NBA's 8 Worst Athletes

It turns out that you don't have to work hard at all on your strength and conditioning to be in the NBA.

Well, at least that's what these eight players tell you. Whether they're overweight, old or simply not genetically gifted in that department, these eight players are the league's worst athletes. They have trouble dunking, shy away from contact, can't jump high enough to get a rebound or keep someone in front of them on defense, yet here they are in the NBA.

It's stunning to think that you can be unathletic and be in the NBA. You would think it just comes naturally with the countless hours you put in on the court. In fact, don't you need endurance, stamina and strength to make it to this point? How does a player who can barely make it to the rim without getting his shot blocked end up playing 15 years later?

These players could either just shoot extremely well, were big enough for general managers not to care about their athleticism or have just succumbed to the trials and tribulations of being old.

We're not knocking any of these players because they do deserve a lot of respect for making it to this point. We're just merely pointing out that they're unathletic and we're surprised that they're still playing at basketball's highest level.

Glen Davis

When you're christened with the nickname "Big Baby," you're probably going to be a bit on the heavy side.

Well, LSU's Glen Davis certainly wasn't skinny when he entered the league, was he?

Standing 6'9" and listed as weighing in as 289 pounds, which is a little under Shaquille O'Neal and his healthiest weight, Davis is one of the doughier players in the league. He has seemed to transfer some of that fat to muscle since joining the Orlando Magic over the offseason, but there are still many prominent remnants of Davis' baby fat.

Davis is averaging nine points on 40 percent shooting and five boards per game in his first year with the Magic. He averaged a career high 12 points per game the year before. Davis has always been primarily used as a sixth man and has only started in 38 out of 332 career NBA games.

Even though Davis has a lot of girth to him, he hardly uses it on offense. He's a solid offensive rebounder, but he's mostly subjected to taking mid-range jumpers and the occasional put-back. Those 289 pounds have seemed to significantly weigh down the former Boston Celtics by a considerable amount.

Dexter Pittman

The NBA player who probably weighed the most out of any current player in the league, former University of Texas center Dexter Pittman clocked in at 400 pounds at one time.

During his senior year in high school, Pittman was reported to have weighed in at an unbelievable 388 pounds. He was still recruited by the Longhorns, but still required heavy strength and conditioning training in order to make it to the NCAA level. As a result, Pittman dropped more weight over the summer and would join the Longhorns weighing in at 366 pounds.

After four years at Texas and two years with the Miami Heat, Pittman is now listed at 308 pounds, paltry compared to what the 6'11" center weighed only six years prior. Even with all of the training at the NBA level and the hope to get him into good enough shape so that he becomes a rotation player, Pittman hasn't shaken off all of the needless weight.

As a result, he's not getting much playing time with the Heat. He's played in 29 games this year and is averaging two points and two boards per. He's averaging just as many personal fouls as he is points and rebounds.

Eddy Curry

Eddy Curry has a long way to go before being NBA ready.

We anticipated and hoped that Curry would be ready to go after a few weeks, but the process is strenuous and has taken a lot longer than the Miami Heat hoped for. The former Chicago Bull and New York Knick played his first game with the Heat on January 19th and has only played in 10 games since then, with his lack of movement and how lethargic he is being key factors.

Curry is sloppy and extremely slow from what we have seen this year. On a team where defense and athleticism are so heavily valued, Curry is on the outside looking in most of the time as he rides the pine and hopes that the Heat go up by 30 points so he can step on the court.

Still, you have go give credit where credit is due. Curry has made his way back onto an NBA roster thanks to hard work, patience and dedication. He weighed in at 400 pounds during his initial workout with the Heat last year in March and managed to shed the weight in order to receive a contract with the Heat.

Curry is now listed as 295 pounds, but you'd really have no idea. He still looks like he's pushing 350 pounds.

Juwan Howard

It's sort of depressing to think that while there are hundreds of athletes waiting for their chance in the D-League, 39-year-old Juwan Howard is still on an NBA roster doing absolutely nothing.

No, seriously, Howard does nothing. He's played in 22 games this year and is averaging less than a point and a rebound per. He's only shooting 28 percent from the field and has made seven field goals. Not exactly the 22 points and eight rebounds that Howard once averaged early on his career, but appropriate for a 39-year-old that gets no playing time.

Howard gets no playing time for good reason. He can't jump at all, which means he can't rebound. He's not quick, so he's not defending anyone effectively. He can't create his own shot, so he's not going to be scoring prolifically and his jump shot is restricted from beyond 20 feet. Essentially, Howard is a body on the floor that would only be utilized in case of injury.

That was the case last year when the Heat lost Udonis Haslem to a serious foot injury. Howard played in 57 games and averaged two points on 44 percent shooting and two rebounds per. That was when he actually received playing time as he still couldn't produce even when given the chance.

However, Howard is an imposing figure thanks to his furrowed brow that has never relaxed.

Kurt Thomas

In the same decrepit boat as the Miami Heat's Juwan Howard, the Portland Trail Blazers' Kurt Thomas is also a few missteps away from using a cane and ending up in a retirement home.

Like Howard, Thomas is also 39 years old. Unlike Howard, Thomas is still actually producing at a decent rate for a seldom used 39-year-old center. In 49 games with the Blazers, three of which he started, the 16-year veteran is averaging three points on 46 percent shooting to go along with three boards per.

At the age of 38, Thomas was averaging four points on 51 percent shooting and an impressive six boards per. Not the greatest stats, but decent for a 38-year-old who can barely get off the ground these days. Thomas lacks in athleticism, but he makes up for it with toughness and an old school style of basketball that reminds us of Charles Oakley.

You don't get that out of many players these days, which is why we greatly appreciate a player like Thomas still being in the league. He could still teach these young gun's a thing or two about what it's like to be a hard-nosed NBA defender.

Thomas has played on four teams in the past four seasons. Portland could be his last stop unless he's that serious about ring chasing.

Mike Dunleavy

Probably the most unathletic player in the league who doesn't have the excuse of being incredibly old by NBA standards or incredibly fat by societies standards, it would be a surprise to know that Mike Dunleavy, Jr. can dunk.

I'm not joking, either. Look at how bad he looks playing defense against LeBron James. Once James got the first step, it was over. However, we already knew it was over when we saw the matchup because we knew that there was no way a player with as little athleticism as Dunleavy would be able to keep a superathlete like James in front of him.

Granted that it was LeBron James, and he can make any player look foolish at times. However, it was surprising to see him score with such ease against an NBA player that's given money to actually perform well on both sides of the ball.

Dunleavy is just the furthest thing you will find when looking for athleticism. He can't play defense, can barely rebound at 6'9" and hardly ever drives. The majority of his points will usually come from beyond the three-point line, where he is shooting 37 percent for his career. He's actually converting a career high 43 percent of his shots from beyond the arc with the Milwaukee Bucks this year.

It still doesn't diminish the fact that Dunleavy is one of the league's least athletic players. Until we see this man dunk a basketball, I'm standing by the belief that it's not going to happen.

Rashard Lewis

Quite possibly the greatest waste of height we've ever come across in the NBA, Rashard Lewis seems to stand as far away from the rim as possible at all times.

No, I haven't forgotten about Andrea Bargnani, either. Lewis, now a bench player for the Washington Wizards of all teams, is hardly the player we remember when he was with the Seattle SuperSonics. He can't consistently make jump shots from anywhere, hardly ever drives and can barely get on the court.

Injuries have limited him to only 28 games this year. He's averaging only eight points on 39 percent shooting, converting 24 percent of his three-pointers and grabbing four boards per. Heat fans thought Chris Bosh was disappointed with less than eight boards per? Imagine how frustrated Wizards fans are knowing that their 6'10" forward is grabbing less rebounds per than some point guards.

Lewis just doesn't seem to be an athletic player. He never posts up, doesn't really get high enough to sky for rebounds, isn't aggressive enough with defenders to consistently score inside and tends to stay away from contact, which is why he's such a prominent three-point shooter.

Sad that a player who is a 39 percent shooter that once made three three-pointers per at a 41 percent rate has become such a shell of himself. It seems that happens to everyone who goes to Washington these days.

Derek Fisher

When you watch a video of Derek Fisher dunking, it's sort of like seeing an animal in the wild that you thought was extinct.

It's just a shock to see the former Los Angeles Lakers and current Oklahoma City Thunder point guard actually getting high enough off the ground to force the ball into the hoop. Apparently, he did it three times and one of them, of course, was a poster dunk over Shawn Bradley.

Fisher is only 6'1" and hardly ever lets us know that he's even over the height of 6'. Whenever he does score, it's mostly as a result of it being a timely three-pointer. When he actually scores inside, it's mostly as a result of a glare on our TV that disguised the number four after the two on Fisher's Laker jersey.

Derek has never been the most athletic of players and is probably one of the leagues lesser athletes at this stage in his career.

At 37 years old, Derek is now just attempting to win a sixth championship off the Thunder bench. The wily veteran will probably find some ways to score from deep, but I wouldn't expect a sudden revival where Fisher dunks three more times to end his career.