However, this is partly why he became the GOAT of basketball. Jordan’s hands are known to be disproportionately large compared with the rest of his body, considering the guy is “only” 6-foot-6 on a good day. Erving’s hand is estimated to be 9.5 inches long and 11.75 inches wide– almost the same as Shaq’s hand span! No wonder why he could cradle the ball like that. Erving was considered to be one of the best dunkers the game has ever seen, thanks to a big set of mitts. J retired, but his on-court exploits were still fresh in long-time basketball fans’ minds. Fall, of course, stands 7-foot-7, while Hawkins is 6-foot-8.

That’s about the same as the size of Tacko Fall’s hand. Hawkins is said to have hands that measured 10.5 inches long and 11 inches wide. Hawkins is not a household name by any means, but his humongous hands earn him a place in this list.

Regardless, it’s no surprise that a man wearing size-22 basketball shoes has hands that are among the biggest in basketball history. They say Shaq’s poor free-throw shooting resulted from those gigantic hands, but there is no scientific evidence that supports it. (We’ll get to Kawhi Leonard’s hand size later on.) Shaq’s hand is estimated to be 10.25 inches in length and 12 inches wide! Again, this is only an estimate, but when Shaq’s hand was compared to Kawhi Leonard’s, it is still considerably bigger. Nobody is going to be surprised that the most dominant force in basketball history is among those who have the largest hands in NBA history. List of Retired Players with Largest Hands in Basketball Still, we don’t have any reason to believe that these are entirely off-base. As previously mentioned, since the NBA has only kept official records for hand measurements for rookies since 2010, these figures are only estimates. Let us begin our list of the largest hands in basketball history by mentioning those who have already hung up their sneakers. If there are discrepancies between the hand length and width, though, it rarely exceeds two inches. Harrison Barnes, Joseph Young, Anthony Davis, and Markieff Morris are examples of NBA players measured to have a smaller hand width than the hand length. Again, there are rare cases where the hand span is wider than the hand length. Generally speaking, the width of the hand is almost always longer than its length. By comparison, the average hand width of a male is 8.5 inches long. The rare specimens that exceeded that were Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greg Smith. Similarly, since 2010, rarely has a player been measured to have a hand span or hand width measuring over 12 inches. (By comparison, the average male hand is 7.4 inches long.) Most of the hands measured during that time rarely exceeds 10 inches in length.

Measuring hand size was not the norm until 2010 when the NBA decided to measure hand sizes in that year’s Draft Combine. Likewise, hand-width is measured from the tip of the thumb up to the pinkie finger’s tip when the hand is outstretched.

Generally, hand length measurements in the NBA are done by measuring the base of the palm up to the tip of the middle finger. Therefore, in shooting, hand strength is a more critical factor. Shooting and some aspects of dribbling are more often affected by the strength of the fingertips and not hand size. However, contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that hand size can affect a player’s shooting. On defense, it will also be much easier to grab rebounds, play the passing lanes, and swipe the basketball. On offense, it makes it easier to handle the ball where you can simply pick the basketball up and control it. Having huge hands proves to be an advantage in basketball, whether it’s for offense or defense. Wrapping Things Up: 21 Largest Hands in Basketball in NBA History What are the Benefits of Having Huge Hands in Basketball?

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