I'm sorry guys but look at the history of the league.
There is no correlation between athleticism and fouling.
You guys can keep saying it, and it makes sense, but there's just no evidence.
That's like saying there is no correlation between athleticism and scoring. Yes, lots of hyper-athletes never figure out how to score, but there are tons of athletes who figure out how to use their athleticism to help them score at the NBA level.
Players who use their athleticism to stay in front of their opponent need to foul less often, because they're caught out of position less often.
Older players have learned how to play better defense at their athleticism waned, or just flat out play worse defense.
There are unbelievably athletic/great defenders who aren't "too physically gifted" to avoid fouls (Josh Smith for one) and there are unbelievably slow/great defenders like Jason Kidd that don't foul (1.5 since he turned 36).
Josh Smith is currently drawing 2.7 fouls per 36 minutes at age 27 as the main help defender on his team. For context, Kobe Bryant in 2008, the year he won MVP at age 29, fouled 2.6 times per 36 minutes. Josh Smith absolutely uses his athleticism to make plays that are non-calls when lots of other guys would be forced to foul, or just choose to not make the play at all.
And Jason Kidd was freaky athletic as a young player, and absolutely used his freaky athletic skill set and size to help him play defense without needing to foul.
Now, he mainly guards 2 guards, or gets blown-by like an afterthought.
That's makes my point, nobody makes correlations between athleticism and scoring like that. You don't say this guy's really athletic, he can score a lot of points, just like you shouldn't say this guy's really athletic, he can avoid a lot of fouls.
Well, you'd say, "his athleticism allows him to make plays that help him avoid fouls."
And by that you could mean a lot of different things, it could mean his quickness and footwork allows him to get to spots before the defender can exploit them, or it could mean his leaping ability and length allow him to bother shots from inopportune positions without necessitating a foul. With both cases skill level and coordination and timing are paramount abilities that are tied to the player's defensive ability as well, but without the athleticism, he wouldn't be nearly as special.
Think of it like this: Athleticism is like a gun. Anyone who has a gun can point it and shoot it, but people who don't have the coordination and necessary skill level probably aren't going to be very good marksmen. You need the coordination and skill level to be a special marksmen at the highest levels of competition.
But its all a moot point if you don't have the gun (extraordinary athleticism).
Even KG now, at age 36, is still a special athlete. He's 7 feet tall, and with the length to boot, and he's super freakin quick for a 7fter.
And you kind of ignored my Josh Smith/Kobe comparison that debunked your Josh Smith can't avoid fouling point. Where is the love for the statistical analysis, mgent?