Big Dipper
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Dunking on anything more than a 12 foot rim is basically impossible. Dunking on a 12 foot rim is difficult and likely also dangerous.
As observed above, to dunk on a 12 foot rim requires at least a 35 inch vertical, likely from a running start as few can drop step into a 35 inch vertical. Considering the height you have to achieve and that you would likely have to jump “full out” to achieve the necessary height, there is a huge chance that something could go wrong and a knee or ankle could fall victim to a poor landing.
I believe that Wilt could in fact touch up to or over 12 feet. However, I wonder if he could have dunked at that height.
Wilt was a rare talent as an athlete. He was the classic and athlete. He was quick and fast. He was tall and agile. He was strong and graceful. From everything I have heard about him, he was as strong as Shaq, as agile as Hakeem and as explosive as Dwight Howard, all while being able to run as fast as most any guard.
The closest we have to him now, honestly, is Lebron. A rare combination of speed, power, grace, explosiveness, agility and size. Obviously, Lebron isn’t Wilt’s size, but until he lost weight this summer, Lebron was playing at about 6-9, 270. Wilt played most of his career at 275-290 before adding weight towards the end of his career. He was taller, but about the same weight for most of his basketball days. That adds to Wilt’s agility, as he moved like a guard because, for the most part, he was a guard in his build. He just happened to be 7-1.
However, I also must observe that Wilt stood out as an athlete because the caliber of athlete in the NBA in the 1960’s was not what it is today. Wilt would still be a better athlete than most anyone today, but he would not be lapping the field as he was back in his day. PG’s were not dunking on PF’s in the 1960’s. Remember, this was an era where Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor dominated physically in large part because they were so much more athletic than their counterparts. Bill Russell has said as much, that the Robertson’s, Baylor’s and Chamberlain’s of the world changed the NBA because they made the game much more athletic than it had been up to that point, Robertson for the guards, Baylor for the forwards and Chamberlain and Russell for big men. The type of basketball we watch today is owed in large part to what those four players did in the 1960’s.
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As I indicated, to dunk on a 12’ basket, I would think a player should be able to touch the top of the backboard (13’ ). No NBA player that I know has ever touched the top of the backboard even with a running start. Sure, many claim to have done that but none has been able to actually do it with witnesses. Please note that the average player today, is considerably more athletic than a comparable player was 40 or 50 years ago, a result of the ever improving training technology that was not available back then. For these reasons, I really do not believe that Wilt, as good and freakish athlete as he was, dunked on 12’ basket from a standing position…maybe with a running start…but not from standing position. I believe that this particular story belongs to the category of the 20,000 different women with whom he claimed he slept.
As far as dunking on a 14’ basket, assuming his reach is indeed 9’-6", he would have to jump 54" just to touch the rim; this is more than 12" higher than anyone has even** claimed** to have done it, let alone actually done it. It is just pure fantasy and no human can do it; maybe one day bionics (or Flubber for you older posters) will allow someone to do it but not now, no way, no how… The only person that could dunk on a 14" rim is Michael Jordan in a Space Jam cartoon movie.
I am a huge Wilt fan but I am also an engineer that can look at numbers and can tell the difference between reality and fantasy.
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Here is a little bit of fudge factor on a vertical jump. To get the base height established, not every athlete will truly reach and stretch 100 percent while standing there. If you don’t lower your outside shoulder which rotates your other shoulder up a few inches, you can pick up a few inches in the differential of the actual jump. Most shorter Dunkers lower the outside shoulder not only for balance but it elevates the dunking shoulder a bit and therefore the hand is a bit higher as well.
By the way, jf2- Great read on that link. Thanks.
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I once had a summer of playing basketball with Xavier McDaniel, the forward from WSU who led the country in scoring and rebounding. He was only 6’7".
I watched him jump from a flat-footed position and grab an 11-foot support beam.
X didn’t have a freakish wingspan. I’m guessing on a standing reach that Wilt had about a foot of height clearance over the X-man.
I am a definite believer that Wilt did it. He wouldn’t have to be able to touch a 13’ height to dunk on a 12’ rim. I’d say he’d have to go a minimum of about 12’6" to get down a minimal dunk…
I’m less sure if he could do it from a flat-footed position… but with Wilt, who knows?
You would think there would be film or photos of him doing it if he did… though back then, people didn’t think of capturing things like they do now.
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“I believe that this particular story belongs to the category of the 20,000 different women with whom he claimed he slept.”
Here is something to think about…
If Wilt did sleep with that many women, even if he used a condom, he would definitely have some accidents and he’d have a minimum of 20 or so kids out there… probably a lot more.
Surely some of those women were tall, too.
Wouldn’t there be an increase of footers in college now playing ball?
And… wouldn’t those players be letting everyone know they were sons from Wilt? Even if they were illegitimate… the publicity would be monstrous and those kids would have the attention of every scout on the planet!
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As I indicated, there is no evidence of a single NBA player ever touching the top of the backboard which is 13’, even with a running start (see link). I find it hard to believe that Wild could do this from a standing position…with a running start? maybe…from a standing position? highly doubtful.
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I believe it is quit possible he could do it from a run… less likely from standing.
Why do you think a player needs to reach 13’ to dunk on a 12’ rim?
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As @JayhawkRock78 indicated you can reach a little higher if you elevate one shoulder over the other and reach with one hand; however, a one hand dunk would require a hand partially over the 9.4" ball and so you would have to really reach 13" with the tip of your fingers on one hand to be able to dunk on a 12’ basket. Using the two handed approach. you would have to reach just over 12.5’ feet with both hands to dunk the ball; since jumping with both hands up normally results in less reach, a 13" reach with one hand seems reasonable, wouldn’t you agree?
I would think that if a current player could dunk on 12" basket, he would do it in the All-Star dunk contest and run away with the title; nobody has ever done that. Dwight Howard, which is also a freakish athlete and only 2" shorter than Wilt tried it…
And the top of the sticker he placed on the board was generously measured (if you can call what they did reassuming) at 12’6" but the tip of his fingers were maybe 12’-3"…and that was done with a full head of steam and his dunking arm was much lower.
Apparently Howard asked the NBA to raise the basket to 12’ for the dunk contest but I believe that he would have to jump at least 6 inches higher to accomplish this.
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If you remember Travis Releford’s dunks, sometimes he would palm the ball from the side, get clearance of the ball over the rim and then throw it down. I’d say 99% of slam dunks are done with the hand above the ball, but if you have big hands you can dunk holding the ball halfway up as long as the bottom of the ball clears the rim. Looking at where his hand is in the still shot of that picture above and you can see what I mean.
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Sadly, my last dunk was in 1989. The 70’s and 80’s were good to me-I even had hair back then.
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@drgnslayr Loved Xavier and that whole WSU team…except for one game…66-65.
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I am sure you are referring to the “Battle of New Orleans” played March 1981…however, Xavier did not play in that game since his first season at WSU was the 81-82 season. You must be thinking of Antoine Carr…
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@drgnslayr "Here is something to think about…
If Wilt did sleep with that many women, even if he used a condom, he would definitely have some accidents and he’d have a minimum of 20 or so kids out there… probably a lot more.
Surely some of those women were tall, too.
Wouldn’t there be an increase of footers in college now playing ball?"
It runs in my mind that I heard a story many years ago–maybe from Max Falkenstein–that neither of Wilt’s parents was tall.
According to. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0150219/bio neither was taller than 5’9".
Probably my favorite player of all time. Always had the impression that he never wanted to be considered a special person and wasn’t enamored with all the hoopla about him. Wish I could have come to that game in 1998.
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I would have flown back to Kansas just to see the halftime.
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@JayHawkFanToo This a is the myth.
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This post is deleted!
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@JayHawkFanToo That’s Nawlins !!
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Gosh… I could dunk in my day with very little room for error and I never could jump to 11’. Wish I could!
I’m guessing my all-time best jump would get me to about 10’8". I wish I could have dunked like DHoward! But my dunks were about clearing the rim and having just enough control on the ball to slam it down at the back of the rim. The only time I dunked in a game was on a rebound putback where the ball stuck perfectly in my hand and I slammed it down hard! I never wanted to embarrass myself with a blooper rimmy… I would have never heard the end of it from teammates. My classic move was a finger roll over the front of the rim. I think I only ever missed that once, and the ball was wet with sweat so it departed from my hand early and bricked on the lower part of the front iron. Glad no one had that on tape so I didn’t have to live with a replay!
I always wished I had a few more inches of vertical but my game was x-axis.
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Interesting post about Wilt.
I think if I was a player in the right time period and didn’t know who my dad was I might just claim Wilt if for no other reason than the cred!
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Vertical jumping is one of those things that starts easy but it gets exponentially more difficult with every inch. Most NBA players can dunk on a 10’ regulation basket which means most can reach at least 11 feet. However, with every additional inch, it becomes increasingly more difficult and fewer player can reach the new height until it gets to a point where just a handful of superior leaper can do it. At this point it looks like the limit is around 12’6" with a running start and I would venture to guess that less than 5 players in the NBA can get there.
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Worth noting is the fact that Wilt was a freakish athlete, not just by the standards of his day, but by today’s standards. He was also a Big 8 high jump champ. You won’t find any other footer in the league doing that… or even coming close. Wilt had to be able to go super high if he was a high jump champ. His height didn’t give him the same advantage in high jump that it did in basketball. His entire body had to clear the bar, and Wilt came before the “Pilsbury Flop” (Fosbury Flop).
Few footers can jump. I’m willing to bet that few footers can vertical over 30". I don’t think anyone knows Wilt’s vertical, but I would guestimate it to be around 40"… about 10" above all the other footers playing in the league today.
If Wilt could go 40" then (roughly) we can add 3 1/2’ to his standing reach. His standing reach was probably around 9’10". Doing the math that comes out to 13’4".
It is too bad we didn’t have more focus on overall athleticism back in Wilt’s day because if he was at his prime now, we would know how high he could jump and what height his fingers could reach. He might just own the world record!
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@drgnslayr imagine if he worked w/Hudy?
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All I can say is “YIKES!”
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Wow… Here are some links, take them for what they are worth… but…
“Wilt was a world-class athlete, who came out of college a 440 Champion track star as well as a basketball Phenom.”
“Wilt’s leaping ability was incomparable. His “Sergeant” or vertical leap was higher than Michael Jordan’s at 48”.”
“However, as Chamberlain himself once said about all these claims, “I defy anyone to say they took change off the top of the backboard. I could. Someone would put a quarter up and I’d snatch it down. I’ve heard stories about Jackie Jackson doing it, but I’ve never seen anyone (but himself) come close.””
If that is true… add another 8" to my guestimate.
Why Wilt Chamberlain Was the Greatest NBA Player Ever
More on the great one:
“At Kansas, he shot-putted 56 feet, triple-jumped more than 50 feet, and won the Big Eight Conference high jump championship three straight years.”
Scoring 100 points was just one of Wilt Chamberlain’s amazing feats
“Wilt’s bench press was reportedly almost up to 500 pounds…”
Wilt Chamberlain - Athletic Freak
I’m sure there is even more out there. I found all of this in just a few minutes.
Lore or Legend? You decide… I cast my one vote for Legend!
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Although the quantity of sex was, I’m sure a hyperbole, SNL did a skit about this when the actual amount was divided into days with him having 5 partners a day. The skit had a different women come into the bedroom as the previous one was leaving. Kareem might have been the guest host.
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The record for NBA players for the “Sargent” test is 38" by Dwayne Mitchell in 2012 and the record with run up approach is 45.5" by none other than former KU player Kenny Gregory. The 48" attributed to Jordan is not a "Sargent"jump but one with a running start and it was never documented. A lot has been written about vertical jumping, particularly about and by NBA players, but most of it falls in the category of urban legends and very little has been documented. In recent years, the NBA combines have done a better job of measuring and documenting athletes numbers and this is how we know that some of the numbers attributed to some athletes are just fantasy.
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I believe there is some exaggeration going on. But the point is Wilt was a tremendous athlete.
I don’t believe these other websites either that claim these vertical records, having a football player out-leaping all basketball players by 8 inches (Gerald Sensabaugh). I doubt Wilt competed for those records and they only have on the books who they have on the books (documented) so I wouldn’t give those records anymore reliability than the folklore except that they accurately portray the very limited (documented) records that they possess.
Spud Webb could dunk in HS when he was only 5’3". I believe his reach to be around 6’8". He easily matched up with Kenny Gregory in a running vertical. The proof is in what he did with the ball, not going through a documented test.
Spud grew to a whopping 5’7" when he won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
When you think about it, what greater urban legend story is out there over leaping ability and crazy dunks? Rural legend is about fishing… not many bass in NYC!
I’m sure if Wilt said he removed quarters off the top of backboard he did it. If he didn’t do it we would definitely be hearing from his critics because Wilt had a zillion critics. He was a God in Lawrence and around Kansas, but he was a guy that attracted plenty of haters, mostly because of jealousy, sometimes over race.
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I for one think Wilt had a problem with his math when it came to women. I would believe 2,000, not 20,000.
As for his jumps, he had the advantage of a high center of gravity. There are high jumpers that are 6’ 8", and 6" 10, but on average the best seem to be 6" 2" to 6’ 5"
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Whatever the number, he had to battle disease, regardless how safe he played it.
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@JayhawkRock78 OK, I’m not a math guy, but if he “started” at let’s say 15 years old, and he passed away at 63, that’s 48 years of playing around. If he had one encounter per day, that would be 17,520 women. No time off for holidays.
Those are pretty staggering numbers, but if anybody could do it, it would be Wilt.
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You have to subtract 8 years since the book was published when Wilt was 55 or 8 years before his death at 63.
Here is link that puts things in perspective…
Here is a write up of how the number 20,000 came to be…
You can draw your own conclusions.
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It is so easy to set the assumptions so it was not so tough…
Started at 13. Liked multiples and orgies. Only penetrated 2 out of 4, the rest being quickies done to him. And so on.
The keys to the 20k were: Lots of stress to displace. Rich. Celebrity. Dominant. Intelligent. Huge. Worked half a year living in hotels. Half the year off in SF, Bel Air most of his adult life. Resources to travel the world Single. Record oriented. Insomnia . Liked women. Sexual addiction? Era of sexual liberation in the West. Great motor.
Really, nothing unfeasible about the number, given anomalous circumstances and abilities and time and resources and preference for trying to stretch the envelope of what other persons think possible and acceptable. Life in withering impersonal spotlight of celebrity and usual need to seek relief from it. Need to disprove freakishness of height and abilities by seeking acceptance.
Just not many guys in those circumstances and willing to say it in a book.
Magic was reputedly paddling similar Rapids for a time.
None of us really understands what these right tail extraordinary human beings go through at the heigt of their fame and abilities in the mass media age. All we really know is they can do extraordinary things in their public lives and so there is no reason to expect they do not sometimes do extraordinary things in their private lives. Sometimes they do private good on extraordinary levels. Sometimes they do private bad on extraordinary levels. And sometimes they do private neutralities on extraordinary levels. It is to some greater, or lesser degree, a phenomenon associated with large personalities and enormously gifted persons. And those among the rest of us that rely on norms and probabilities to either forecast, or backcast, the actions of such extraordinary individuals are often risking great error in explanation.
Wilt was an an extreme outlier emerging from the Hitchcockian “North by Northwest” mass culture 1950s. He was in the advanced charge on the ramparts of the fungible corporate man and the grateful Negroe supposed to wait his turn for real freedom.
But for those that want a world where it didn’t happen, halve it and say he was hyping a book. 10k is still a lot of pairing.
And try not to think about the idle rich and the whole ritualized orgy and kinky underworld. Schnitzler and Kubrick were not known for complete disconnects from reality, just for fictionalizing how they portrayed what went on in their times.
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The more I think about this 20,000 number, the more I think of the consequences that would come from such a level of activity.
I know that Wilt tried to keep it to unmarried women. But wouldn’t many women lie? And how many of those single women had boyfriends or possessive guys wanting to be boyfriends?
If Wilt had 20,000 situations he would likely have had 2k to 4k jealous male counterparts to deal with. He would have been stalked and hunted down and you can be sure several from the jealous bunch would have murderous intent.
Wilt was imposing… imposing to everyone who wasn’t brandishing a firearm!
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I suspect body guards, lawyers, PR teams, and private detectives largely transcend that problem, same as they do for entertainers in film and TV, and famous politicians and CEOs.
