Multiple individual awards add to Michael Jordan‘s lore. But one that truly suits the moniker of ‘His Airness’ is the unofficial-official record of his vertical jump. The claims that he recorded a 48-inch vertical, one of the highest records that still exists today, might not be true. After all, the 6x NBA Champion once spoke about the award’s legitimacy.
Recently, a tweet received more than 260k views about MJ’s record. “Michael Jordan’s 48 inch vertical is still the highest recorded in the NBA 💯.” It did not take time for fans to debate about the same. With a few people backing up ‘Air Jordan’ and his abilities, some were very clear about how it was unachievable. But what did the Chicago Bulls legend say about it?
It was during an old interview with Larry King that Michael Jordan answered a curious fan question. When asked about what his highest vertical leap was? MJ, without any hesitation, said, “I don’t know. I’ve never been measured.” King would probe further if Jordan was ever measured in any capacity. Once again, the answer was very clear.
“No, never have. It wasn’t that much of an important to me really.” Michael Jordan even dismissed the report in a book about his vertical jump being 48 inches. “Whatever’s in the book is in the book, that’s I don’t know what it is.” Even today, many sources give the highest vertical jump record to Jordan, which he denied in the 1993 interview. Even fans back it up, and some of them even backed it with facts.
Fans back Michael Jordan and end the unnecessary hype for this record
“This simply not true.” One fan was reiterating the fact from MJ and quickly shut the hype train. For any record to have legitimacy, it needs to be recorded or seen by multiple people to validate it. Unlike the DPOY controversy this year, where there was at least video evidence to support the claim, this one has no direct record.
So asking the legitimacy, one netizen wrote on X, “Recorded where?” And just as Michael Jordan said, he was not measured, so he has no idea where the claims come from. Another fan questioned the same, “Yet there’s never footage of MJ’s chin by the rim.” To give more context, let’s look in comparison with another player.
Ja Morant has a record of 44 inches vertical and is 6’2 tall. The important thing to note is that his head position during that time was in line with the rime. And one fan disagreed that MJ could have jumped higher. “His head would need to be 6 inches above the rim. Y’all crazy for believing this stuff.”
Josh Cohen reported about the 2022 NBA Combine, where he wrote, “Shaedon Sharpe allegedly recorded a 49-inch vertical on a jump test not administered or reviewed by the NBA.” Once again, not administered at the time, but a fan was ready to give the award to Sharpe ahead of Michael Jordan.”This is just false. Shadeon sharpe has the highest wit 49 he broke it in 2022.”
If MJ stated that he was not officially measured, then there is very little room to debate about the legitimacy of the highest vertical jump. With new players coming in and setting records, maybe it’s time somebody officially broke it to end the debate.
