There's really no telling how long all this is going to go on, but it's hard to imagine the NBA returns to normalcy before next winter. Even if the league comes back, the likelihood of having packed arenas is almost 0. That sucks. So in the meantime I've found myself digging through Wikipedia and looking at high school stat lines for some NBA players to see who might have the most ridiculous numbers.
As I look at these, it's important to remember that high school basketball games have 8 minute quarters. It's also important to remember that a lot of teams which featured future NBA stars were probably beating some pretty crappy teams along the way and thus the superstars weren't going to play every minute of every game. So when I tell you that Brandon Jennings averaged 35 points per game as a senior in high school, that should be extremely impressive. Because it is impressive.
Is that more or less impressive than what big men could do? When you're 6 inches taller than most of the other players, you should get a lot of rebounds. Kevin Love, however, may not actually be as tall as he was advertised for a long time. Doesn't matter. Love averaged 34 points, 17 rebounds, and 4 assists per game as a senior in high school. Once again, that's in games that are 32 minutes long and are almost certainly ending in blowout semi-regularly.
There are a ton of these, which isn't surprising. What sometimes is surprising is that a lot of guys who you'd expect to have other-worldly stats were very good, but not the most incredible. For example, guys who went to Oak Hill and had 3 other NBA players on their high school roster weren't in a position to score 40 per game. Carmelo Anthony averaged fewer points his senior year (at Oak Hill) than he did as a junior. But he got his full ride to Syracuse since he was the best player on an extremely talented team. So that adds up.
Then you have a guy like Kyrie Irving, who must have just dominated everyone, right? He's quicker than anybody in the NBA, so he surely just clowned everyone in high school, right? Kinda. He averaged about 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Big numbers in 32 minute games, but not mind-blowing.
Anthony Davis has a shot at the throne here, as he reportedly averaged 32 points, 22 rebounds, and 7 blocks per game in high school. It's certainly believable, and I think that's the only person I've come across who had a higher rebounding averaged than Kevin Love. That guy was - and is - a beast.
But then a friend clued me in to the most absurd of them all.
I'm from Ohio, so people I remember hearing about would be in the Ohio record books. You might think the LeBron James would be the pinnacle of Ohio high school basketball, and in some sense, you'd be right. He was the highest-touted, best player to ever come out of Ohio. There's no question about that. He rightly won Ohio's Mr. Basketball award...three straight times. But is he the most absurd statistically?
Nope.
Jon Diebler.
Jon Diebler played for Ohio State from 2007-2011. He was then drafted by the Portland Trailblazers but never caught on in the NBA. He has spent most of the last decade playing professionally in Europe, where he has been a pretty solid player.
Diebler scored 77 points in a high school basketball game...as a junior. He scored more points than anybody in Ohio high school history - 600 more than LeBron James, 240 more than Luke Kennard, and more than literally any other player who has ever come out of Ohio. As a senior, get this, Jon Diebler averaged 41.2 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. PER GAME.
I was not a die-hard Buckeyes fan, but I would be lying if I said I didn't remember Jon Diebler ripping jumpers from anyplace on the court that he had 6 inches of space. Diebler was such an incredible shooter that he broke OSU's career record for three-pointers made as a junior, then played his entire senior season and made 114 more threes. He shot 50.2% from deep as a senior. Read that again. He shot 50.2% from deep as a senior. At the time, that made Diebler the 8th player to ever shoot better than 50% on three-pointers (4 more guys have done it since then).
Also, that Buckeyes team was really good. Aaron Craft, Jared Sullinger, Diebler, David Lighty - they got upset by Brandon Knight's game-winner with 5 seconds left in the sweet-16. OSU was the #1 overall seed and Kentucky came in as a #4, but check this out: Kentucky's squad included future NBA players Knight, Darius Miller, Terrence Jones, DeAndre Liggins (DeAndre!!), Josh Harrellson, and an ineligible Enes Kanter. That is a hell of a squad.
OK. That's enough for today.
As I look at these, it's important to remember that high school basketball games have 8 minute quarters. It's also important to remember that a lot of teams which featured future NBA stars were probably beating some pretty crappy teams along the way and thus the superstars weren't going to play every minute of every game. So when I tell you that Brandon Jennings averaged 35 points per game as a senior in high school, that should be extremely impressive. Because it is impressive.
Is that more or less impressive than what big men could do? When you're 6 inches taller than most of the other players, you should get a lot of rebounds. Kevin Love, however, may not actually be as tall as he was advertised for a long time. Doesn't matter. Love averaged 34 points, 17 rebounds, and 4 assists per game as a senior in high school. Once again, that's in games that are 32 minutes long and are almost certainly ending in blowout semi-regularly.
There are a ton of these, which isn't surprising. What sometimes is surprising is that a lot of guys who you'd expect to have other-worldly stats were very good, but not the most incredible. For example, guys who went to Oak Hill and had 3 other NBA players on their high school roster weren't in a position to score 40 per game. Carmelo Anthony averaged fewer points his senior year (at Oak Hill) than he did as a junior. But he got his full ride to Syracuse since he was the best player on an extremely talented team. So that adds up.
Then you have a guy like Kyrie Irving, who must have just dominated everyone, right? He's quicker than anybody in the NBA, so he surely just clowned everyone in high school, right? Kinda. He averaged about 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Big numbers in 32 minute games, but not mind-blowing.
Anthony Davis has a shot at the throne here, as he reportedly averaged 32 points, 22 rebounds, and 7 blocks per game in high school. It's certainly believable, and I think that's the only person I've come across who had a higher rebounding averaged than Kevin Love. That guy was - and is - a beast.
But then a friend clued me in to the most absurd of them all.
I'm from Ohio, so people I remember hearing about would be in the Ohio record books. You might think the LeBron James would be the pinnacle of Ohio high school basketball, and in some sense, you'd be right. He was the highest-touted, best player to ever come out of Ohio. There's no question about that. He rightly won Ohio's Mr. Basketball award...three straight times. But is he the most absurd statistically?
Nope.
Jon Diebler.
Jon Diebler played for Ohio State from 2007-2011. He was then drafted by the Portland Trailblazers but never caught on in the NBA. He has spent most of the last decade playing professionally in Europe, where he has been a pretty solid player.
Diebler scored 77 points in a high school basketball game...as a junior. He scored more points than anybody in Ohio high school history - 600 more than LeBron James, 240 more than Luke Kennard, and more than literally any other player who has ever come out of Ohio. As a senior, get this, Jon Diebler averaged 41.2 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. PER GAME.
I was not a die-hard Buckeyes fan, but I would be lying if I said I didn't remember Jon Diebler ripping jumpers from anyplace on the court that he had 6 inches of space. Diebler was such an incredible shooter that he broke OSU's career record for three-pointers made as a junior, then played his entire senior season and made 114 more threes. He shot 50.2% from deep as a senior. Read that again. He shot 50.2% from deep as a senior. At the time, that made Diebler the 8th player to ever shoot better than 50% on three-pointers (4 more guys have done it since then).
Also, that Buckeyes team was really good. Aaron Craft, Jared Sullinger, Diebler, David Lighty - they got upset by Brandon Knight's game-winner with 5 seconds left in the sweet-16. OSU was the #1 overall seed and Kentucky came in as a #4, but check this out: Kentucky's squad included future NBA players Knight, Darius Miller, Terrence Jones, DeAndre Liggins (DeAndre!!), Josh Harrellson, and an ineligible Enes Kanter. That is a hell of a squad.
OK. That's enough for today.
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