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I came across this article today on Wikipedia:
Earl “The Goat” Manigault was born in Charleston, South Carolina and raised in Harlem, New York. He grew up playing basketball and practiced constantly. He would attach weights to his ankles to make him stronger so he could jump higher.
Manigault was particularly famous for his leaping abilities on the basketball court, including his signature move - the double dunk. He would dunk the ball and catch it with the other hand while still in the air and dunk it again. He was said to be able to touch the top of the backboard to retrieve quarters and dollar bills. He was only 6′2″ but the ankle weights he wore as a child helped him to build up tremendous jumping ability. He once reverse dunked 36 times in a row to win a $60 bet. It was rumored that Earl had a 52-inch vertical leap.
Honestly, I had never heard about Earl Manigault before. I also had never heard about “Rebound: The Legend of Earl ‘The Goat’ Manigault” a TV movie made about his life starring a pre-Ocean’s Eleven Don Cheadle. (The film has very good reviews on IMDB, but for a few good laughs go and read some of the reviews about Eriq La Salle’s performance in the movie.)
It also got me thinking. Did Earl Manigault have the best vertical jump of all time?
| After a good deal of research, I discovered that the problem with the verticals is the lack of official records and speculation surrounding it. It’s even difficult to find agreement on Michael Jordan’s vertical – although commonly it’s noted as 48 inches. There is no official record for straight vertical jump, as far as I know. Michael “Wild Thing’” Wilson holds the world record for the highest dunk at 12 feet, although Wilt Chamberlain supposedly dunked at the same height. Wilson’s vertical was speculated to be 55 inches, although like Earl Manigault, it was never officially measured. |  |
With the NBA pre-draft workouts gaining popularity, we’re starting to get more official information about vertical jumps. For example Nate Robinson’s vertical was recorded in a pre-draft workout in 2005 at 43.5 inches. So data on the NBA seems to be getting more accurate, although information on the non-NBA players continues to be fuzzy.
Some of the best verticals I could find (most are probably wild speculation):
Dr. J – 41 inches
Nate Robinson 43.5 inches
Vince Carter – 43-47 inches (depending on the source)
Michael Jordan – 41-48 inches
David Thomson – 42-48 inches
Dominique Wilkins – 47-50 inches
Spud Web – 45-51 inches
Earl Manigault – 52 inches
Michael Wilson – 51-55 inches
Anyone know of someone else to add to the list?
