In the NBA, basketball players under 190 cm tall have possessed the ball less frequently in the last 5 years, and the number of minutes they spend on the court is gradually decreasing.
İdman.biz reports that, according to statistics, the average height of players in the league is gradually increasing.
In the 2019/20 season, 22% of the total minutes played belonged to players 190 cm and shorter. However, in the past season, this figure fell to 16%. It is reported that five years ago, the ball was in the hands of players in this height category 38% of the time. In the 2024/25 season, this figure was only 27%.
It is reported that the playing time of basketball players in this category has been decreasing for a long time: between the 2008/09 – 2018/19 seasons, this figure decreased from 23% to 18%. In the 2019/20 season, this figure increased to 22% due to the league's requirement to measure players' heights without shoes (as a result, the average height in the NBA decreased by approximately 2 cm). However, a decrease has been observed again since then.
Last season, the only player in the regular championship who was 183 cm or shorter was Yuki Kavamura, a debutant of the Memphis club (173 cm and played 83 minutes).
İdman.biz