ESPN: NBA Player Dunk Would Have Won Olympic Medal

The article references the bronze medal jump so I would say it has a shot.

It should not surprise anyone that a NBA player could leap that high. If a HJer could play basketball I am sure he would--way more money.

Also, read The Sports Gene where Epstein chronicles the basketball player turned high jumper.

PS Donald Thomas

http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/bahamas/donald-thomas-221630

tycobb wrote:

Is that right? I know very little about the field events.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/gordons-dunk-contest-jam-would-beat-most-olympic-high-jumpers/ar-BBpAvc9

Saw that. It's dumb. Gordon can jump really high, but the high jump does not involve pushing off an mascot's head. Levine would be a good high jumper since he's a one-foot jumper.

Doesnt look that high. A quality high jumpers lower back would be less than a foot away from the bottom of the net.

If a HJer could play basketball? mo money? Thats what its all about?

Having an inkling of passion has nothing to do with it? Not everyone thinks a kids game bouncing a ball around is the most awesome thing.

His hips (which ESPN measured) need to be a lot higher otherwise they would come crashing down on the bar when his feet kick up. Compare to Barshim http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/003/059/546/b3e3c94a218d9c84a89527a0ecb32571_crop_exact.jpg?w=1500&h=1500&q=85

This is sort of like watching a kicker kick a football as hard as he can in no direction in particular, and then declaring that he has the strongest leg ever because his kick theoretically could have cleared uprights placed at a location of your choosing 65+ yards away from the spot of the kick. Of course, drawing in your own uprights post facto allows imaginary performances beyond what a kicker aiming at actual uprights could achieve.

Just as you can't assume that a guy can hit a 65 yard fieldgoal simply because he can kick a ball that is still 10 feet off the ground when it is 65 yards from his foot, you can't assume that a guy can high jump 7'7" simply because he can jump 7'7" in the air. What makes the writer think that the basketball player could coordinate a the act so that the apex of his jump occurred exactly as he crossed the plane of the bar?

tycobb wrote:

Is that right? I know very little about the field events.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/gordons-dunk-contest-jam-would-beat-most-olympic-high-jumpers/ar-BBpAvc9

Just to keep things in perspective, James White is a former NBA player who was considered one of the best leapers/dunkers the NBA has ever seen. While at the University of Cincinnati, he was on the track team as a high jumper and long jumper. He qualified for the NCAA regionals once, but never made it to nationals.

not that simple wrote:

What makes the writer think that the basketball player could coordinate a the act so that the apex of his jump occurred exactly as he crossed the plane of the bar?

The writer is dismissing the technique. However, the basketball player did jump entirely over a mascot+basketball on the dunk in question. There's no doubt about the raw potential of the NBA dunkers for the HJ. Here's videos of the NBA players dunking and a team USA HJ athlete.

foo wrote:

tycobb wrote:

Is that right? I know very little about the field events.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/gordons-dunk-contest-jam-would-beat-most-olympic-high-jumpers/ar-BBpAvc9

Just to keep things in perspective, James White is a former NBA player who was considered one of the best leapers/dunkers the NBA has ever seen. While at the University of Cincinnati, he was on the track team as a high jumper and long jumper. He qualified for the NCAA regionals once, but never made it to nationals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_White_%28basketball%29

Ok James White was a NBA and had some nice dunks but he is not "considered one of the best leapers/dunks the NBA has ever seen."

I doubt Aaron Gordon would actually win a bronze medal but some of these guys are pretty freak athletes (I know that is hard for a lot of us distance runners to wrap our heads around).

Aaron Gordon jumped 42 inches vertical leap at the combine which is pretty unreal. That is insane considering how heavy he is (listed at 220lbs).

Also read this

Does the high jump entail pushing off the top of a mascot's head to get more height?

Yeah only one major problem... his feat barely clear 6'. Getting your feet over the bar is one of the hard parts of high jumping.

I'd have to guess by your handle that you prefer baseball over basketball, yet also run but somehow don't know much about field athletics.

Putting the troll alarm on snooze, yes this has been discussed and some consensus come to, that the athletic top of the crop of the NBA would make good field athletes, particularly triple jump, long jump and some high jump.

Field athletics and basketball both feature strongly in the black American community, with movement in between, not only in high school but casually in college. I've been around field and track athletes who had some amazing basketball skills, and seem some who were built similarly to basketball guards. The taller and slender (notwithstanding muscle for basketball that can be lost, and any steroids etc involved) forwards with good vertical leap and body control and athleticism are good high jump candidates, but not all necessarily world beaters.

Someone would have gotten them to try it at point in their life and they would have found some penchant or predisposition quickly.

And vice versa A lot more goes into basketball than just jumping. Teamwork, game and culture familiarity, muscle strength, shooting and niche skill ability, and the countless hours of practice that goes into it. Basketball is one of the most popular world sports now with massive participation. The guys who get to the NBA are the ones who made it through and surely some of the game is arbitrary and detrimental to track and field prowess (though in small doses it can help).

The exceptions really are probably not refutations of this, but a demonstration that the best of athletic black American genetics has passed through the bottleneck of the atrocities of the Middle Passage, American slavery, post civil war oppression and hardships, etc

And that these genetics allow basketball prowess and track and field prowess.

Of course, we don't see the non success stories of the present day, nor do we see the mediocre and excellent genetics of various kinds, that were stamped out of existence with no right or reason, in history.

Of the many awful things ESPN has done to bring down the quality of sports reporting, it's "Sports Science" segments may be the worst. So dumb on so many levels.

Shahshsvshdhfjs wrote:

Of the many awful things ESPN has done to bring down the quality of sports reporting, it's "Sports Science" segments may be the worst. So dumb on so many levels.

I totally agree with this

luv2run wrote:

Shahshsvshdhfjs wrote:

Of the many awful things ESPN has done to bring down the quality of sports reporting, it's "Sports Science" segments may be the worst. So dumb on so many levels.

I totally agree with this

On further reflection, I realized ESPN has Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless on. Sports Science is pretty far down the list after these two (and probably a few others that I am forgetting).

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.

This is one of Richard Ross' dunks (ODU basketball)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrMRJqeuU0s

FWIW, he was a state champ HJ'er in HS with a PR of 6-10. allegedly he never really practiced that much. not sure what he could do with more practice, but with the NBA guys in the dunk contest you have to think there is loads of raw potential. just no reason for them to do it I guess.

Or kind of like adjusting people's track times for fast kicks, uneven pacing, running wide, smog, altitude, trees, etc., etc etc