Who cares. Most Athletic among 7'5 and above is just like longest dick among 2 inches and below, still worthless.
Lamar Odom is one of the most athletic PF in the league. Jordan Farmar and Trevor Ariza can jump out the gym. Sasha's pretty quick, and even Josh Powell is above average athletically for a 4/5. The lakers had probably the most athletic player in the NBA at the time (Kobe) and the most athletic Center in Shaq. The bulls, of course had MJ. I think teams can deal with the lack of athleticism if their stars are athletically superior. They can hide deficiencies. We know that Sloan's Jazz have always been an exception (probably because they cheat and flop). The Spurs are probably the biggest anomaly here. The only explanation i have for their success is that they tanked to get Duncan in the first place and now they have Parker and Ginoboli on contracts nearly half the size they could get from other teams. Some people say money isn't an issue, unless you don't have it. I think about athleticism the same way. I see your point it's not all about athleticism, it's not THAT important...unless you don't have it (like the Rockets). Every player on the rockets is below average, athletically (for their position), other than a few bench players (Brooks, Wafer, and Landry). That is terrible. It's really tough to win that way without 1 or 2 true superstars.
What's the point? Yao's playing against dudes that are 7 feet or below. So, Yao's advantages are his height and weight, not his ATHLETICISM.
i give props for yao for just pounding with those black ppl everyday. Same for Yi and Sun Yue for just being able to step on the court and play with them.
