Bill Walton is working for the Kings and was talking about Oden on their broadcast. His advice was simple: "Lose 50 pounds and hire the best personal trainer and nutritionist you can, because whatever you've been doing isn't working." He then went off of on the trend of making these guys with huge frames even bigger. He used Bynum as another example. They carry so much weight and put so much stress on their legs, that they'll eventually give way. Sage advice, IMO.
I like the advice. Bill is probably thinking GO weighs in the neighborhood of 300, so he thinks he should play at 250
Amazing how Shaq has basically played out of shape the last decade and has pretty much had no knee or foot problems that I can think of.
I think GO should be around 255. Even at that weight he's insanely strong. The difference is at that weight he's arguably one of the quickest centers in the league.
true, but ask any Laker fan and they'll tell you that his weight played a huge role in how many games he played each year and his slow return from injuries. His ever widening ass is a big reason why they didn't win more titles (in that era).
the more time that goes by the more we will realize how much a physical freak Shaq was. I doubt we'll see another person like that in the nba.
Dwight Howard is pretty big and he hasn't had any injury trouble. I think Bill's talking out of his ass.
Agreed, but guys like that are the exception. Look at the majority of 7 footers and they'll experience some kind of leg problems at some point in their career.
BTW, how stoned was Walton tonight? Did you guys catch him blurting out "I LOVE PIZZA" a few times during that broadcast?
He's big...but he's 6-10 and not a true 7 footer. His body fat% is also probably like 8%. While big, still lean and mean.
I still am trying to figure out why 80% of the Blazer games (on the NBA league pass) use the opposing team's TV crew. What the hell did Mike Rice and HCP do to get banned from a national audience?
Some differences- Dwight is 6'10 and listed at 265 lbs., that weight is probably right within about 10 lbs. Like Roytoy said, there's not an ounce of fat on him, thats pretty much how the guy was meant to be it seems like. Walton is saying how GO, Bynum, Yao is another one, etc. are already huge and encouraged to put on as much weight as they can. They become these 300 lb. giants playing a game that puts a lot of stress on big men's feet. Perhaps if Dwight was told to add 15+ lbs. he would have similar issues, likewise maybe if these guys didn't add a ton of weight since the time they were drafted they would have experienced better health. I know they were all 18-19 years old coming into the league and were bound to put on muscle but it seems like Dwight maintained a generally similar looking physique while the other three got a lot bigger over the course of the next several seasons. And maybe this is a similar explanation as can be used with Shaq. The dude is massive but you can just tell that he was meant to be that big of a guy. Reminds me of an interview I saw with Jonathan Ogden of Baltimore Ravens fame who, when asked about O Linemen being pressured into keeping their weight up, explained that it gets unhealthy when guys who weren't meant to be a certain weight are constantly trying to be that big. He knew he was born to be a massive mother fugger and it wasn't an issue for him, his body was built to be 310+ lbs with relatively nimble feet. Other guys would naturally be much lighter and it could be an explanation as to why some of them had health issues. Granted, I'm sure the aforementioned 3 guys were all adding weight in a healthy manner, the general idea is that maybe there is some kind of breaking point to where their bodies can't hold up any longer. Shaq was massive but was a natural behemoth and I think his size was relatively god-given. Dwight is a freak of nature but again, his current physique looks like its maintained the natural curve of what you expect when you saw him coming out of HS. Big Baby is another guy, just watching him at LSU even when he was 20 lbs heavier he was so nimble and agile it was plain to see that he was a naturally big man and meant to be that way.
Wow. This is actually a sign of progress. Somebody in the media said something less-than-worshipful about Oden...and people are actually discussing it instead of just flying off the handle. I am no fan of Walton, but the issue of Oden's weight deserves to be treated seriously. He put on a lot of weight in a rather brief period of time. Furthermore, his weight training was asymetrical. He added bulk to his upper body, but not to his base. To put it another way, he added weight without adding the strength to carry it properly. Would it really surprise anybody if this contributed to his problems?
Dang, Wheels looks like he's dropped about 200lbs since last basketball season. Keep up the good work Wheels!
Agree on Oden's weight situation and getting his own trainer/nutritionist team. The ironic thing is that his agent said after the previous injury before this latest one that they would seek outside expertise to evaluate and then perhaps help Greg - well WTF happened with that? Maybe they will do it now as any hope for an NBA career hangs in the balance.
