Spud Webb - highest vertical in league history?

[millwad]

Watching Spud dunk and jump is just crazy, the air he had under his feet was just amazing.. He must have had the highest vertical in league history, right?

[Bigsmoke]

Nate Robinson

[Deuce Bigalow]

no, Wilt had a 50" vertical

[color=white]lol[/color]

[PTB Fan]

He certainly had one of the highest verticals in league history for sure.

[bwink23]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JILq5kDjZiM

At 1:23, Spud Webb dunks in-game from just inside the dotted circle....SICK

[millwad]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JILq5kDjZiM

At 1:23, Spud Webb dunks in-game from just inside the dotted circle....SICK

Haha, look how high his head is a la the last dunk..

[Psileas]

If we're talking about players who played even 1 single second in the league, James White has to be a candidate. There's that famous video of him trying to touch the top of the backboard and coming as close as almost anyone I've ever seen (maybe 2 inches away). If his standing reach is 9 feet, this would bring his max vertical at around 46 inches. Does anyone know his actual reach?

[jrong]

I still have a Spud Webb basketball instructional video somewhere at my parents' house. It wasn't very good.

[swi7ch]

isn't he in the guiness book of world records?

[Clippersfan86]

Yes. He's listed at having the highest NBA vertical ever in the record book. It's nearly 47". I think that new Blazers player has an equal vert though.

[Orlando Magic]

If we're talking about players who played even 1 single second in the league, James White has to be a candidate. There's that famous video of him trying to touch the top of the backboard and coming as close as almost anyone I've ever seen (maybe 2 inches away). If his standing reach is 9 feet, this would bring his max vertical at around 46 inches. Does anyone know his actual reach?

The angle from the bottom makes him appear to reach higher. He probably wasn't higher than 12'6".

[Pointguard]

Haha, look how high his head is a la the last dunk..

Yeah cause we are amused when even Blake's head hits the backboard... yet Spudd was doing it all the time. Well actually for him to dunk with his small arms he had to get that high. Spudd was really small about 5'5 in the street. I've been to after games where people started munching his head because they were more or less shocked at how small he was. Well that and the fact they were probably unstable in their own heads.

[Psileas]

The angle from the bottom makes him appear to reach higher. He probably wasn't higher than 12'6".

Forget for the moment that video and watch this - both his hand and his head:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9vO8o-zL_Q

I think it becomes clearer now that he could definitely touch higher than 12'6.

[millwad]

Yeah cause we are amused when even Blake's head hits the backboard... yet Spudd was doing it all the time. Well actually for him to dunk with his small arms he had to get that high. Spudd was really small about 5'5 in the street. I've been to after games where people started munching his head because they were more or less shocked at how small he was. Well that and the fact they were probably unstable in their own heads.

Isn't it scary thinking how high he would have reached with a "normal" NBA guard body? I'd love to see some games from Spud's prime, at his statistical best he averaged 16 points (45% shooting), 7 assists, 1.5 steals and 3 rebounds during the '92 season which is really impressive considering his height.

[Rake2204]

If we're talking about players who played even 1 single second in the league, James White has to be a candidate. There's that famous video of him trying to touch the top of the backboard and coming as close as almost anyone I've ever seen (maybe 2 inches away). If his standing reach is 9 feet, this would bring his max vertical at around 46 inches. Does anyone know his actual reach?

I can't find any solid information on White's standing reach. In a thread a few years ago, someone claimed it was 8'9'' (post #17): http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...t=71708&page=2

Here's another White clip. I find you can gain more from looking at the space between his feet and the ground rather than looking at his head in accordance to the rim. It's that dreaded low angle, the one I see a guy around here post pictures of LeBron James from, so nearly every jump looks rim level just because of the angle. Another more accurate way to gauge things is how horizontal his arm is at the time of his finish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb7ye...ayer_embedded#!