For years, Kevin Durant has been listed at 6-foot-9, which, obviously, is a lie. Anyone can pull up Google Images and find an image of Kevin Durant standing equal in height (or even taller) to actual big men, such as his former teammate DeMarcus Cousins (listed at 6’11). Even KD has acknowledged that he’s a proper 7-footer; he just goes by 6’9 to avoid being shoehorned into a big man position when he prefers to play small forward.
Inaccuracies such as KD’s, or any of the others from across NBA history, are going to be a thing of the past. The NBA is mandating teams to record and certify the height and age of their players during the first week of training camp each season.
The age certification is also interesting, since player age is often a topic of debate among fans. (It’s often debated in relation to African-born players, with or without merit; Serge Ibaka is a common example of this.) In recent years, players such as Buddy Hield and Shabazz Muhammad have been found listed with false dates of birth.
Some of these inaccuracies, such as KD’s, are obviously scams; Kevin Garnett’s former coach Flip Saunders once joked that he was “6-foot-13,” but KG could play his preferred position of power forward instead of center in part because he wasn’t listed as a 7-footer. Some are just inaccuracies, especially in the case of players who have grown since their measurements were taken and just never been measured again.
It was nothing egregious or all that bad in the first place, but these little urban myths of the NBA are going to be gone soon when players begin to report for training camp. Place your bets now on whether Kevin Durant is actually taller than the big men on his team.
