You Don't Have to Be Tall to Excel in Basketball

Every season I have at least one kid come up to me, usually one of the smaller ones, and say some version of: “Coach, I’m too short to be good.” I always tell them the same thing. Some of the best players I’ve ever watched were the shortest guys on the floor, and it wasn’t close. Height helps. It is nowhere near the whole game. And the sooner a young player stops using it as an excuse, the sooner they start getting better at the things that actually decide games.

The floor belongs to the guards

Watch a real game and count how often the ball goes to the tallest player. Not that often. The ball lives in the hands of the guards, the players who bring it up, run the offense, and decide when to attack. Those spots reward quickness, ball-handling, and a brain that reads the floor a half-second ahead of everyone else. None of that has anything to do with how tall you are.

Allen Iverson was six feet tall in a league full of giants and became one of the most unstoppable scorers the game has seen, because he was faster and more fearless than the people guarding him. Chris Paul, at 6’1”, has controlled NBA games for two decades on pure IQ and craft. Kids should study those two, not just admire them. That’s the blueprint for a smaller player.

The skills a smaller player should own

Here’s the honest advantage: the skills that beat height are the ones anyone can practice, tonight, in a driveway. If your kid is on the smaller side, this is where their time should go.

• Handle. A tight, low dribble with both hands. A defender can’t take what they can’t reach.
• Speed and change of pace. Being quick is good. Knowing when to slow down and then explode is what actually beats people.
• A reliable shot. If a smaller player can shoot, the defense has to come out and guard them, and now their quickness matters even more.
• Reading the game. Knowing where the pass is going before it’s open. This is the great equalizer, and it’s free.

A tall kid who never develops these gets figured out fast. A smaller kid who owns all four becomes a problem nobody wants to guard.

Play to what you have

Being smaller comes with real advantages, and good players lean into them. You’re lower to the ground, so your dribble is naturally harder to steal and your first step is quicker. You can get under a bigger defender and around them before they reset. The best small players I’ve coached stopped wishing they were taller and started using being small as a weapon.

So if your kid is the shortest one on the roster, don’t let them treat it as a ceiling. Get them a ball, get them working on their handle and their shot, and let them find out what Iverson and Paul already proved: the scoreboard doesn’t ask how tall you are.