The Sixer Sense
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Are the Philadelphia 76ers Lying About Player Heights?

By Josh Wilson

Apr 5, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) reacts to an officials call during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 107-93. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) reacts to an officials call during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 107-93. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Philadelphia 76ers, like many other teams and players, may be lying about how tall their players are.

Apparently, NBA players are compulsive white-liars, and the Philadelphia 76ers and their players might be, too. According to a recent article by the Wall Street Journal, NBA players and teams have a serious issue when reporting their heights. Inaccuracy is more common than accuracy.

Kevin Durant is the most recent caught-culprit according to the Journal’s findings. Durant admitted after a win over the Los Angeles Clippers that he was 6-foot-11, despite him being listed everywhere else as 6-foot-9. The reasoning for this? Stereotypes.

Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are well aware of the preconceived notions that exist about tall players in the NBA. They can’t be small forwards. Heck, “small” is in the title of the position! Durant, if he were listed at his true height of 6-11, would be criticized, and many would say he should be a power forward.

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Now, this isn’t so much an issue for Durant anymore as it was when his career was eating started. Now that he’s established that he obviously can play small forward as a nearly 7-footer, he wouldn’t get slack for being listed at his real height, but that’s the reason for lying about height.

The same happens for other players. Shorter guards will have their team list them as a few inches taller than they actually are so they aren’t looked down on just because of their measurements.

The Sixers seem to be possible culprits of this lie. Head coach Brett Brown said that Embiid told him he shot up from 7-foot to 7-foot-2. For reference, he’s still listed on the Sixers website as 7-foot, and they have Jahlil Okafor listed as 6-11, and Nerlens Noel listed as the same — I’m not sure if that’s with or without the flat top.

It’s clear, Embiid is probably listed as a bit taller than 7-0, especially shown when he stands next to the already tall Jahlil Okafor. But is he 7-2 (the answer is probably, maybe even 7-3)? And what are the Sixers trying to achieve by listing him as two inches shorter?

It could be the same thing the Thunder are trying to do for Durant. Embiid has worked on his range, and even has a somewhat solid 3-point skill at this point. They could list him at 7-foot so that there’s less criticism if they try to play him at the power forward position. Two inches doesn’t seem like a lot, but playing someone who is 7-2 at power forward seems absurd. 7-0 seems just a little crazy.

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Other players listed on the Sixers website may have a little error in their height reporting. T.J. McConnell is listed at 6-2, which seems generous. Nik Stauskas at 6-6 seems like a stretch, too.