The air up there changes | Bleacher's report

In the fall of 2017, before starting the ninth year, Travon Pearson went to see her pediatrician. The appointment was, for the most part, routine. The doctor attached a band to his forearm to measure his blood pressure and pulse, then a stethoscope in his chest and back to listen to his breathing. But when it came time to measure Pearson's size, the doctor's tools fell well short of that. Finally, he decided to support Pearson against a wall, climb onto a chair and use a pencil to mark the top of his head. Then he went to bed, put a tape measure on the floor, went back up and pulled the line. He read the result aloud. Pearson was 7 feet and 2 inches tall.

When he had grown up in South Carolina, he had wanted to play wide receiver. But if you can despise the bald areas of adults before you can wear a mustache, basketball almost inevitably becomes a part of your life. Pearson was told that he could possibly reach 7-5, but he could reach the NBA without sprouting an extra centimeter and remaining the third highest player in the league. is what will the league look like for 7-footers by the time he's ready to become pro?

A few decades ago, the NBA's demand for the return to the seven-foot basket seemed only to be met by an assembly line. Now their path to professional basketball success is more like a limbo line. "The game has changed," said a long-time NBA scout. "In the old days, if you had three centers on your list, you wanted two of them to be big killers because you had to face guys like [Shaquille O’Neal]. Now, you really only need one. So where there were 40 jobs, there are only 20. "

In the age of not and space, centers are asked to do much more than attach to the rim for rebounds and layups. They must also be able to reduce perimeter shots and keep pace with guards on defensive switches. In some ways they are more effective than ever. But they are now working more like a kind of modification of the dominant fastball that is the little ball. "Previously, if you measured 7 feet tall and you were alive, you would have a look," said an NBA reception official. "Now, just breathing is not enough, you have to be able to demonstrate a lot of skills."

To get a better idea of ​​the view from 7 feet, I talked to three of the greatest basketball players: Pearson, 7 "6" from the UCF Knights Center, Tacko Fall and 7 "3" from the 76ers' center of Philadelphia, Boban Marjanovic. For them, adapting to a changing NBA is just the last battle in a lifelong war of trying to fit in while standing out.

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How much the 7.5 billion inhabitants of the planet have 7 feet? This is a frequently asked question but one that is rarely answered responsibly. There is no reliable international database for height. After all, our fascination with this mythical 84-inch threshold is arbitrary.

So how many feet are there in the United States? This question is also problematic. The Centers for Disease Control collect height data, and we can reliably say that if you measure 6 "or more, you are among the top 5% in the country. height follows a standard bell curve, this means that there are currently less than 100 people under the age of 100 in the US between the ages of 20 and 40. Using these data in 2011, Sports Illustrated circulated a statistic that a seven-foot American in this age range has a 17% chance of playing in the NBA. The contrast with the corresponding statistic for those between 6 "6" and 6 "8" – 0.07% – was striking. But this is probably not true either.

In the Basketball Reference database, only 73 players listed 7 feet or more have made their NBA debut since 2008-09. But these heights are, for the most part, measured with the shoes of the players. If you consider this cautiously and reduce the results to those shown at 7 "1 and up, only 25 make the cut.On this group, only four – Luke Kornet, Meyers Leonard, Mitchell Robinson and Roy Hibbert – During the same period, according to the database compiled by Jonathan Givony, the NBA's ESPA NBA guru project, 51 Americans registered at 7 feet or more played in Basketball Division I and exhausted their or even if you are a 7 foot American who already plays college basketball, your chances of playing a minute in the NBA are closer to 8%.

In short, it takes more than height to reach the NBA. And many dangers to the success of professional basketball have nothing to do with the sport itself. "The world ends at around half past six," says Robert Bray, spinal surgeon in Los Angeles and former consultant to the Clippers' team. "You can not sit in a plane.You can not drive certain types of cars.You can not buy clothes except in big and big stores.Standards and standard chairs are not you. Your accessibility at all levels is limited. "

The problem is that this kind of extreme height is often a surprise. Pearson's father is 6 ", but Fall's father and mother are 5" and 6 "respectively." And Marjanovic's parents? "Asked about them for the first few minutes from his interview with B / R, he responded in the affirmative.So he called his mother and after a few minutes of conversation and conversion, it was determined that she and her father had respectively 5 & # 39; 6 "and 5 & # 39; 9".

"Basically, I come from another planet," Marjanovic says. "Like Superman, from Krypton, I do not show my power because I want to play basketball, I'll do it" – and here it makes a hissing sound – "take off when I retire."

For Pearson, growing up in the United States means better access to basic necessities. He can find online pants with the perfect size, with a very tight belt, at JCPenney and shoes of all sizes. But for Marjanovic, who was raised in a Serbian agricultural town of 3,000, and for Fall, who hails from Senegal, clothing research has been more difficult. As a college student, Tacko bought a sewing kit and learned to repair the rips and holes in the pair of jeans that fit him well. He also learned how to make sandals from animal skins to accommodate his 22 feet in size.

Traveling is a problem too. When he was playing professionally in Europe, Boban's strategy was to move to a place of exit if the team had not chosen him. He walked up to the exit row and stood as rounded as possible. Then, he asked, starting with the passenger sitting on the other side of the window and passing from one person to the other in the hallway until somebody one is sympathetic enough to exchange seats. "They would give me about 80% of the time," he says. Tacko will not even try to sit in a standard seat – "it's literally not possible," he says, and he's also the only member of the Knights to prefer that his team does not not to the charter, because commercial are the most comfortable for him.

But the biggest battle is not material. It's emotional. You can not go to the grocery store without being bluffed. You can not go to the mall without being constantly asked if you play basketball. You can not go in public, without your photo taken by strangers without your permission. "I really do not want to just be seen as an attraction," says Fall. "I'm a man of faith, I'm a very smart guy, it's not just my size, I'm a human being, just like you."

A few months after Marjanovic made his NBA debut in San Antonio, Spurs fans chanted "M-V-P" as he made free throws towards the end of a defeat-free victory against the Suns. After the match, coach Gregg Popovich advised them not to treat it as "some sort of weird thing". But Boban has learned that the best way to handle attention is to accept it. He does not like people insisting on taking pictures or touching his hands – despite the fact that there is a subreddit devoted to this – but he likes when people stop him for photographs . And he chooses to take the MVP's songs as a love, not harassment. He played four seasons in the NBA and for four different teams, and it seems that every fanbase loved him more than the previous one.

"I am honest," he says. "I've always been a fan favorite, everyone wants to shake my hand, people give me five strong points, I start meeting my friends like that, I think I've shaken more hands in my life than anyone. "

Pearson also likes attention, but mostly because it's just beginning. When Pearson goes to a fast food restaurant near his home, the cashier looks at him and, before asking for his order, asks him where he can watch him play basketball. In less than 30 minutes, three different people are trying to take a picture. "It looks like I'm pretty famous at a young age," he says. "I think it helps me to get ready when I get really famous, to go to the NBA."

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When he first Marjanovic started playing basketball and inspired his play after great legendary men Arvydas Sabonis and Hakeem Olajuwon. In San Antonio, he studied with Tim Duncan. He draws not only a technique, but also an understanding that he can change the course of the game.

"You say that basketball has really changed," he said, "but he has not changed in any way: you have to put the ball in the net and that will never change. You simply do it in different ways, for me, the easy way out because I'm big is lay-up, you can still miss three-point shots, but layups? That's why there are big guys, it's our job to protect the paint, it's our job to bounce back, and it's our job to get the easy points. "

Of those who have recorded at least 1,000 minutes of the game in the NBA, Marjanovic is the fourth most effective player in history. Last season, he was second in the league in points per touch, and this season, his number of wins in 48 minutes is 13th in the league. (The centers regroup most of the 12 players in front of him.) Kevin Pelton's ESP.com research showed that during the 2017-18 season, the centers had the highest percentage of winning players (.560) of all positions. The second closest was the power forward to .448. However, part of the reason for the increasing productivity of the centers – the pick-and-roll spacing – is also part of the reason why their roles have been reduced.

"There is probably a glorious time in the league where Boban is an unthinking follower," said the executive of the reception. "Even at the present time, he really plays a major role in the minutes that he plays, but the problem is that he only plays a few minutes." He is no longer a specialist in the game. extreme that a star In the modern era, giants get inserted?

According to Pelton, in the last three periods after the later season, the 7-foot centers recorded a much lower proportion of minutes than the regular season. In the 1990s and 2000s, the opposite trend was true. "I call it Steph effect," said an NBA scout. "We are really witnessing the death of great old school players because of the little ball, it is not enough to be big, you have to be able to move, you have to be able to run. Your lateral mobility is critical, you need to be fast, fast, fast. "

The trend is not lost among NBA hopefuls like Fall. When he arrived in the United States, Fall built his game based on the types of players Marjanovic had: Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dwight Howard. But two years ago, when he entered the NBA project, the scouts' reactions led him to rethink his style. "They told me that the pace of the game had changed," he says, "and they wondered if I could follow him."

He retired from the project and returned to the UCF to finish his studies and prove his place in the NBA. But the scouts remained skeptical. "Will a guy like Tacko Fall, two decades ago, be a first-round pick?" the executive of the front-office asks. "Probably, it's going to be drafted at all – probably not – we're in a time when being big is not enough in itself."

Now, Tacko spends more time studying the so-called unicorns – seven feet that can make a combination of defensive shifting, ball handling, or three-point shooting. For defensive advice, he looks Rudy Gobert, one of the best rim protectors in the NBA. And in attack, he watches a lot Joel Embiid, a great man who prefers to patrol painting, but who has become a reliable three-point shooter, because he understands its importance for the spacing of his team. In fact, Fall watches the 76ers more than any other team, which is why he was so happy when Boban was traded to them in February.

It is too early to draw general conclusions about Marjanovic in Philadelphia, but the first results are promising. He has averaged career highs in minutes, points and field goal percentage in seven appearances so far.

"Maybe another time would have been better for me to play," says Boban. "Only, I do not live at that time.I'm living now.Other guys make big decisions, but when I go on the field, I think it's my time. every time my time. "

If, in a few years, Pearson's time will come, it will not be because he's been studying great men of generations ago, as Boban and Tacko did. . In fact, Pearson's favorite players are not big men at all. "To be honest, I like guards more than big men," he says. "I want to play like James Harden or Kyrie Irving."

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With a little more Just one minute from the end of the game against the Pelicans on February 25, Marjanovic suffered what appeared to be an injury that would have changed his career. Cheick Diallo, center of New Orleans, crashed against Marjanovic's right knee while he was trying to recover a deflected pass. The big man then rocked to the ground. He had to be taken off the field. Remarkably, Boban slammed away with only a slight sprained knee and bone contusion.

The injury recalled the health hazards of the NBA giants. In 2015, FiveThirtyEight broke down the average number of NBA minutes in height and noted a huge lack of players listed at 7 "or more compared to what one would expect in a normal distribution." When you're 7 feet and up, "says Bray, the surgeon," you can only take a lot of shots. If you look at people of this size and determine why they did it or not, the talent will not be 100%. Some of them can play, but they can not last until college. "

Fall missed half of last season as he was recovering from a ripped labrum. He partly blamed his injury for repeated blows to the shoulder and elbow suffered by smaller defenders. "I get hacked all the time," said Fall. "Sometimes I even hear an opponent or coach say something like:" Go after his lap. "It's the only thing that really keeps me in the skin."

The list of 7-footers whose career has been reduced by injuries is long. But what happens after basketball? Larry Bird has already stated that he was expecting to die young because of his size. And aging can be brutal for the big ones. "Being tall is not a problem in itself," says Bray. "But being tall and tall is the wear and tear that they experience during their careers can lead to immobility of retirement." When you can not move very well but you have the ## 147 ## The habit of eating as you did when you were playing, you are growing All around, like when they play, big men fall faster and hit harder. "

There have been no systematic studies on the seven feet, but in all men, the average height decreases steadily after the age of 30 years. However, the link between size and overall mortality is problematic because it is very difficult to control composition variables. Studies have generally shown an increased risk of cancer as you grow, but a decreased risk of coronary heart disease.

"Ultimately, being great is not a death sentence," says Dr. Travis Maak, orthopedic surgeon and physician of the Utah Jazz team. "I'm 6", and in a skewed way, I consider that size is a huge advantage. In addition to hitting your head or not being able to slip under the shower head, I think you can lead a rather normal life. "

For Pearson, a normal life is unappealing. He just started playing basketball a few years ago, and the end of this trip – let alone the end of his life – is almost unimaginable. But the potential health risks he faces have already touched his life.

Two days after Marjanovic's injury to the Pelicans, Pearson undergoes surgery scheduled to open a valve in his heart, which is enlarged. When he heard the diagnosis for the first time, he was afraid of dying. He then did a Google search on his phone and found out how common it was for athletes to be and would not stop him from continuing to make a career in basketball. In fact, in a way, it gave him the impression of having more in common with his NBA idols than his high school friends.

The procedure went as planned and Pearson was home the next day. Before the sun goes down, he took a step forward in the path of a professional career to which he feels destined. He grabbed a basketball, went to the nearest court for half a kilometer, and spent an hour shooting three points.