Wilt Chamberlain: 24 Inch Vertical

[QUOTE=LAClipsFan33]Oh sh*t forgot to put the other 7 inches

I hate math.

So 148-150 - 115 = [b]33 - 35" Vertical[/b][/QUOTE]
So even if we accept the claim that he dunked on a 12 foot hoop, he would still need only a 30-32 inch vertical to do it. If you go by strictly the math it's 33-35, but his reach when extending with just one hand is more than 9'7, probably about to 9'10-9'11 (stand with both your arms up, and then try extending just one arm up like you would on a dunk and see the 4-5 inch difference in your reach).

24 inches is quite likely for his [B]standing[/b] vertical, but if we include running I'd estimate about 29-32 inches, which is still excellent for a man his height.

either way he's no where near 40 or even 50 as some senile idiots put it .. this is a 50 inch vertical:

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFmJioyrEms[/url]

there is no way a 7'2" man can get up like that ..

[QUOTE=Lebron23]He only won 2 NBA Championships during his prime, and Russell and his team always kicked his ass in the playoffs.

Do you consider guys scoring 100 points in the NBL, CBA, PBA, D-League, and some other leagues in this some part of the world a much superior player than Kobe Bryant, who scored 81 points in the NBA?[/QUOTE]
:wtf:
The 100 point game was in the NBA...

[QUOTE=MasterDurant24]:wtf:
The 100 point game was in the NBA...[/QUOTE]
LOL I had to scratch my head on that one too.

You can only judge players against other players from their generation... and Wilt was undoubtedly one of the best players of his generation. He put up ridiculous numbers, and managed to win titles playing for inferior teams. Just respect what the guy did in his generation, and stop trying to compare him to guys that came 20-30 years after him.



And really, who gives a fukc what his vertical was? I've never heard such a retarded argument in my entire life.

I must say, the man can obviously jump over 24 inches, so I don't know where the mistake was made, but it's obviously a mistake. Perhaps the reporter heard that he was a long jumper, could jump 24 feet or something, and mix the 2 up.

[QUOTE]"What's unfortunate is that most people regard the great leapers as being only the short guys who could dunk," said the 7-1 1/16 Wilt Chamberlain. "My sergeant [vertical leap] was higher than Michael Jordan's. When I went to Kansas, they had a 12-foot basket in the gym, because Dr. Phog Allen was advocating the 12-foot basket. I used to dunk on that basket. It was an effort, but I could do it." [2]
Wilt Chamberlain claims that his sergeant, during his prime, was "46 to 48 inches, easy."[/QUOTE]

Not that Wilt didn't talk a lot of bullshit... But I have no doubt he could jump at least 35 inches, and probably more.

I made some Google Archive research about his 24 inch crap and the thing I found was a Fog Allen reference from a 1955 paper:

[url]http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AU8aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AyYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7337,2597875&dq=inches-over-the-rim&hl=en[/url]

So, the poor fella that the OP (a troll, BTW) quoted, took the "24 inches above the rim" and made it "24 inches vertical", which is quite a serious mistake. This would give Wilt a 30-inch vertical, still not close to the 48-52 myth and actually less than some of his footage shows as well (30 inches for Wilt would mean that his head would be 5 inches below the rim, and there have been plays of him getting higher than this), but way less laughable than the 24 baloney.

[QUOTE=Psileas]I made some Google Archive research about his 24 inch crap and the thing I found was a Fog Allen reference from a 1955 paper:

[url]http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AU8aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AyYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7337,2597875&dq=inches-over-the-rim&hl=en[/url]

So, the poor fella that the OP (a troll, BTW) quoted, took the "24 inches above the rim" and made it "24 inches vertical", which is quite a serious mistake. This would give Wilt a 30-inch vertical, still not close to the 48-52 myth and actually less than some of his footage shows as well (30 inches for Wilt would mean that his head would be 5 inches below the rim, and there have been plays of him getting higher than this), but way less laughable than the 24 baloney.[/QUOTE]

I won't take the time to post the many links out there giving Wilt anywhere from a 48+" vertical leap. There have been eye-witness accounts of Wilt touching the top of the backboard (some 13 feet.) There was an eye-witness account of Wilt touching a hospital ceiling in which the sportswriter estimated that his vertical was at least 42". Wilt was KNOWN to have dunked on a 12 ft rim. We could go on for hours....but only a complete IDIOT would credit Wilt with a 24" vertical.

Furthermore, Wilt was a HIGH-JUMP champ at Kansas (6-6 1/2"). He was also a competitive LONG-JUMPER (nearly 23 feet.) AND, he also competed in the TRIPLE-JUMP (as well as the 4x100, the 440, and the 880.) So, even the estimates of 34-35" inches are preposterous. Wilt was CLEARLY capable of well over 40".

did he still kill the mountain lion with bare hands?

[QUOTE=asdf1990]did he still kill the mountain lion with bare hands?[/QUOTE]

If you want to turn this topic into Wilt's incredible strength, I could go on for hours. Needless to say, just google Wilt...the number of EYE-WITNESS accounts verifying his strength are plastered all over the internet. There is a good chance that Chamberlain was probably the strongest basketball player...ever.

[QUOTE=jlauber]I won't take the time to post the many links out there giving Wilt anywhere from a 48+" vertical leap. There have been eye-witness accounts of Wilt touching the top of the backboard (some 13 feet.) There was an eye-witness account of Wilt touching a hospital ceiling in which the sportswriter estimated that his vertical was at least 42". Wilt was KNOWN to have dunked on a 12 ft rim. We could go on for hours....but only a complete IDIOT would credit Wilt with a 24" vertical.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I always heard the top of the backboard thing. 13feet would be the best guess since dunking on a 12 foot rim pretty much means you are at least at 12'9 inches. Since his standing reach wasn't all that, how come you don't hear of anybody touching the top of the backboard these days?

As far as guys these days being superior athelethes I don't hear of faster times, longer broad jumps, longer triple jumps or high jumps despite having superior training and techniques. What are yall saying??? 23 feet back in the 50ies wasn't 23 feet like it is today??? Do yall really think the clocks were slower??? Endurance wise I don't think Shaq in his prime could score 80 points and get 45 rebounds in a game against d leaguers. Over 80 games at 50 ppg and 22 boards that's incredible endurance for anybody who rarely sat down the whole season. Shaq would break down after 20 games if he averaged 20 and 10 if he played the full game in his prime. I don't think any PF or center today is clocking Bill Russell's track feats in the 50's.

[quote]no, you see you can't compare players like that. like you can't compare a fifty years old car with a ferrari and put them in a drag race. and both cars are one of the best in their's era and then you say this old piece of **** is one of the greates?

if you want to compare players, you can compare them based on what they achived...[/quote]
You can't? Sure you can. You do that, you race them, and then you conclude: "this Ferrari is faster than *that* 50-y.o. car." That is a conclusion you can absolutely draw.

That doesn't mean you've proven the Ferrari is a "better" car. "Better" is not necessarily subjective, but "better" also doesn't strictly have to do with speed. It also doesn't have strictly to do with how far off the ground a basketball player regularly got.

Vertical leap is simply not that important in basketball. Even today. It helps but it won't make or break you. Nobody ever won a title because they jumped 6 inches higher on a breakaway than the guy guarding him. What was Duncan's vertical? LA Shaq's? Recent Kobe's?

Wade and Lebron can jump out of the gym but the reason for their greatness is varied and quickness and strength and ballhandling ability for their size has more to do with it than how high they can jump. Nevermind touch and feel for the game.

[QUOTE=Pointguard]Yeah, I always heard the top of the backboard thing. 13feet would be the best guess since dunking on a 12 foot rim pretty much means you are at least at 12'9 inches. Since his standing reach wasn't all that, how come you don't hear of anybody touching the top of the backboard these days?

As far as guys these days being superior athelethes I don't hear of faster times, longer broad jumps, longer triple jumps or high jumps despite having superior training and techniques. What are yall saying??? 23 feet back in the 50ies wasn't 23 feet like it is today??? Do yall really think the clocks were slower??? Endurance wise I don't think Shaq in his prime could score 80 points and get 45 rebounds in a game against d leaguers. Over 80 games at 50 ppg and 22 boards that's incredible endurance for anybody who rarely sat down the whole season. Shaq would break down after 20 games if he averaged 20 and 10 if he played the full game in his prime. I don't think any PF or center today is clocking Bill Russell's track feats in the 50's.[/QUOTE]

I have posted on this topic before, but, who was the fastest NFL player ever? It was Bob Hayes, a LEGITIMATE football player (he is in the HOF...and BTW, he AVERAGED 42 yards per play on his 76 TDs in his career), who ran a 10.0 100 meters (and a 9.1 100 yards.) He was playing over 40 years ago.

A few years ago, SI ran an article on Barry Bonds and his longest HR. Yes, it came at the height of his steroid use, and it was measured at 490 feet. Just google Mickey Mantle. He had MANY HRs over 500 feet...including at least one at 565. Not only that, but some of his HRs were stopped by the tops of walls...and would have been estimated at over 600 feet!

Nolan Ryan was clocked by a SLOW radar gun at 101 MPH, in the 8th inning of a game in which he had thrown 162 pitches (yes a SLOW radar gun....there have been estimates that a faster gun would have produced nearly 108 MPH.) That occurred 36 years ago.

Speaking of jumping...Bob Beamon held the world record at 29'-2" inches, set in 1968, for 30 years...and the CURRENT record is 29'-4".

You take guys like Bo Jackson (4.12 40), or Hershel Walker (10.1 100 meters), or Darrell Green (he was clocked at 4.35 in the 40...at age 40), or Deion Sanders (4.18), or OJ Simpson, who was part of the world-record-holding 4x100 relay team)...or Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Frank Howard, JR Richards, Sandy Koufax, ...or Gus Johnson (he was shattering backboards in the 60's), Dr. J, David Thompson, and Connie Hawkins...and so MANY others of previous decades...and give them the same benefits of modern technology, nutrition, medicine, training, etc...and they would be even more remarkable today. AND, that INCLUDES Wilt, who was widely regarded as one of the strongest men in the world, probably the highest leaper of his era, and maybe even the fastest NBA player, ever.

[QUOTE=jlauber] and maybe even the fastest NBA player, ever.[/QUOTE]

:eek: :roll: