ESPN: NBA Player Dunk Would Have Won Olympic Medal

I read somewhere (and I can't remember where) that if you met a 7 footer between the ages of 20-34?? that there is a 1 in 6 chance that he is an NBA player.

So, yeah, the very tall guys should all pursue that. Those are great odds compared to just about any other athletic pursuit.

ESPN's facebook page had the best reply from the USATF....

"Mr Gordon's dunk would not have come near his being a medalist in 2012.

First, while the 2012 Bronze medal height was accurately measured at the bar, I would like to see the process where Gordon's 7' 7" is derived from?

Second, what I am left to guess at present is that 7' 7" is an estimated peak height of his center of mass? In the HJ, peak center of mass does not equal bar clearance.

For now, lacking more detail on the 7' 7" number, this comparison is analogous to the annual debate over how a hand timed 40 means some NFL draftee has "world class" speed.

That said, I would like to extend an open invitation for Mr Gordon and any sub 4.2 40 guys to schedule to join me at the Olympic Training Center if they would like to find out what their potential is in one of our sport's events. There is always potential for crossover."

Dave Kerin

USA Track & Field

National Team Development Chair

National High Jump Chair

Dumb. Not even close. Maybe if the HJ was an event where you jump into the air and your height is determine by magically shoving the bar under your feet for a split second when you reach the peak. But this guy would probably smack the bar with his feet at a height of about 5 feet if he tried to HJ with a vertical leap instead of a flop. Apples and aardvarks.

At the core of this argument is simple economics. As already pointed out, kids are groomed from a young age to pursue sports providing the most fame and monetary return. In the United States, that is basketball and football. Our "parochial little corner of the world" happens to be the epicenter for athletics in the world. It is an undeniable fact that the professional sport leagues in the US-the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, PGA, and others I'm omitting- are the peak of achievement in their respective sports. Heck, the United States' soccer team is one of the top 10 soccer teams in the world and the only US kids playing soccer are the ones not big, strong, or fast enough to play basketball or football. Just because soccer has more participants in no way equates it with having better athletes.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Tron McKnight wrote:

The world's best athletes are in the NBA and NFL,

The World's best athletes are not in the NFL. Maybe some of the USAs best athletes, but outside of our parochial little corner of the world practically nobody plays football.

Yes, you are required to take off on one foot in the high jump.

Primo Numero Uno wrote:

This was what I was thinking. Wouldn't his jump be illegal in the high jump competition.

I think gymnasts jump way higher than high jumpers but they use a take off technique that allows that. That takeoff is not allowed in the high jump competition. I'm not a field events expert though.

Tron McKnight wrote:

At the core of this argument is simple economics. As already pointed out, kids are groomed from a young age to pursue sports providing the most fame and monetary return. In the United States, that is basketball and football.

Our "parochial little corner of the world" happens to be the epicenter for athletics in the world. It is an undeniable fact that the professional sport leagues in the US-the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, PGA, and others I'm omitting- are the peak of achievement in their respective sports. Heck, the United States' soccer team is one of the top 10 soccer teams in the world and the only US kids playing soccer are the ones not big, strong, or fast enough to play basketball or football. Just because soccer has more participants in no way equates it with having better athletes.

Our soccer team is nowhere close to being one of the top 10 in the world. Maybe 20, more likely 20-30.

The NFL is undoubtedly the epicenter of American football in the world. Hardly anybody else plays it. American Samoa. A few rec teams elsewhere...

Good athletes anywhere else are not playing American football.

Oh Dave....don't embarrass yourself...many track and field athletes, who have this illustrious "world class" speed you reference, have taken part in the NFL Combine. The most successful being Jacoby Ford:- 4.28 40 YD, 6.51 60m, 10.01 100mThis puts Mr. Ford 8th all time on the NFL combine 40 list. Chris Johnson, who ran the fastest recognized 40 at the combine, 4.28, ran a 10.38 in High School. If Johnson would have continued to compete in track, it is absolutely no stretch at all to assume he could have broken 10 in college.Also, Dave's invitation to "any other sub 4.2 40 guys" is insulting. No one in the entire NFL claims to have run below 4.2.

There's a lot of money to be made in Cricket, but you don't see Americans dominating that...

best americans =/= best athletes worldwide.

Cricket is a joke sport. Literally any baseball player would dominate the batting portion. Bowling the ball is a bit different due to the arm angle. The fact that the country of India dominates it shows that not a lot of athletes actually play that sport.

India is good but they don't really dominate.

spongerobert wrote:

For the record, Wilt Chamberlain jumped 6'6 3/4" in 1958 to win an indoor conference championship at KU.

Here's a video of him jumping:

https://youtu.be/3drvcaXtAh4

It's possible that with better technique he could have reached 7 feet... but 7'7" is another story.

The Fosbury flop was not invented until 1965.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Tron McKnight wrote:

The world's best athletes are in the NBA and NFL,

The World's best athletes are not in the NFL. Maybe some of the USAs best athletes, but outside of our parochial little corner of the world practically nobody plays football.

Except the entire true talent pool is in the US, Caribbean and Africa. So basketball/NFL takes the cream in the US, soccer in the Caribbean and Africa.

Calling the US a little corner of the world shows huge ignorance of where track medals go and where the world's athletic talent resides. Also, over 300 million pop isn't little.

It doesn't really matter if soccer, rugby or cricket attract the thick-ankled men of England, Belgium, India etc. Little athletic talent in those corners of the world.

kjc wrote:

By watching the high jumpers try and dunk, the NBA guys have by far more hops than those dudes. Imagine if one of the NBA guys spent a lifetime perfecting HJ technique? Could threaten Sotomayor because those HJs don't have any hops.

High jump isn't JUST about hops. You have to move your center of gravity upwards and HORIZONTALLY across a bar. Dunkers only only have to move vertically. You need hops to high jump, but it's not the only skill needed. The ability to transform horizontal speed on the run up into vertical lift, and then raise the body's center of gravity is what is required. Of course you also have to have the skill to get your torso over the bar without knocking it down -- that might be the hardest skill of all for a basketball player to learn.

Derrik Atkins (sp) ran a 3.28 40 yard dash. Google it the results are online. Was second at the world championships in the 100 and has a wind legal time of 9.91. Slightly faster than 4.2. Just slightly........