], and today [2016]) how has the average NBA player’s physical appearance changed?

Following along with the image above, we can see that the average age hasn’t changed at all. It took a slight dip in the ’79 season but it is safe to assume that right around 26.7 is the NBA’s consistent average age. In fact, the NBA’s average age has been between 26.1 and 27.9 for it’s whole existence.

In 1954 the average NBA player was standing about 6 feet 4 inches tall, and that number had increased 2 inches by 1979. Today, the average NBA player stands at 6 feet 7 inches (this has been the NBA’s average height since 1979).

Weight has seen the most dramatic change over the years, with the average 1954 NBA player weighing in at 197 big ones. By 1979 the average increased to 204 pounds, and today the average player weighs a whopping 220 pounds (for those keeping track that is 2.8 pounds per inch). The heaviest the NBA has collectively been was in 2011, at an average of 223 pounds.

While these numbers are simple, they are fun to look at and know about. There is constant debate about how the guys in the league today would get bullied around by Jordan and his Bulls, or by Kareem’s Lakers, but this might make us think differently.