A Two LeBron Shoe Difference, That's All

I was watching men’s basketball on the Olympics yesterday and the announcers kept making a big deal about the fact that the court in International play is smaller than the NBA court.  It doesn’t really look that much smaller, but Dan Patrick brought it up several times, so I wanted to find out just how big the difference really is.

Well, if you consider 2 feet, 2 inches a big difference that you might be on the same page as Dan Patrick.  To help put this into perspective LeBron James’s feet are size 16.  A size 16 shoe, in US Men’s sizing, is approximately 13 inches.  Therefore, the shortened court only saves LeBron two steps.  Not really a big difference to me, though I’ll admit that I haven’t played basketball since the 7^th grade.  

The three point line is also a little closer to the basket on an International court, 21 inches closer.  I guess that could take a little getting used to, if you’re accustomed to putting a certain amount of pressure and spin on a shot depending on where you are on the court.  To me, though, doesn’t seem like a big enough difference to materially change the game.  It’s not like they are playing on the St. Joseph Middle School basketball court.  

So now that I know that the size difference should really have no impact on the game, I can go back to watching the match-ups while ignoring Dan Patrick.  Yep, all’s right with the world.