Mir McLean, Live and In Person

[BobbyJ]

The first article that comes up in Google is from olympic.ca and lists Jordan at 46 inches.

 

[rvwsleep]

Googleing highest vertical jump reveals a guy in Canada had a 63.5" jump. In the NBA Wilt Chamberlain and Darryl Griffith had 48" jumps. A number of others were recorded at 46", including Spud Webb, but MJ not on top ten list.

Grabbing a quarter from the top of the backboard would be possible but only by a precious few.

I don't know that there are records on hang time. Gravity rules; jump higher and stay in the air longer. I suppose that if you flex the knees while in the air the time until the feet hit the ground would be slightly delayed.

Though the over 60 " jumps that you googled were called vertical jumps, they were really quite a different type of jump, than the one's used in the videos I posted
(And what is generally referred to as a vertical jump in basketball)
They were either box jumps (where you jump on top of an adjacent object) or they jumped over a horizontal bar. In either case the jumper tucked his legs under his body in order to clear the attempted height. While impressive, none of those jumps would have translated into being able to touch the top of the backboard.

 

[Crossover]

I read where both the Goat and the Helicopter did it.

It is such a shame that so many of the greatest ballers of all time never received the recognition, let alone the financial support, they deserved.

 

[soxfan23]

It is such a shame that so many of the greatest ballers of all time never received the recognition, let alone the financial support, they deserved.

Still happening to this day, you could go to any big correctional facility and find guys that would be in the NBA in they could stay out of legal trouble. Really sad to see talent wasted!