LOL Jordan could not beat Eaton in the Decathlon. I understand the prototypical decathlete is a tall muscular dude like Jordan in his prime, but Eaton is just freakishly good at what he does. Jordan would be good at the sprints and hurdles but Eaton is even better. Jordan might win the high jump (not the long jump) and some of the throws but I think you underestimate the decathlon record if you think Jordan would have gotten close.
Bammab wrote:
Most jumpers period (long jump, triple jump, and high jump) have impressive verticals. The vertical component is super important even in horizontal jumping because it's about trajectory.
As far as MJ, he definitely did not have a 48 inch vertical. I'd be surprised if his vertical was even 40 inches.
The average NBA vertical is actually low 30s, but you combine that with average height of 6'7 and wingspan around 6'8-6'10.
Back to Jordan...
Jordan was NOWHERE near the best jumper...based off vertical. He, like LeBron, are 1-foot jumpers. One foot jumpers are geared toward running and jumping.
Two-foot jumpers generate all of their power straight up and generally have impressive verticals (Nate Robinson, Vince Carter).
Are you serious? Both these guys made/make plenty of dunks off two feet. You think Jordan's a one foot jumper because he jumped off one foot in the dunk they designed his logo after. You'd be surprised if his vert was 40? LOL you have zero credibility after this outrageously dumb post.
http://youtu.be/wqPRdzrjWpU?t=1m45sLOOKS LIKE A 2 FOOT JUMP TO ME.
High jumping is all about form. One of my friends in high school jumped over 7 feet. There was another kid at his high school who went on to play in the National Basketball Association a few years later who had a better vertical jump, but who couldn't have touched him in the high jump. The high jumper could literally bend over backwards, put his head between his legs and look you in the face. The way those guys just slither over that bar is unreal.
High jump isn't ALL about form. Someone like James White could probably high jump 7'8" right now without any specific coaching. For those of you that don't know who James White is he was a player at Cincinnati who did the free throw line dunk from further back than Jordan and Dr. J. and also did it with a between the legs move thrown in. He's the only player ever documented to get reasonably close to touching the top of the backboard. He missed it by 2 inches.
Actually he jumped 7'4" in HS now that I've looked him up so his vert was at one point at least 4 inches better than where he was in HS and running jump is probably much more improved than that.
mcgato wrote:
Donald Thomas was a basketball player at some small NAIA school. He decided to try the HJ at an indoor meet, and won it. Jumping in basketball shoes, he cleared over 7 feet. His form was horrible. He won the world champs HJ a year and a half later.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Thomas_%28athlete%29Here is a link to his first meet ever:
http://www.polevaultpower.com/media/video/dthomas222.wmv
Yes this is what I was going to say. He's a great example. There are lots go guys who could jump mid 7's no problem. HJ is not a glamorous event, it doesn't attract star athletes very often. It's ridiculous to suggest there aren't lots of basketball players who couldn't be great hj'ers.
Nobody grows up dreaming of being a high jumper. They grow up dreaming of playing in the NBA (or NFL) and resign themselves to T&F when their real dreams get dashed to pieces. As a result, unless there is some reason to believe that high jumping ability is negatively correlated to overall athletic ability, it is immediately obvious that most of the individuals with the greatest high jumping potential are not, in fact, high jumping.
Hello 8 pack! wrote:
High jump isn't ALL about form. Someone like James White could probably high jump 7'8" right now without any specific coaching. For those of you that don't know who James White is he was a player at Cincinnati who did the free throw line dunk from further back than Jordan and Dr. J. and also did it with a between the legs move thrown in. He's the only player ever documented to get reasonably close to touching the top of the backboard. He missed it by 2 inches.
Actually he jumped 7'4" in HS now that I've looked him up so his vert was at one point at least 4 inches better than where he was in HS and running jump is probably much more improved than that.
Sounds like a possible good highjumper. But he'll still make more from basketball than highjump. Would be neat if he tried it out seriously.
The problem with this comparison, and Dwight Stone commented on it, is that NBA and NFL players are not doing a standing vertical leap. They take a step.
Completely different.
And you'd be wrong about that. A standing vertical leap (a two-foot jump) is when you start with both feet on the ground, take zero steps and jump off of both feet.
mossy wrote:
uh, who is Marquise Goodwin.
A long jumper.
I read Andre Iguodala say that he jumped 6’10 in high school so I bet he or a number of current NBA guys could definitely get up to the 7’6 range and above if they went all in on the HJ. Generally I believe if many major sport-athletes committed to T/F they would excel.
Pointing out the Obvious wrote:
Nobody grows up dreaming of being a high jumper. They grow up dreaming of playing in the NBA (or NFL) and resign themselves to T&F when their real dreams get dashed to pieces. As a result, unless there is some reason to believe that high jumping ability is negatively correlated to overall athletic ability, it is immediately obvious that most of the individuals with the greatest high jumping potential are not, in fact, high jumping.
Gotta love these racist black-centric posts. And you wonder why they get no respect from most whites. They can only consider the NBA (maybe the NFL but then too many monster white guys?) as to where there is "talent". Yes,a black may only dream of playing in the NBA but 99.9% don't make it. You know what that means right? That there are millions available to try the high jump. And they've tried have but haven't gotten far. You know why? Cuz they have basketball talent but certainly not high jump talent. You know who did get far? A white guy named Stefan Holm who was only 5'10". Imagine that, a white guy who is really the greatest flyer of all time..one that dreamed of playing soccer as a youth.
Scroll down to second paragraph about David Thompson triple jumping almost 50 feet with very little training:
https://vault.si.com/vault/1972/06/19/faces-in-the-crowd
Would have loved to see what he or Jordan or Lebron or Manigault or Vince Carter could have done in high jump or triple jump if they had concentrated on field events for a year or two.
mossy wrote:
frankfarter wrote:
Not at all. Basketball players have standing vertical leap. High jumpers aren't generally very good at that. What they do is convert horizontal speed into vertical speed.
completely untrue. Highjumpers have incredible standing verticals. Much higher than basketball players on average.
You do not know highjump.
I'm pretty sure this poster doesn't know anything about basketball either. As former basketball player and relatively interested fan, I can assure you that your running/one leg vertical leap is way more important than a stationary 2 foot, as is a moving 2 foot jump. How often do you see basketball players jump really high off 2 feet from a stationary position? Like, almost never? Do you even watch basketball?
Also, I kinda hate these questions in general. You know who the best sprinters are? Sprinters. The best long-jumpers? Long-jumpers. The best football players? Football players. Everything else is idle speculation and it's often motivated by insecurity and unfounded arrogance.
1L8A4H4 wrote:
How often do you see basketball players jump really high off 2 feet from a stationary position? Like, almost never? Do you even watch basketball?
Did they change the rules so there's no jump balls anymore?
Bad Wigins wrote:
1L8A4H4 wrote:
How often do you see basketball players jump really high off 2 feet from a stationary position? Like, almost never? Do you even watch basketball?
Did they change the rules so there's no jump balls anymore?
How many jump balls do you think there are compared to layups, dunks, floaters, pull-up jump shots, rebounds, shot-contests? Would that even make 1% of total jumps in a game of basketball? A better example would be catch-and shoot jump shots, but even that is largely coming out of motion as opposed to a static, 2 feet planted on the floor stance. So I'd be surprised if all things considered even 10% of jumps in basketball are stationary 2 footed jumps.
Wilt Chamberlain was a pretty good track and field athlete. "As a youth, he high jumped 6 feet, 6 inches; ran the 440 yards in 49.0 seconds and the 880 yards in 1:58.3; put the shot 53 feet, 4 inches; and long jumped 22 feet". He also won the conference title three years in a row in the high jump while at Kansas.
1L8A4H4 wrote:
Bad Wigins wrote:
Did they change the rules so there's no jump balls anymore?
How many jump balls do you think there are compared to layups, dunks, floaters, pull-up jump shots, rebounds, shot-contests? Would that even make 1% of total jumps in a game of basketball?
Put those goalposts back. You said "almost never," not "very few." At least two tip offs a game is pretty far from never.
And I'm seen plenty of defensive rebounds off two feet. Jump shots too. Don't forget shot block attempts.
Maybe you're British or something and the game is way different there.
Bad Wigins wrote:
Put those goalposts back. You said "almost never," not "very few." At least two tip offs a game is pretty far from never.
There's only one for sure. At the beginning of the game. And it doesn't really matter since it's just a coin flip to see who gets the ball first. After that it's alternating possession on quarters. And jumping doesn't matter too much, it's mostly height and timing. College there are no jump balls after the opening. NBA tie-ups go to jump balls but the times a jump ball actually matters is not zero, but pretty close to almost never.
But I would argue that two-foot jumping is more important, although having both is best. Jordan was one or two foot. Dominique was two foot. LeBron is mostly one foot, Zion is both, but his two foot jumps are more impressive to me.
Bad Wigins wrote:
1L8A4H4 wrote:
How many jump balls do you think there are compared to layups, dunks, floaters, pull-up jump shots, rebounds, shot-contests? Would that even make 1% of total jumps in a game of basketball?
Put those goalposts back. You said "almost never," not "very few." At least two tip offs a game is pretty far from never.
And I'm seen plenty of defensive rebounds off two feet. Jump shots too. Don't forget shot block attempts.
Maybe you're British or something and the game is way different there.
You rarely if ever (i.e. almost never, mild hyperbole I suppose) see basketball players jump particularly high off of 2 feet from a stationary position. Even the relatively rare occasions that there are stationary 2 foot jumps they are hardly all out, maximum vertical efforts. Are you telling me that you think players are regularly achieving (or even aiming for) their highest vertical for jump balls or catch-and-shoot 3s?
Do you really think that A) most basketball games feature regular stationary max effort vertical jumps, and or B) moving 1 and 2 footed jumps are less common, useful, or indicative of players actual athletic strengths?
Anyway, the original assertion that "basketball players have standing vertical leap" is just off-base, or misleading.