The very best athletes may or may not be book smart, but they are mental geniuses in their respective sports.
*Edit*: Yes, I know Kobe was book smart, multilingual, and got good grades. I was speaking more generally.
jumpthroughit
Depends. There are masters of footwork like Derozan that know how to mask this, but for most others it’s a great tell.
Masrurr
Still see a lot of players pump fakes like that even Kyrie and Ja. So this is a great advise.
IamLegend840
This is common sense to all hoopers but it’s kinda hard to stop yourself from falling for it (or noticing it at times) unless you’re beast defender. I kinda used to hoop like Paul Pierce when I was younger, so I would do this pump fake soooooo slow, but even when my defenders knew I wasn’t shooting their body would still instinctively straighten up, and I’d blow past them.
Sometimes I’d act left handed for the first few plays in a game and they’d be confused as fuck.
Danielbrazz
Yeah they are smart but since they are so focused on their sport from a early age they might look dumb, like the jock stereotype.
But kobe was on another level he spoke several languages and was obsessed with basketball.
tersalopimus
The best pump fakers, they don’t give you any tells like this. For my money, Larry Bird was the best I’ve seen at it. He’d hit a face-up jumper early in the game, then start going to work with the pump fake and picking the defense apart.
Lot of kids do that shit growing up lmao. Basically just throw up their arms half assed and every other part of their body is ready to do something except shoot.
Qaebuuz
Can someone make a super cut of Kobe leaving his feet
YAY_YA_HEY
How do defend the pump-fake at the park: let them shoot everything, nephews are shooting 12% from 3.
Jessekeith0629
I miss him so much man
ThinkSoftware
Why is this music so serious?
colossuskiddx
Breaks my heart everyday that we don’t have this man still
PalletTownsDealer
Remove their possession
Advance the ball
Penetrate the defense
Execute
Disastrous-Object22
lmao is that the interstellar music? Kobe is Michael Caine describing gravity I guess.
TheDeviousDong
Lol wtf is this dramatic interstellar music??? come on.
Yamata
Other NBA players play basketball but Kobe plays the players.
He studies the subtle body movement and habits more than any player ever, rather than focussing on X’s and O’s. For my money, this is who I’d pick in a 1 on 1.
idontwantnoyes
I view it as a reaction test. They either react quickly, react slowly, or dont react.
Same thing with jab steps. So if they’re not responding you likely have the opportunity to shoot freely.
UnMapacheGordo
The interstellar soundtrack is so hilariously dramatic for a video about identifying pump fakes
HiyaHippo
My freshman year basketball coach pointed this out. Gives away the pump fake immediately
amlanding20
I love how he said “I’ll demonstrate, what the hell…” man was excited to properly explain. Always loved hearing him talk about the game
followmarcus
RIP the 🐐
Dangerous_Toe_5482
Someone edit in a compilation of kobe dropping his pivot foot on his pump fakes lol, he did it all the time
22 Comments
The very best athletes may or may not be book smart, but they are mental geniuses in their respective sports.
*Edit*: Yes, I know Kobe was book smart, multilingual, and got good grades. I was speaking more generally.
Depends. There are masters of footwork like Derozan that know how to mask this, but for most others it’s a great tell.
Still see a lot of players pump fakes like that even Kyrie and Ja. So this is a great advise.
This is common sense to all hoopers but it’s kinda hard to stop yourself from falling for it (or noticing it at times) unless you’re beast defender. I kinda used to hoop like Paul Pierce when I was younger, so I would do this pump fake soooooo slow, but even when my defenders knew I wasn’t shooting their body would still instinctively straighten up, and I’d blow past them.
Sometimes I’d act left handed for the first few plays in a game and they’d be confused as fuck.
Yeah they are smart but since they are so focused on their sport from a early age they might look dumb, like the jock stereotype.
But kobe was on another level he spoke several languages and was obsessed with basketball.
The best pump fakers, they don’t give you any tells like this. For my money, Larry Bird was the best I’ve seen at it. He’d hit a face-up jumper early in the game, then start going to work with the pump fake and picking the defense apart.
[Examples](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkDZA8WeObQ)
Lot of kids do that shit growing up lmao. Basically just throw up their arms half assed and every other part of their body is ready to do something except shoot.
Can someone make a super cut of Kobe leaving his feet
How do defend the pump-fake at the park: let them shoot everything, nephews are shooting 12% from 3.
I miss him so much man
Why is this music so serious?
Breaks my heart everyday that we don’t have this man still
Remove their possession
Advance the ball
Penetrate the defense
Execute
lmao is that the interstellar music? Kobe is Michael Caine describing gravity I guess.
Lol wtf is this dramatic interstellar music??? come on.
Other NBA players play basketball but Kobe plays the players.
He studies the subtle body movement and habits more than any player ever, rather than focussing on X’s and O’s. For my money, this is who I’d pick in a 1 on 1.
I view it as a reaction test. They either react quickly, react slowly, or dont react.
Same thing with jab steps. So if they’re not responding you likely have the opportunity to shoot freely.
The interstellar soundtrack is so hilariously dramatic for a video about identifying pump fakes
My freshman year basketball coach pointed this out. Gives away the pump fake immediately
I love how he said “I’ll demonstrate, what the hell…” man was excited to properly explain. Always loved hearing him talk about the game
RIP the 🐐
Someone edit in a compilation of kobe dropping his pivot foot on his pump fakes lol, he did it all the time