So far in the NBA Pokemon series, much of the comparisons have had more to do with symbolism than anything. From Jimmy Butler being Dragonite because it took time to be great to Draymond Green being Eevee thanks to versatility, there has been some trait that each Pokemon has that connects them to an NBA player. Today’s NBA Pokemon isn’t about that though. Today’s NBA Pokemon is about physical traits. Because Omer Asik is the actual human form of Golem.
Everything starts with the bodies. Goelm is a 4’7” 661 pound ball of rocks (all measurements according to Bulbapedia). Omer Asik meanwhile is a 7′ 256 pound solid wall of a person meaning if you run into either of the two it is going to hurt a lot and the thing you run into probably isn’t moving a lot. That body type works great for each individual as well as both are stalwart defenders thanks to the fact that you can’t go through them.
The bodies of the two also lead to certain physical limitations that the two share. First, both are really, really slow. Asik rumbles up and down the court to the best of his abilities but in fast paced games like the Pelicans playoff series against the Warriors he struggles to keep up with things. Golem meanwhile is one of the slowest Pokemon around meaning he needs the perfect match-up to be effective, much like Asik. It also seems probable that both Asik and Golem have about the same vertical leap, as Asik somehow has become an effective NBA player without ever leaving the ground.
Finally, both Asik and Golem have issues with using their hands and arms for offense. With his reach issue being such a problem, it has to be hard for Golem to do much with his hands. He can’t really bear hug anything and pick it up which seems like it would make using moves like seismic toss or strength really hard on bigger Pokemon. Asik meanwhile doesn’t catch many passes cleanly, and often gets rejected by both the rim and opponents. With a bit longer arms or better hands both Asik and Golem would be much more devastating than they currently are. Instead they both have found a niche just using their giant solid bodies to get in the way of things and be great defenders.
So yeah, unlike many NBA players Omer Asik isn’t just represented by a Pokemon. Omer Asik is actually a Pokemon. Just a taller thinner version of one that hasn’t been classified by Professor Oak yet.