The average vertical leap for an NCAA basketball player is 30 inches. Olympic champion and former NCAA swimming-star, Caeleb Dressel, tops out at 41 inches. See how he compares to famous basketball players known for their vertical leaps.
- Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets – 33.5
- Dwight Howard, Los Angeles Lakers – 35
- Lebron James, Los Angeles Lakers – 40
- Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta Hawks (retired) – 42
- Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls (retired) – 46
Per this article, Jordan’s 46-inch vertical is tied for the best in NBA history with Zach LeVine and James White, while Dressel’s 41 would rank in a tie for 12th with Isaiah Rider and O.J. Mayo.
Check out this video of a few times Dressel has shown off his insane vertical prior to racing via ZHL Swimming on YouTube:
This ability has helped Dressel develop the most explosive start in the world, instantly giving him a lead over his competitors.
Particularly crucial in short course swimming, Dressel’s start has helped him set NCAA, U.S. Open and American Records in the SCY 50 and 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke (which has since been broken), 100 butterfly and 200 IM, not to mention the world record in the SCM 50 free.
In long course, he owns the world record in the 100 fly, while also holding the distinction of being the fastest swimmer of all-time in a textile suit in both the 50 and 100 free.
To read more about Dressel and why his start is so lethal, read Olivier Poirier-Leroy‘s story from October of 2018 here.
Part of this story appeared in the 2017 College edition of SwimSwam Magazine.
Schooling did 50 inches in practice once…
I am deeply if belatedly offended that all y’all left me out of this conversation.
Vertical is with a straight body, not bent knees. If NBA players had verticals measured with their knees bent like Clyde The Glyde Drexler, they’d have 75-80 inch verts
No they wouldn’t. The World Record for a box jump is only 63.5 inches. Pull the boxes out of the equation, and maybe you get a few more inches. But barring a fosbury flop or a hurdle motion, nobody is clearing 80 inches.
Vertical jump has nothing to do with what your body is like. It’s measured at the hand height – how far can you elevate your hand from where you touch just standing with your arm over your head.
They don’t measure vertical jumps at your feet, so you can jump with straight legs or bent legs or however you want to jump. They measure them at your hand.
Caeleb’s vertical is 41 inches measured at the hand.… Read more »
If you’re counting pure height off the ground, I saw they measured Simone Biles entire body being 9 ft. above the ground doing floor exercise, higher than the world high jump record by a huge margin.
Power lifters are probably going to have the biggest verts because they train for nothing but explosiveness and focus on the body mass to power ratio.
Simone Biles is obviously incredible. Best gymnast ever. She might be better at gymnastics than Michael Phelps was at swimming. But, she’s also jumping off a spring-loaded floor.
https://slate.com/culture/2016/08/the-gymnastics-floor-at-the-2016-olympics-has-literal-springs-beneath-it.html
CrossFit athletes can box jump over 35 inches and many have jumped over 40
I’d be interested in what Caeleb Dressel’s broad jump is.
Tea Rex…the quote is actually “he can put a quarter on the top of the backboard and leave change”..( two dimes and a nickel) but that was attributed to the basketball player who defined the vertical leap , David ” SKY WALKER ” Thompson of the NC State WOLFPACK. David was only 6’4″ tall so Wilt being able to do it is noteworthy but at 7’1″ not as unique! David Thompson’s vertical was anywhere from 44″-“48 but even MJ was quoted as saying that David Thompson was the first basketball player to make the VERTICAL LEAP a definition of athletic ability. Wilt ‘s claim of a 40 + vertical leap can only be interpreted along with some other numerical claims… Read more »
Wilt Chamberlain was rumored to have a 48″ vertical. He claimed he could grab a quarter off the top of the backboard. Who knows how much of that is myth.
There are videos of Shawn kemp doing this.
Braden is on the tall side. Could he ever dunk? SwimSwammers want to know.
Absolutely not.