How tall was William Shakespeare?

Recently, some of our readers were curious about the photo below which shows noted author William Shakespeare standing with Vince Carter and Gary Payton during the two NBA stars' trip back to the 17th century. William Shakespeare appears to quite a bit taller than both professional basketball players. This leads to an important question-- just how tall was William Shakespeare?

This afternoon, Kevin Garnett (inventor and builder of the time machine) and his friend Jalen Rose have decided to try to answer this question. Unfortunately for them, Gary Payton and Vince Carter were unable to bring back any measurements of William Shakespeare, but, by using the photo above, a few simple tools and the power of ratios, Kevin Garnett and Jalen Rose are confident that they can find the answer.

Below: Kevin Garnett and Jalen Rose are using the calculator.

Below: The two NBA stars discuss how to interpret the data and calculations.

After several minutes of work, Kevin Garnett and Jalen Rose have come up with an answer. According to their best estimate, they believe that William Shakespeare is somewhere between 10' 8" and 10' 11" tall. Both Kevin Garnett and Jalen Rose also believe that if they can find away to bring William Shakespeare to 21st century, there might be several NBA teams interested in giving him a tryout at center.

Kevin Garnett has unlocked the mysteries of time travel, part two

Gary Payton and Vince Carter have traveled backwards through the ages in a time machine invented by NBA All-Star power forward Kevin Garnett. The time machine has landed outside a large castle in an unknown time and place. At first, the castle looks empty and deserted-- even the front door is closed. (See photo below)

However, soon Gary Payton and Vince Carter notice that a strange man is looking down at their time machine from the top of the castle. (See photo below) "Who can this fellow be?" they are wondering.

Gary Payton and Vince Carter decide to come out from the safety of their time machine to try to talk to the man in the castle. (See photo below)

The man in the castle turns out to be none other than William Shakespeare, author of such world-famous plays as King Lear and All's Well That Ends Well. He is very polite but also curious about who these two strange travelers might be.

Gary Payton and Vince Carter introduce themselves and tell William Shakespeare a little bit about who they are and where they have come from. Then they start to explain about the modern game of basketball and their desire to go back in time to become the first inventors of their favorite sport. At this point, William Shakespeare stops their explanation and invites them to come inside his castle so he can show them something. (See photo below) Gary Payton and Vince Carter are slightly concerned about following a stranger (even a famous one like William Shakespeare) into his house, but they decide that since they have come all this way, they might as well give it a try.

Inside of William Shakespeare's castle, Gary Payton and Vince Carter are in for the surprise of their life. William Shakespeare already knows all about basketball and even the NBA. He shows the two NBA stars his very own basketball. (It is the same brand as the one Allen Iverson has.) (See photo below)

In addition, William Shakespeare shows the two time-travelers a large poster of his favorite player, Predrag Stojakovic. (See photo below)

Before William Shakespeare can show Gary Payton and Vince Carter anything more, however, an urgent message comes in from Kevin Garnett back at the control center. (See photo below) Kevin Garnett's sensors indicate that there will soon be large disturbances throughout the space-time continuum. Gary Payton and Vince Carter need to return to the present right away or they run the risk of becoming lost forever somewhere in time and space.

With hardly any time for a goodbye, Gary Payton and Vince Carter rush back to the time machine. (See photo below) They are sad to leave so quickly, but, in a mission like this, safety is the most important aspect.

Below: The time machine hurtles back through the ages towards pre-season 2009-2010.

Below: William Shakespeare waves farewell to the two time-travelers. He is happy that they have left behind an unopened can of his second favorite drink-- Seven-Up, the Uncola.

Kevin Garnett has unlocked the mysteries of time travel, part one

NBA All-Star power forward Kevin Garnett has been working all summer long on building a time machine so that he and his friends can travel backwards and forwards through time. Recently, he finally completed his time machine, and now he is excited to try it out. The lucky first passengers will be Vince Carter and Gary Payton (see photo above). Their goal is to go back in time and become the first people to ever invent the game of basketball.

Below: Kevin Garnett's assistant makes some last-minute, minor adjustments to the time machine.

Unfortunately for Vince Carter and Gary Payton, their basketball is far too large to fit into the time machine. They decide to leave it behind and just go back in time as tourists, rather than as inventors.

Below: Gary Payton and Vince Carter enter the time machine.

Below: The time machine has been unhooked from the power supply, and now it is ready to begin the journey.

Kevin Garnett and his assistant will stay behind at the control center and make sure that everything is working correctly. (See photo below)

Inside the time machine, Gary Payton and Vince Carter travel through many centuries in the blink of an eye. (See photo below)

The time machine finally arrives in front of a large castle in a far-off, distant land. Gary Payton and Vince Carter have no idea where they are, what year it is, or whether the locals are friendly or hostile.

Both Gary Payton and Vince Carter are wondering-- "What will happen next?"